Dennis Had 45 tube amp

[tromprof]

Recently purchased one of Dennis Had's Inspire 45 tube amps. My two channel system is Klipschorn bass bins (40 HZ-aprox 300 HZ) and k402 horns with Celestion Axi2050 drives (300 HZ-20,000 HZ?). Devastator horn sub as well. Everything is time aligned using a MiniDSP Flex unit. Bass bins are powered by Hypex, and I have several different amps for the K402. The Flex allows me to have 4 different configurations tailored for each amp.
My other amps are quite good IMO (Hypex, Quicksilver horn monos, and a BEZ 2a3).
The Had amp is a revelation. I was expecting a better version of the 2a3. Great tone and soundstage, but a bit mushy esp. in comparison to Hypex which is super clear and clean.
The Had 45 has the best 3D soundstage I have ever heard, gorgeous true tone, and clarity that rivals the Hypex. It is also quieter than the Quicksilver monos which until now were the quietest tubes I have heard.
I'm having a great time relistening to favorite recordings, they sound so refreshed!

 

[Dave C]

Now you can listen to all your records again!

 

[jackmowbray]

I settled on a Dennis Had Inspire 807 for my Cornwalls. Both are still together at the new owners place.

 

[looneytubes]

I would love to hear the 45 amp. I have one of the KT88 Fire Bottles and it's my main listening system. I'm currently running Sovtek 6550's in it.

 

[cecaa850]

This is a Dennis Had design from when he was with Cary. I have it paired with Bottlehead pre and Forte IVs.

 

[Pup]

Tell us about the Devastator horn sub please. I have seen the flatpack kits and considered it but never heard from anyone that used one.

 

[cecaa850]

Tell us about the Devastator horn sub please. I have seen the flatpack kits and considered it but never heard from anyone that used one.

I have a friend with one. The output is insane. Great for outdoors. Way overkill for a living room.

 

[tromprof]

The Devaststor is a great sub but it took a lot of tweaking to get it aligned with the Klipschorn bass bins.
I have a pair of F-20 horn subs in my basement theater and IMO its a better sub but now that I've got the Devaststor aligned just right its impossible to here where the K-horns stop and sub starts.
And no, its not overkill unless you crank everything to stupid volumes or have too small of a room.

 

[cecaa850]

The Devaststor is a great sub but it took a lot of tweaking to get it aligned with the Klipschorn bass bins.
I have a pair of F-20 horn subs in my basement theater and IMO its a better sub but now that I've got the Devaststor aligned just right its impossible to here where the K-horns stop and sub starts.
And no, its not overkill unless you crank everything to stupid volumes or have too small of a room.

Of course it's perfect if calibrated correctly, you could blend it with bookshelf speakers if you wanted to. My point was that you're just using a small fraction of its capability indoors under normal circumstances.

 

[tromprof]

Tell us about the Devastator horn sub please. I have seen the flatpack kits and considered it but never heard from anyone that used one.

Of course it's perfect if calibrated correctly, you could blend it with bookshelf speakers if you wanted to. My point was that you're just using a small fraction of its capability indoors under normal circumstances.

You seem more concerned with its ability to play very loud. I'm sure it's capable of playing quite loud (as are Klipschorns) but what I care about is good clean horn bass not volume. Size matters for this and I want it clean to 20 HZ and that's not happening with a smaller lesser sub.
So for my purposes I'm using its full capability.