Upgraded McCormack DNA-1 or Dennis Had Inspire SEP?

@jsbw I do enjoy hearing how different tubes sound but I also think that an amp like the Inspire also allows you to find the tubes that will sound best with your speakers. As it turns out, the KT88 tubes just don’t work well with mine. After trying many different tubes, I think I have settled on two-ish combos. The tall bottle 7n7, RCA metal 6f6, and RCA 5y3 are an amazing all-around combo. Just on the warm side on neutral and I get the best lower mids and accurate bass too. I also love using an RCA 6bx7, GEC e3375, and RCA 5u4g for a more neutral built somehow different kind of lovely (sorry I’m awful at describing sounds). I also have the option of popping in the the new Gold Lion KT66 if I want a more traditional HiFi sound. It’s like having three different systems! With a regular amp you just have to hope it sounds good in your system  With the Inspire KT88 Firebottle you can change the amp until the system sounds the way you like it  

I will be able to sell off a lot of the tubes I’ve tried and decided they weren’t for me. I will be hanging on to a lot of them in anticipation of another amp. I want to add a push pull amp to my stable. 

Mmm. Dennis Had FireBottle. I enjoyed my time with one for over 6 years. I also had an LP-27 preamp and still enjoy his CJ5 pre, even though it's now out of fashion. There's newer from Dennis in the mix.

If your speakers are efficient enough, it's definitely fun to try different tubes in the low power SEP amp. But there's also something to be said for generous headroom for any speaker, let alone the most efficient. Having more than one flavor of amp handy can be very enjoyable.

soix, they might buy your 0.5 at the SMC shop. No promises, but it might be worth a conversation.

Well it’s been a minute. I’ve since upgraded speakers to a pair of ‘85 La Scalas (Dean Westcott modified AAs are on the way). Cornwalls are now being powered by a Harman Kardon 430 fed by an old MacBook Pro and Topping D10s in my office.

I like the Jolida, but I have the disease of Audiophilia, and I’ve never owned a single-ended amp, so I broke out the plastic and bought an amp from Mr. Had this morning. @pinwa, wish I’d seen your post before then, but it is what it is.

@jsbw  Actually, my Dennis Had Universal SET amp has got a new lease on life. I had never really paired it with a preamp with gain but recently I got an old Cary SLP-70 preamp that had been heavily modded and I liked it so much I decided to try it with the Had and it sounded pretty good. Then I saw a post somewhere about the Tung-Sol 7581A tubes sounding good with the Had and I bought a couple of those and it really brought the Had to life. Next I bought a pair of Tung-Sol EL34B’s and they really sounded good with the Had. So now I’m playing the Had all the time and I’m glad I never sold it. I’ve been having tons of fun rolling tubes. I think adding a good preamp with gain really changed how the Had sounded.  And the 7581A and EL34B tubes add a level of dynamics I hadn't heard before.

Which version did you just buy?

@pinwa his latest single-ended pentode with a pair of KT88s, a 6sn7 and a 5u4g.

I hope the combo is magic, because I’ve spent the last year (and many hundreds of dollars) rolling tubes into my Jolida.