The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

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The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

Dedicated to the restoration and preservation of all original Dynaco tube audio equipment - Customer support for Tubes4hifi VTA tube amp and preamp kits and all Dynakitparts.com products


3 posters

    Been there, done that and loved it !!!

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    artright


    Posts : 1
    Join date : 2009-02-11

    Been there, done that and loved it !!! Empty Been there, done that and loved it !!!

    Post by artright Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:05 pm

    Hello to All !

    A little background helps. I was first and foremost a music fanatic. I worked with many bands in the late '60's all the way up to the early '80's. Left the business to start a computer company called "Corel". One of the three original founders. Made a ton of cash and lost it all to the wife in a real messy divorce.

    I went through speakers and amps like some people go though oil filters for their cars. Anyone remember the speakers called Spendor, Monitor Audio, Rogers(all BBC monitors at one time or other) to name a few. The tube gear Audio Research both integrated amp, power amps and tuners, the Halfer upgrade to the Dyanco amp.

    I currently suffer from MS and cancer. I was a sound engineer for many an LP when vinyl was the day. The LinnSontek LP-12 turntable with a Black Widow arm and a Grace cartridge. Those were the days. When listening to an album took care and time to do. Very seldom would someone stop the music in the middle of the record as that was considered very rude . The very fact that we have developed into people who are so intent on getting as much in as time permits and therefore must skip to the next track or to the next album or the next channels with the remote. Few people actually listen to music as we did in the past.

    Probably the best sound was a crossover unit I had with two different speakers. Rogers LS35A's or the Rega (Camber) speakers. Now then I would run them through an Audio Research preamp and the upgraded Dynaco amps (damned if I can remember the name of them) which I built. A tube crossover with a Linn turntable . Some direct to disc recordings and an evening of quite. I had a Bryston or Lexicon amp for the sub as the Dynaco could not give realistic tight bottom and the sound was great.

    Now with the MS, I want to try and build some of the sound of the day I had . The ex-wife took most of the 5,000 LP's we had. I have maybe 800 to 900 real great LPs that some of the people would give their Benz for.

    Bottom line. I found this web site last night and now I'm enthralled in knowing that this still exist and the kits are still available. I paid around $120 for my Dynaco's back then.

    All the best to you
    Gary
    Bob Latino
    Bob Latino
    Admin


    Posts : 3260
    Join date : 2008-11-26
    Location : Massachusetts

    Been there, done that and loved it !!! Empty Re: Been there, done that and loved it !!!

    Post by Bob Latino Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:10 pm

    Gary,

    An interesting story - I've been down the divorce road also - not a lotta fun ...

    Dynaco tube audio is still alive and well and one of the main reasons is that the internet allows us Dynaco afcianados to gather on bulletin boards like this one, share information and keep up with the latest developments in Dynaco tube gear.

    Way back when a lot of us got sucked into the 1970's mantra of > "solid state will replace tubes" and in the 1980's it was > "CD's will sound a death knell for LP's and make them obsolete". We now know that neither statement is true.

    I was one of the one's that got sucked into the solid state will replace tubes thing. I built two Dynakits in the mid '60's on my mother's kitchen table - a PAS-3 preamp and a Stereo-70 power amp. I used them every day for 10-11 years and (stupidly) sold them around 1977 for a HUGE Pioneer receiver that had more power but wasn't anywhere near as musical sounding as the PAS-3/Stereo 70 combination. I wish to hell I still had those two units.

    There has been a big resurgance in DIY tube audio. There are a lot of people out there who have built tube amp and preamp kits as well as speaker kits in the past few years. You need no real electronics knowlege to build a kit and you learn a lot in the process. You also get the self satisfaction of telling your buddies "Hey - Come listen I built my own music system!"

    Roy (of tubes4hifi), Kevin (of Dynakitparts) and myself administrate this Forum. We have no axe to grind and try to keep this friendly and helpful place if you are working on your own Dynaco tube equipment. There are still people SELLING Dynaco assembly manuals, schematics and pictorials on Ebay. Our philosophy is post them up on the Forum web site here as "Stickys" for FREE so everyone can get the copy they need to fix their Dynaco tube gear. To my knowlege, we have the largest collection of FREE Dynaco TUBE assembly manuals, pictorials and schematics found anywhere on the internet. A note to all that read this > If you have a Dynaco TUBE assembly manual, schematic or pictorial that we DON'T HAVE please Email it to me a > Bob01605@aol.com as an attached file and I will see that it is posted up here for all.

    Bob
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    rwferr


    Posts : 16
    Join date : 2009-01-11

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    Post by rwferr Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:19 pm

    Hi Gary glad you are here! Great bunch of people and great equipment too! I had never had tube stuff in my youth. I was 14 in 1978 and started out with a Pioneer SX-780 and a technics turntable. Worked all summer and bought those and a set of New Advent Loudspeakers. I thought I was a real audiophile. I too like many went CD in the late 80s but luckily I had kept all my albums.

    The one exposure I had to tubes was an old RCA Radio that was actually made in West Germany in the 50s. Probably by one of the German companies and rebranded. It had been purchased by my Grandfather when he was in the service. I ended up with it and got it working a few years ago. It has all originial Valvo tubes. Well after listening for a couple years to that radio and its incredible tone I came to realize that my 120 watt per channel Kenwood AV receiver actually sounded like crap. That little radio actually gave me more of an education in sound than all my previous stereo equipment I had ever owned! About two years ago I was searching around for tube amps and came across the Dynaco stuff and was gonna buy an old ST-70 off ebay but somehow I stumbled upon Bob and his ST-70s. Man am I glad I did. I am so glad I did not buy an old stock ST-70 off ebay. And Bob recommended my Conrad Johnson PV5 Preamp and Kentwood KT-7500 tuner too. In the last two years I have learned a hell of a lot and compared a lot of systems and mine sounds damn good. Maybe still not exactly the tone of that magical radio but there is just something about that thing....But I did get some 12AT7 Valvo tubes for the ST-70 and its getting there!

    Richard

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