I just checked & mine is listed as #2 according to the add. So some sniper snagged the first production model before I could respond to Mr. Had’s message. Or so I think. But as my father would say to me” If you don’t think too good, don’t think too much.”
 Yaba daba do, Ralph

It looks like the add for the 2nd 300PSE build of 2023 is still active. With 2 more in line after this one, it seems there are amps to be “Had”.

With four WE 300's I would be content to just plug and play. Maybe swap an input tube or two.

$3k+ for a quad of WE 300B’s. WTF. LoL

Had, big smiles or not, can kiss my lily white azz.

Brad

Check out Aric audio. I have his 300 and love it.

Showme, why do you think it’s unlikely to buy off eBay? Another Decware member placed his order a month back (though his was for the PSE vs. the regular 300b).  You just need to set notifications to get alerted when the listing goes up and or inquire through the Audio Aficianado thread, which is monitored by Dennis and his part-time technicians.

Kamran

Hey Showme,

First off……..do you live in the Show Me state?

Secondly, I’ve owned a bunch of Had designed products over the past 30 plus years and never heard one I didn’t love. I bought a brand new custom built, fully upgraded, Cary 300SEI a year and a half ago, and it’s my favorite amp of all time.  You are probably aware that the 300SEI has been in continuous production for around 30 years and is now in it’s 6th edition.  If you buy one the way mine is set up, the Cary Direct price is $5,812.  With WE300B tubes and Cryotone 6SN7’s, that pushes the price up close to 8 grand.  BUT, Cary is running a great sale now, and you can have them build a standard 300SEI for a mere $3,800, and that includes all tubes, even a pair of Gold Lion 300B’s.  My build took less than one month.  You should check out their website and some of the recent reviews.

By the way, the only reason I am so out in the open about my Cary amp on Steve’s website is the Decware wait time on new builds.  I love my Decware gear, and at some point down the road I will likely buy a Sarah 300B for comparison purposes, but that won’t happen any time soon.  

Billy Wright, current owner of Cary Audio, and Had’s original business partner, seems like great guy.  He employs around 20 people, and like Steve and his Decware team, they bend over backwards to please their customers.  A look at Cary will be worth your time, even if you decide to go a different direction.

Great information guys. I’ll follow up on it. And yes I live in th showme state—-Missouri.

Quote:


Very nice, looking forward to how you think it compares with your UF025. Do you know what kind of tubes it comes with? From the pictures they look Russian.

It seems to me that in Steve Huff’s review of MoFi’s Source Point 10 speakers, he felt that the Dennis Had 300B amp didn’t have the beans to drive Andrew’s new design properly. I’m hoping to hear any forum member’s thoughts on driving this speaker with only 2 power tubes.



Not being driven to peak results with flea watt amps has been the only negative I’ve heard about these speakers. How about opinions on another YouTube darling, the CSS Audio 1TDx speaker?
     
       Merry Christmas, Ralph

Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating.

Coincident amps are very highly rated and Israel is also highly respected though I am not sure that they are necessarily night and day better than Had’s design. I listened to a Coincident EL34 amp this past summer, and it was pretty good.

Blackbess: Didn’t you order the Parallel Single Ended 300b? That should give you plenty of headroom to drive the Mofi SourcePoint 10’s.

Speaking of highly rated 300b amps, Thomas really really digs this Wilsenton R300. It’s $1499. Unbelievably low price for a 300b and you can just buy it on Amazon. Normally, that might be a turn off, but I do trust Thomas’ opinions, so this seems like a compelling deal.

https://youtu.be/S6L_ajh72JY

As people mention Steve Huff & the Willsenton R300, here you have both :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOcgEOecjPo&t=4s

I mentioned the Source Point 10’s in this Huff review thread because in his latest post on the SP 10, he talked about using the Willy R300. The thing I find troubling about the Thomas & Stereo review of the Willy is he didn’t think rolling the 300B was very important. And he didn’t change the 6SL7. I’ll say the stock Willsenton branded tube’s envelopes are as thin as an incandescent light bulb, maybe thinner. I have tried current production 274B & 5AR4 rectifier tubes from Decware as well as NOS GE & Svetlana (my favorite) 5U4G’s. A Sylvania JAN-CHS-6SL7GT, a RCA 5691 & a MELZ 6N9S all NOS in the 6SL7 slot. Sylvania 6SN7GT flat plates, Marconi 6SN7GTB’s & Foton 6N8S’s as well as some new Wathen Cryo 6SN7’s (very nice) have been rolled in the past year. I’m still waiting on Wathen 300B’s ordered last month to compare with the WE’s coming with the PSE 300. In Jay’s Iyagi video he also talks about the Willy & the CSS speaker & was wondering if anyone had any insights personally on them or the SP 10’s in SE amp rigs. I have a pair of DNA2’s due sometime next year if things proceed as expected  & they’re pretty efficient. Sarah seems a distant dream. Thank you.

