Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[Analog Addict]

Dennis may be on vacation for a couple of weeks. I have also been away for two weeks, and IIRC, his vacation was almost on a non overlap following mine.

[Musica Amantem]

Originally Posted by Bombadil

I don't know why you find my signal path congested.

Source -> Preamp -> out through #1 outputs with built-in 160Hz filter -> Inspire amp -> Speaker Mid/Tweeter modules
............................ -> out through #2 outputs -> Passive Volume Controller -> SS amp -> Speaker bass modules

Very clean, no signals being crossed from source to speakers, Inspire amp being shielded from all low bass with it's output going into speaker modules which are physically separate and electrically disconnected from the bass modules.

Initially I thought you were actually bi-amping, plus, there's the additional stage of the passive preamp. But, you're right, it seems congested but it is really not. Sorry!

[Wgarcia]

So I took a pic of my Inspire Fire Bottle (signed December 1st, 2016 and not a Hot Rod, bought used a couple of months ago) to see if it matched the components of the one Had just sold this week on Ebay…the good news is it does. The weird news is that the pics of the one just sold are, wait for it, of MY amp. HA...Seriously…same bends in all the wiring, same exact positions of all the caps and bits. So now I'm not sure if my question, "is my amp the most recent version of a Fire Bottle?" is unanswered, or answered, or what…still, a GREAT amp…if anybody wants to see what the inside of my amp looks like, check out the pics of the aforementioned recent Ebay one…and let me know what you think…meaning if you know if this is the "current-ist" version

[BearCityUSA]

Some pix from my trip to Cary last week.









Had a blast. If anyone is interested I will post a story.


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IMG_6186.JPG

[CoGT3]

Definitely need all the gory details! Quad of 6L6? Any 45 PSE sightings?

[BearCityUSA]

Originally Posted by CoGT3

Definitely need all the gory details! Quad of 6L6? Any 45 PSE sightings?

Give me a few days to put something together. Getting ready for vacation next week so pretty busy wrangling up stuff for the trip. The visit was eventful. I'm still getting my mind around it all. As I have said before, make the trip if you can. In the mean time I will attempt to be a surrogate.

[Bombadil]

Yes, strictly I am not meeting the traditional definition of bi-amping, which requires one to bypass the passive crossovers in the speakers. The designer of my speakers says that would be a disaster, as the (complex and expensive) crossovers are necessary to keep the impedance and frequency response curves flat. It would destroy the sound of the drivers if the crossovers were bypassed. Given this, there is no need to employ active crossovers in my setup.

[Wgarcia]

I'm looking for details about the LP3-A preamp…I've emailed Had through the Ebay address but no respondo…I doubt the thing has a remote, but anyway…curious.

[Musica Amantem]

I don't know what it is, but my gear is sounding better over time. It started sounding great, but now it is amazing! A series of trial-and-error setups, mostly through tube-rolling and lately tube-rolling the PRE and using it only on a need basis (certain tube setups sound neater without the PRE and through a balanced feed from the ZBit), plus the excellent RED MOD High Pass filters ... A journey that makes me feel proud. It may also be that the inner components in those units are settling over time (AMP and PRE), along with my speakers.

I still need to upgrade the Caps in the AMP, so I look forward to further improvements, but this whole converging process would not have been possible without this excellent forum and the special insights provided by my buddy FloridaBoy, who seems to always be accurate in his assessments. I just wish I had more listening time other than during my eagerly expected annual vacations (December ) and weekends.

This of course is above all a homage to Dennis Had and his magic touch. When I first ordered the AMP, I asked him, jokingly, to spread some of his "magic dust" over my unit while he was building it ... It turned out he did!

[Analog Addict]

Originally Posted by BearCityUSA

Give me a few days to put something together. Getting ready for vacation next week so pretty busy wrangling up stuff for the trip. The visit was eventful. I'm still getting my mind around it all. As I have said before, make the trip if you can. In the mean time I will attempt to be a surrogate.

If you don't get back to RTP by Sept, I will be in Asheville for a conference 9/8-9 10, and would be happy to bring my PSE 45 along for a demo. I'm hoping my PSE 71-A will also be ready by then....