Newbe not lurking any more

Hi, All
Iv'e been lurking here off and on for a couple of years, and am coming out of the closet. I just completed my first project a st-70 from scratch ( clone mayby ). I started in 2008 buying iron on ebay with the intention of building a st-70 and pas3, started using free time I had on the preamp and other things here soon left no time for it ( working on house ). But a few weeks ago I had a little free time and decided that the st-70 would make more scence to start with, I could at least use my computer and some Bose 301's that I have to here music agian, well I have to say I'm blown away with the reality that this can happen agian. Friday night I got the last of the tubes from "BNB" Tubes and I have to say I'm speachless!!. I grew up listening to Eico Amps and AR-2 speakers then when out on my own ended up with Sony SS amp,AR turntable and genesis 410's that sounded very good to me but later in life was looking for that sound that was a real representation of what was recorded. I'm on the right track, working on better source (preamp,ar turntable maybe building a good DAC ) also in the process at the moment building A-25's ( need tweeters )to fill in the void till I can build electrostatic speakers ( like Sheldons maybe ). I will post picts when I figure out how, My clone is built on a chassis of stainless steel hand made, "Vintage Electron" 7199 board, with vintage output transformers. I was worried about some of the wireing causing hum and what not, I have some power wireing routed to the front for power switch and such but the amp is as far as I can tell totally quiet. But this is through Bose 301 ll's that may not be as effeicent as other speakers I'm working on. I owe the success of this project to Bob and everyone on this site for all the little tidbits and advice givin here without all this I probably would have seen smoke rising and reach for the fire thingy. I Have never heard a better amp before, and I'm not rich but have had some nice equiptment through the years, not "audiofile" I can tell when the rest of my gear gets improved more that for me I'm on the right track!!
Thanks, Dave ( sorry for the long rant )

Hi Dave, as a newbie to this forum as well, it sounds like you have something to offer. Please keep us posted on your travels.

'Frank

Some pictures in the shop office room, Please look beyond the mess.
https://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q35/missloris/AUDIO/

Thanks, Dave

That is sooo pretty, my ST-70 blushes in shame!

Thanks Bob
I missed a couple of tweeters last week and some of the prices that they are going for I'm wondering if at 42 dollars each new Seas would be better???. I can see that maybe in the near future building A-35's with Seas new drivers too!!.Just a thought.

Thanks, Dave

Thanks, fswidecki
I fabricate stainless steel at work everyday allday, this is not polished well but in low light looks good and had to get it done, they all look good that I've seen on this site and serve well at what they do.

Thanks, Dave

tubenewbe wrote:Thanks Bob
I missed a couple of tweeters last week and some of the prices that they are going for I'm wondering if at 42 dollars each new Seas would be better???. I can see that maybe in the near future building A-35's with Seas new drivers too!!.Just a thought.

Thanks, Dave

I just built a pair of A25 clones using Seas H1189 1" (25mm) tweeters and Seas 25F-EW 10" (250mm) woofers. I also used Scan-Speak aperiodic vents. After a couple of months experimenting with various crossover configurations, both first and second order, I have finally settled on using just a 6.8uF capacitor in series with the tweeter (with an L-Pad for attenuation). Similar to Dynaco's original A25's, except those used a 5uF capacitor. If you are using any of the Seas/Dynaco woofers, then I would recommend trying the Seas H1189 tweeters.

Best Regards,
Charlie

I can't believe this nooby has stolen my moniker!

And what do I have to say about this? Welcome!

Before long I should hope to see a "Toob Noob", and maybe even a Tube Knewb, as this is a friendly and helpful friendly forum, I'm sure you'll already agree. A good place for nubes of all spellings to learn!

Cheers

Brenton

Another lurker here :-). Having seen everyone create these beauties I decided to take the plunge. Here are the pics of a recently restored (and upgraded) Dynaco ST-70. I dis-assembled every part and built it back after polishing and cleaning. The transformer covers have been lacquer painted. Most stuff cleaned out well except hard uneven stuff on the power transformer. Everything is original except the tubes and on/off switch.

