Cornman

Most of you are familiar with this amp, 60 w per channel. Uses 6550 or KT88 . I had this one built 10 months ago with all the upgrades - Best Capacitors - Attenuation pot (so you dont necessarily need a pre amp sounds great straight from the source ) - Auto Bias board ( Greatest thing since sliced bread ) - digital bias voltage Meters installed ( cool bling ) . Basically like new, I spent $2,060.00 with all the upgrades -- yours for $1,400.00 . I have gone thru several other amps over the past year and had to spend almost twice as much to find something I liked better & it is better only by a small margin . If I had it all to do over again I would have stopped with this amp & call it good enough , because it does perform way above it price range .

Hey Joe" , I just saw this add on the Bay for your same amp . Looks like yours is a bargain price at $300 less. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Handmade-1626-PSE-Parallel-Single-Ended-Darling2-tube-amplifier/292843997893?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D56110%26meid%3D04f07a6cb82549149650713c8add1c4e%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D13%26sd%3D163660983724%26itm%3D292843997893&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ad8f8076a-6abc-11e9-afcb-74dbd18040c3|parentrq%3A6ac590fa16a0ab6af337c4bafff4050f|iid%3A1

A bump for a good forum member, also I have heard that Darling amp & it is dead quite & has plenty of power for horns . Happy tunes,

Does it have a digital out , so it can be used with separate DAC ?

I agree thats where its at "more listening . I have finally reached a point where I am tired of listening to the gear . Went out of town for 8 days - no music - on return to the casa - OH my do the horns sound sweet >>>>>>

I am not a believer in cable hype either but there are so many good comments about the Belden wire especially the Belden 8402 wire & its economical enough that I think I will give it a trial test . Belden "Brillance " is that one of there newer products ?

While were still on this subject - the Prima Luna has a device they call "AC offset killer " . Erick maybe you can explain for us what that does or how it works . I think it is Kevin Deal that says, that's what makes the Lunas have no transformer noise ( background hiss etc. ). I have high house voltage in our area usually about 123V too 117V . Bob Latino told me his amps need a variac because the amp design is set at 117 volts & any change in that changes the tube plate voltage . I contacted Prima Luna & asked them about my wall voltage and they said no worries that was not enough swing to bother the Dialogue at all . They did not say if that is due to the Offset devise .

Happy to hear a builder like your self confirm my view of the P Luna gear . I also agree the sound is a richer rather than analytic sound which I seem to prefer & also why it works with a Bob Latino 120 amp much better then i would have expected . Tried a Dennis Had set amp , but it was not for me . I am now trying out a 1626 tube set amp that joesporster has sent me & hope too try out other set amps as well for thats what I usually prefer with super high sensitivity like the Oris & the Jubilees that I formally had . I am using the Tang Bang drivers , have not yet had the opportunity to try Lother or others . For LF I am using the stock Cornwall . No real complaints as is , but per usual with most of us always looking for a the better mouse trap . 🤩

I loved it Maynard thanks for re posting it . Now here a few years latter in my search for 'the sound " the article was way more understandable & enjoyable having tried out most of the various build types as one of the "The Brotherhood Of The Firebottle " .

Yes in deed, I have the Dialogue Premium pre amp & it is dead quiet with the Oris horns . As you know with all this gear it comes down a lot to personal sound preferences . I did several shoot outs with various pre's & this one was golden for me . If you have not seen Upscale Audios video on this pre - watch it - full of good info . Just the feel of the volume pot speaks of the high quality of the build its like a Mercedes compared to a Model T . I have rolled a few of the stock signal tubes for vintage 12AU7 ' & so far have not noticed much improvement over the stock tubes,, there that good . Harpy to help with any other questions you might have Rplace .

Dang Mr. Jim that one looks like you bought it new back in the day & never took it out of the box . Beautiful !!

Sweet looking rig there Joe, seems very versatile as well . I would like to hear a EL84 tube some day ' . Better buys indeed , congrats .

For what its worth to you - I have had great success using a tubed pre's with SS amp . It almost always warmed up the sound. The trick is finding a pre that does not hum and has output sensitivity matching your amp . There are so many good pres to choose from . I am using the Primaluna dialogue now but once had a $300.00 modified Conrad Johnson that was just killer what a mistake that sell was . Do lots of research and listening , good luck,, let us know what you end up with .

Pm sent from Joe to Joe...

For sure Richie, I did that first thing this morning . My displeasure was never intended as an insult, for I had always found Dennis a most friendly & agreeable artist . I am particular about my sound an its my routine to buy 3 or 4 different brands to try, keeping one & returning or reselling the others . The Inspire amps have such a good rep I already have an offer but will need more listening time now that I have got it better dialed in . As for mothering ,no worries there at 75 I am still childish enough to use some good mothering ! LOL 😀

Ok guy's ,, late last night I found the source of my sound problem . My system is bi amped with crown amp pushing bass. I found the input sensitivity of the Crown & the Inspire's to be way different . The Crown has a high & low choice of input resistance , I reduced to the low setting & also lowered the cutoff point 80 hz . Eureka - there it was all the ugly - reverb,, 'tin can" , sound was gone . So now I need to start over & reevaluate the sound & my choice to sell or not . As RichyBb said below - good advise . Thanks to all the members for there support & suggestions .

Understandable Pallpoul , several other members here use The Inspire amp & highly recommended it , that was part of my decision to go with Dennis . There are a couple of things in play here - First & probably most relevant is the fact that my taste in sound does not always coincide with other people . For example I just sold the Cary SLP98 F! pre amp to Joesporster & my friend Kevinmen love this pre as do thousands of others but for me it was just too dry so I went with a differnt brand . Thats just me and also one of the great things about this hobby - we build systems to suite us ! Over the past hour I have changed the driver tube & that helped but the biggest improvement came from changing the crossover point on the Crown DSP for the bass cut off point - that has made it much better. But for now I am so upset (angry) with Dennis's response to my query - Could I give you $300.00 to except a return . He replied he was in disbelief & that ever one loves his amps & there would be no refund even at a profit . He is certainly entitled to set his business policies as he wishes but he is not entitled to tell me what I am hearing and what I like . So even if I adjust them enough to like the sound I dont know if I can live with them - he has left me a really bad taste .

Correct Shu - SEP with Auto bias . Pallpoul , I am using Oris Horns with Cornwalls for bass bins .

Received this pair of custom made Amps from Dennis Had today . Waited for 12 weeks for them to be built & paid $2,900.00 for them . But unfortunately there just not my cup of tea- possibly incompatible with my other gear . Either way it makes for a Bargain for someone else . Ouput tubes are 6550,, with two types of drivers come with set of 6sn7 and 6sl7 - your choice for different sound and one pair of 5ar4 rectifier's . Yours for $2,600.00 with free shipping . Any questions, please ask .

Nope only a Xcell page .

Attachment - NO woorkie .

PM sent ..

Thanks for the music guys, it opened some old and some new doors for me . 😀

Thomas, I own the Latino St120 amp with auto bias, it is great . As AV guy said above compare the components . Will has been around a long time & is a dealer with a good reputation but the sound is all about the components and design . Another nice feature of the B> Latino is you can choose to have a Pre amp or not - just strait from source to amp - the amp has a volume control . I will be receiving my new Dennis Hadd Mono Blocks this week and may put the Latino amp on the market, if interested send me a pm .

Phil Leash also used that same phrase in his book - "Stating a theme and taking it for a walk in the woods".  Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead