Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[Musica Amantem]

Originally Posted by x3workshop

... I like the EL34 sound (at home) for certain music (vocal/acoustic) and they don't disappoint. I have used GL KT77's in the amp (at home) and they are somewhat more robust in overall presentation, but I think the EL34's win in that sweet vocal area with a good deal of nuance.

The KT120's are simply more powerful and dynamic with good midrange, but not at the level of the EL34 and perhaps with less finesse of detail. I'm still a fan of the KT150 which is very engaging and has great 'oomph' where it counts.

I think I suffer from too many options. My power tube inventory now covers the gamut in new and vintage of almost every type.

Bottom line; different tubes for different music & mood. Happily, the tube sockets in these amps are very good quality and will take many rounds of rolling.

Your observations on the EL34 now have a more revealing perspective as you have also listened to the GL KT-77, which in my book makes it a potential candidate. I share the same experience of limited but very nice presentation with my 6P3S-E. It only succumbs to the fuller and slightly more transparent KT-77 in my rig.

Today I listened to the KT-77's, but replacing my goto rectifier (274B) with the Westinghouse-labeled Amperex 5AR4 (my choice for 6550 and KT-88). Nice, but not at par with the 274B. Then, I replaced that with my second favorite rectifier for medium-size and smaller tubes, the Brimar 5Z4 GY. I was surprised this one is so good with the rest of the setup that now I'm not even sure the 274B will remain my goto for these tubes. Aside from offering the usual great presentation, I found it projects some slightly deeper and evident bass. I wonder how it will make the Amperex EL34 sound

[Masterlu]

goldhorse... Welcome to AA!

[goldhorse]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

goldhorse... Welcome to AA!

Thanks Masterlu, glad to be here!

[x3workshop]

Originally Posted by Musica Amantem

Your observations on the EL34 now have a more revealing perspective as you have also listened to the GL KT-77, which in my book makes it a potential candidate. I share the same experience of limited but very nice presentation with my 6P3S-E. It only succumbs to the fuller and slightly more transparent KT-77 in my rig.

Today I listened to the KT-77's, but replacing my goto rectifier (274B) with the Westinghouse-labeled Amperex 5AR4 (my choice for 6550 and KT-88). Nice, but not at par with the 274B. Then, I replaced that with my second favorite rectifier for medium-size and smaller tubes, the Brimar 5Z4 GY. I was surprised this one is so good with the rest of the setup that now I'm not even sure the 274B will remain my goto for these tubes. Aside from offering the usual great presentation, I found it projects some slightly deeper and evident bass. I wonder how it will make the Amperex EL34 sound

Since I now have the Infinite Impedence PS the rectifiers have very little impact on sound quality. I believe I'm not taking advantage of everything the EL34's have to offer because of speaker inefficiencies.

I've been gifted a 1/2 dozen 6BL7's for my LP-27a by a friend and was told that it would probably boost bass response slightly. Dennis confirmed this. I'l try one out in the next week and let you know my impressions.

[jdandy]

goldhorse.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

[goldhorse]

Originally Posted by jdandy

goldhorse.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

Thanks for the welcome, jdandy!

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by goldhorse

Hi Everyone!

First time to post here.

I just got the Inspire LP-3a and Hot-Rod last night!
I live in Japan, and it took about 5 days to get here, and another 5 days to free them from the clutches of Customs (first time to import)!

I got the Hot-Rod off Ebay, and when we were exchanging e-mails afterwards, I requested Dennis to build me an LP-3a, and he did just that inside of a week. I voiced concern that the faceplate would look different from the Hot-Rod, and went right ahead and put the black faceplate and red switch cover. These look really mean up close!

They came with these complement of tubes:

LP-3a Preamplifier
Input: 6SN7 (Philco) x 2
Rectifier: 80 (Philco) x 1
Output: CV-181 (Shuguang) x 1

Hot-rod Amplifier
Input: 6SN7 (Unmarked) x 1
Rectifier: 5R4GY (RCA) x 1
Output: KT-66 (Gold Lion) x 2

Although I admit I haven't really read all of the posts in these thread, it has been very informative and it was one of the factor that convinced me to go ahead and get these. Considering these come without any documentation, every shred of information is a gem, and I found a whole mountain of it here. So, Thank You Guys!

I will be hooking these up to my system today so I'm really looking forward to hearing these. I might be asking for advice going forward so TIA.

Welcome and enjoy the gear! Take what you read here with a grain of salt...especially my posts.

[x3workshop]

Originally Posted by FloridaBoy

Welcome and enjoy the gear! Take what you read here with a grain of salt...especially my posts.

Everyone's except AA & MA!

[Rosco65]

Goldhorse - is there a reason you went with the LP-3a instead of the LP-27a?

[goldhorse]

Originally Posted by FloridaBoy

Welcome and enjoy the gear! Take what you read here with a grain of salt...especially my posts.

Thanks, I've just hooked these up and enjoying them already.
Hopefully I'll post impressions in couple of days once I've taken it through its initial paces.