Upgraded McCormack DNA-1 or Dennis Had Inspire SEP?


It’s make or break time. I need to make a decision about which direction I need to take regarding my next amplifier. I’m coming from a Jolida Fusion 3502P that I’ve spent the last year searching for the best tube combinations.

Do I keep the McCormack DNA-1 I just bought and save up to have it upgraded, or do I sell it and buy a new Insipre amp from Mr. Had? 

I have a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls, Better Cables silver serpent interconnects, high quality copper speaker cables, and I’m feeding them with a Marantz preamp, through which I feed almost all my music via Amazon/Heos.

Discuss. 

Thanks in advance.

jsbw

@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.

I sold the DNA-1, bought some Klipsch LaScalas, and suddenly realized that the McCormack’s thick low end combined with the anemic low end (compared to the Cornwalls’) of the LaScalas would have likely been a lovely combination.

 

Oh well. 
 

Dennis’ amp arrives next week. New Dean Westcott crossovers soon thereafter.

@jsbw Congrats on the amp! Should be great with the Klipsch. I've done a lot of tube rolling with mine. If you're not afraid of using adapters you can get sublime sound for not too much cash. You can use soooooooo many different tubes, you can go crazy. I might resemble that comment lol. I've used 6aq5,6f6, 6v6, 807, 6ar6, el34, kt88, el38, 7c5, and probably more for output tubes. So many good sounding combs out there.