What makes you build a system around an amplifier?

Unless you're a reviewer who listens to different piles of gear for months to form an opinion, I think most people luck into the synergy of a good system since they're not likely to be able to audition several amps in their own listening environment to see what makes the magic for them. I read about Dennis Had's "Inspire" gear for a while and enjoyed a Youtube interview with him before randomly finding one of his SEP amps for sale. I had no idea how it would sound with my current gear (as with any new component) but was astonished with the damn thing immediately…it just sounds right, or at least more right to my ears than any amp I'd listened to previously. Clarity (from 12 watts per side), tonal accuracy, etc., but mostly it keeps me stuck in my listening spot longer…the ultimate test I think. Luck is often created by action, but in audio there's so much hype and nonsense around what, in the end, wind up as personal preferences that it's great thing when something works for you.

Hey…you asked...My current favorite amp (by a mile) is a Dennis Had "Inspire" Fire Bottle SEP (pentode) HO (high output, and the only item ever in my gear heap that says "HO" on it). Bought it on a whim when a slightly used one appeared, and it's been big fun…extremely sensitive (in a good way) to any tube swapping including rectifiers, only has 4 tubes so less cost to roll everything, is the cleanest and quietest amp I've ever used in a system, and has that sound that I personally got tired of hearing about…until I bought this thing…one of the few times the hype (mostly from Had himself in his Ebay rants with misspellings and unbridled enthusiasm) held up to the product. Note that I've realized in my enthusiastic support of these amps that they're nearly unobtainable relative to other stuff…somewhat randomly marketed on Ebay whenever he cranks out another one, although his well regarded headphone amps can be bought through Moon in NC. I bet Shindo and Audio Note amps sound great, but at 1500 bucks or so the Fire Bottle is so laughably inexpensive for a "boutique" hand wired and well thought out amp it makes you wonder how the other guys get away with selling their stuff for many thousands more.

A relatively low powered single ended amp, if it sounds great, will force you to drop whatever your doing, sell all of your unnecessary belongings, and spend all of your time searching for the best sounding high efficiency speakers…this results in a great sounding system, albeit with a ruined life. Worth it.