   A prosperous New Year to all, Ralph


picupload

If I wasn’t already in the queue for one I’d snap that one up. Oh, man I’ve got to wait another month.

Congrats! Not surprised at all given my experience with his non-300b amp as well as the observations of other folks who have listened to his 300b amp.

that's a lot of tubes...

Indeed!! I used to have a 10 tubes amp in the past and it’s a never again. tube are much more expensive than they were 20 years ago. It make tube rolling and replacement painfull.
That’s a reason why I bought the ufo. A se34 could be an option too.

maybe in a few years who knows..

That might be the first production model. I think mine is next in line.

I’m “patiently” waiting as Dennis puts it. When I ask if it’s “soup” yet, he texts that he will be starting on it next week, repeatedly. Because it’s built on a larger chassis than his usual he had to use a different supplier. Problems resulted from the small order. His regular guy does I think 20 or 30 at a time. This is as far as mine has progressed as of the 15th.


russian image host

Potentially my unfinished “long” chassis in a video about the new 14”x 11”x 9” Inspire speaker. It won’t be long until I find out for sure. If I’m lucky maybe I’ll be able to compare it to a Sarah (ooh, ooh, with the shining bell covers) by the end of 2024.





That’s pretty cool but personally I prefer count Blaa.
Cape Cod ships ain’t got no sails, Ralph

Btw, somebody posted the KT-88 model I have for sale on Facebook. It’s a great deal.


ma seekers hurdle crossword

I found this on the Facebook group "Audiophile Swap and Shop" page this morning:



John

This picture was recently posted by a character that goes by “Blackcat” of his PSE300B shortly after delivery.



Here’s mine Thursday,



And my latest update, Friday evening, sounding good, looking cool.


crowd pictures

Shipping Monday if all goes to plan.

I owned 1 of Dennis’s first produced inspire amps with kt88’s

Did a lot of tube rolling, rectifiers, input tubes, different kt88’s as well as power tubes with more and less power. That was one of the things I appreciated about the amp was its ability to have so many faces, voices and characteristics.

My best results were with kt-150’s. It became a ballsy beast and Dennis is a great person to work with.

Congrats on the new 300b blackbess and looking forward to your impressions. 300b’s are the power tubes I settled on a year ago and haven’t looked back.

Funny enuf, in the first picture just above that Blackbess posted from blackcat, the 2 big chrome polished monoblocks shown behind the Dennis had 300b are my coincident technology Frankenstein monos.  

You can tell by their size and mass, They are not toys, and have taken SET to a whole new level for me.

Thanks so much Blackbess. I am going to reach out directly to learn more and perhaps connect with black cat.  I have found after 40 years (as has my wife!!), it’s not a destination, it’s a journey, so love to learn about new stuff!

They must be truly something as I have never heard them, 4 of the 300b tubes would be glorious to hear.

and then of course, each person has to choose based on their overall system requirements, and the overall tonal direction they are searching for.

I have a friend in the high fi audio business so have been lucky enuf to audition and own a lot more audio equipment than I otherwise would have been able to, and have come to roost on a well implemented SET 300b.

Dennis’s amps, with 4 of them certainly fit that bill in spades and I hope I get a chance to hear them soon, or at least talk to others, who have direct experience with them and my coincident frankensteins. Also interested to know what version of frankensteins he has as there are 4 of different versions with ascending parts, wires, transformers, etc.

PS, writing the above reminded me of listening to a pair of CR research 300b’s in my friends basement so many years ago with a pair or Ruark Excaliburs.  It was truly glorious, and the best I had heard at the time, but so much more than I could afford!

No internet back in those days, we had a monthly catalogue subscription for “used high end audio equipment listings and phone numbers from across North America” that we could buy privately!

Communication speed has certainly changed, I sold two decware products and a pair of Grover cables in a couple days on this fine site this last week!