Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[richamor]

Originally Posted by Aercool

the new one by The War On Drugs "Lost In The Dream" sounds great.

That is a fantastic CD Can't wait to hear it on the KT88/LP2 combo en route.

[Aercool]

I just picked up a used Resolution Audio CD55 which has had the Great Northern reference upgrade. I'm hoping it is worth the money vs. the Rotel RCD-1072 I've been using. The Resolution will give me the option to go direct from the CD player to the KT-6550, bypassing the LP-2 preamp - though I'm not sure that I will. I like the HDCD functionality, and I like that it's been modded to the maximum so I don't have to 'wonder' what could be done...

What CD players are you guys using with your KT-xxx and LP-2?

[richamor]

I use a Samsung Blu Ray player through an Ami Musik DAC. I don't listen to CD's a lot though since Google Play sounds just as good.

[richamor]

Well.....the amp and pre arrived in good shape. But the pre hums like a moron trying to remember that tune from Madame Butterfly. The right channel seems dead. The tube is cold as is the 6DJ8 tube. The rectifier is hot. I opened it up and can't SEE anything obvious wrong. I have music on the left side, even in decay. If I turn the pre off, the hum goes away but the RH side is silent. I've swapped cables, changed placement, etc. This is the same configuration I had my Dynaco ST70/ Tortuga passive pre in so it shouldn't be an issue.

Opinions?? Ideas???

FWIW-I have the amp runningn using the DAC as a pre and it sounds bodacious. Big fat bottom and sparkling highs and just enough in the middle to fill out the sound. Sweeeeeet.

[pstrisik]

Originally Posted by richamor

Well.....the amp and pre arrived in good shape. But the pre hums like a moron trying to remember that tune from Madame Butterfly. The right channel seems dead. The tube is cold as is the 6DJ8 tube. The rectifier is hot. I opened it up and can't SEE anything obvious wrong. I have music on the left side, even in decay. If I turn the pre off, the hum goes away but the RH side is silent. I've swapped cables, changed placement, etc. This is the same configuration I had my Dynaco ST70/ Tortuga passive pre in so it shouldn't be an issue.

Opinions?? Ideas???

FWIW-I have the amp runningn using the DAC as a pre and it sounds bodacious. Big fat bottom and sparkling highs and just enough in the middle to fill out the sound. Sweeeeeet.

Bummer! Which models did you get? I assume used. Dennis would certainly be able to get it rectified, though probably for a fee if you bought them used. Upside is the Inspire pre's are light enough for economical shipping.

If you want to do a bit of trouble shooting yourself, you could get a multi-meter and check various connections for weakness (I've never done this, so can't say more than that).

You seem to have isolated the problem to the pre itself. You've switched cables/channels, tried different tubes to narrow down further?

I had an issue with my LP-2 with one channel cutting out. I shipped it back to Dennis and he promptly diagnosed a bad tube socket pin connector/spring, replaced the socket and shipped back in no time.

Edit: I see you are in SC. Can't be too far from Cary, NC (at least by my standards here in Alaska). Dennis seems to love having visitors....

[Aercool]

Yeah - I agree with Peter. Maybe something got jostled a little bit in transit. Before sending to Dennis I'd pop the cover off the bottom to see if something might've gotten knocked loose. These are pretty simple pieces of equipment, no circuit boards or IC's to freak you out! I resoldered something on mine to make it mate up with my 12 ohm speakers better. Felt like a "shade tree mechanic" for a couple minutes... ;^)

[richamor]

Thanks for the replies folks. I sent Dennis an email with my problem and he responded immediately. As it turns out, I had the tubes in the wrong place. I had one of the output tubes and the filter tube swapped. Once he straightened me out on that the pre has been silent as the proverbial church mouse.

The upside to this, besides having a kickazz system, is it has garnered me an invitation to meet the man himself. I'll drive up Thursday and take the LP-2 up for him to have a look see. It's working perfectly now, but I can't pass this up.

Thanks to all that replied, and thanks to Dennis Had for building a great product that he obviously takes a great deal of pride in.

[Aercool]

Wow. That's very cool. Wish I lived driving distance to NC!

Further validation that this is the happiest I've ever been with a stereo system.

[pstrisik]

Originally Posted by Aercool

Wow. That's very cool. Wish I lived driving distance to NC!

Further validation that this is the happiest I've ever been with a stereo system.

+1!

Mark, Am I recalling correctly that you have the KT150 model (same as mine)?

[richamor]

Now......another email and he has asked that I bring the preamp and power amp both.....as he may "have a mod or two up his sleeve."

I feel like a 6yo with Christmas coming up