Link to Photos

I've just done 15-20 hrs on these tubes but it sure sounds sweet. Powered by Roy Mottram's VTA board !
Thanks guys.

tubenewbe,

You mentioned Seas speakers/driver... I love em.

I built a pair of speakers using Seas drivers. the design is by Troels Gravesen.

Seas Classic 3 way

Here is the pair I built - My Speakers

Just tossing this out in case you are looking to build. Doing some vintage Dynaco speakers would be cool!

NICE AMP!

I like the SS chasis. The holes around the power tubes would be nice.

ladboy wrote:Another lurker here :-). Having seen everyone create these beauties I decided to take the plunge. Here are the pics of a recently restored (and upgraded) Dynaco ST-70. I dis-assembled every part and built it back after polishing and cleaning. The transformer covers have been lacquer painted. Most stuff cleaned out well except hard uneven stuff on the power transformer. Everything is original except the tubes and on/off switch.

Wow another one, these amps remind me of the classic car gang. They come out and show them and the cars look like they just came out the factory, lettering and polished!!! cooool.

Thanks, Dave

[quote="mantha3"]tubenewbe,

You mentioned Seas speakers/driver... I love em.

I built a pair of speakers using Seas drivers. the design is by Troels Gravesen.

Seas Classic 3 way

Hey they look great and I'm sure sound great, can I borrow them for a week or so :-). I've looked at many designs and some even get heavier than those including the interior bracing, must be inportant to be solid as can be, seen some with 1 1/2" mdf front and back or is it overkill??. They look like a lot of work to build and came out very nice. I'm ordering parts for mine right now, got the rotory switches coming but am wondering how inportant the resistors are, would 10 watt wire wound resistors from mouser be as good as audio wire wound resistors from Parts Express at 2.5 time the cost. Could one hear the difference??. I am buying solen caps from them.

Thanks, Dave

I think the bracing is important... The chamforing of the driver holes... Adequate stuffing/damping... The right box dimensions/litres volume of the cabinet... Bass port length & inner diameter.. All that stuff is important... Oh and driver/cross over part designs that work

This is why I went with a design from someone other then I. If I tried to build my own speaker design I'd discover things that don't work... Can't affoard it! I've heard from some good things about the Troels designs. If you decide on using seas driver you should look at http://www.madisound.com/ good people in Wisconsin. They drink beer, eat cheese and sell good drivers

I'm sure the resistors you get from mouser is good to go. I used Jantzen cross caps.. not too bad $$.. You can save a bit more with the Dayton caps and these are good too. 400 Volt caps overkill

I built with Maple and I did the bracing. I think I could park my car on these speakers. Troels and the folks of Norway like Baltic Birch. Much debate over MDF and hardwoods.. I do know with MDF you need the bracing as it has a bit more give.

BTW

The class car show reference is a good one... Dead on.

Seems you have some in this forum that have a classic Dynaco amp that is rebuilt and looks like new or better... Then you have the "Kit Car" guys like me who buy one of the amps sold by http://www.tubes4hifi.com/

Both look cool and sound great

Hi, mantha3 and all
I have the woofers (seas 25 tv-ew 6/71 ) and still looking for tweeters ( yes there are a pair on ebay at the moment) might buy the new version anyhow. Box's for a25's coming along also and parts are coming for crossover. My choice of speakers is one of room at the moment and a design that has more then proven it self over time ( I think ), I am set up in our Office/computer room now until the renovation and wall moving gets done in the rest of the house. I have made the speakers 1/4 inch higher than stock to fit new seas drivers down the road if I want. The woofers that I have seem to be in good shape and leaving options open for doing a35's in the future but my real dream still is a hybred electrostatic system. Looking at Sheldons website does not have and progress in a long time on his hybred speakers did he give up??

Thanks, Dave ( your speakers must kick butt )