In case you were wondering. Dynaco covers.

As I'm certain, most are aware that Dynakit parts has covers for the 70 and 120 models.
They have brown in stock, and also offer black as well.
The black has been out for awhile, but after speaking with them on the phone, they should have them back in about two weeks from now.

I asked the guy what he thought about a stainless steel cover.
He said he'd love one, and said many others would too, but that the welding of it would cause irreparable damage to the finish.
He then suggested talking to Radial engineering (a swear word perhaps?) about a pretty nifty cover they offer.



After checking with them today, they won't sell a separate cover.

I hate it when people won't take my money!!!!

bbqjoe wrote:As I'm certain, most are aware that Dynakit parts has covers for the 70 and 120 models.
They have brown in stock, and also offer black as well.
The black has been out for awhile, but after speaking with them on the phone, they should have them back in about two weeks from now.

I asked the guy what he thought about a stainless steel cover.
He said he'd love one, and said many others would too, but that the welding of it would cause irreparable damage to the finish.
He then suggested talking to Radial engineering (a swear word perhaps?) about a pretty nifty cover they offer.



After checking with them today, they won't sell a separate cover.

I hate it when people won't take my money!!!!

Who wants an amp that looks like a toaster, anyways?

deepee99 wrote:

bbqjoe wrote:As I'm certain, most are aware that Dynakit parts has covers for the 70 and 120 models.
They have brown in stock, and also offer black as well.
The black has been out for awhile, but after speaking with them on the phone, they should have them back in about two weeks from now.

I asked the guy what he thought about a stainless steel cover.
He said he'd love one, and said many others would too, but that the welding of it would cause irreparable damage to the finish.
He then suggested talking to Radial engineering (a swear word perhaps?) about a pretty nifty cover they offer.



After checking with them today, they won't sell a separate cover.

I hate it when people won't take my money!!!!

Who wants an amp that looks like a toaster, anyways?

I'm going to get a cover at some point just to keep the dust out when its not being used.
I think it's ok looking.

They need to rethink their whole approach. Any sale of any piece or part is still a sale.

I see they've now lowered their price to half of what they were originally asking.

In general, I take a rather utilitarian view of things-electronic, much as with things-mechanical.

Tubes will have covers. Two cats, two dogs, four grand-children, and various other visitors make that a practical necessity. And, as they are a means-to-an-end, being fine music, I am not much of an aesthete except as it applies to ergonomics. Good design = intuitive operation, and I guess that is why it is that I prefer Dynaco, AR, and some HK equipment - with the exception of Revox, which is truly over-the-top when following the basic philosophy of never using one part, knob, button or jack when three-or-more will do. And yet manages to do all this resulting in some of the finest sound around.

I like systems that do not intimidate my wife when she is of a mind to listen to something. She will not touch the Revox A720, but will interact well with the AR and Dynaco systems.

Bob Latino wrote:Read what I wrote at the link below about the price drop (price cut in half) about the Radial Engineering ST-70X. They start off at $3000 for the amp. They sell none or next to none. They have someone put one on Ebay to see what the amp will go off at on the open market. They are shocked when it sells for $1213 so they (A) drop the price to $1499 to flush out any stock they have and/or (B) see if they can make any profit on the amp @ $1499. I do not think that they can make any substantial profit on the amp @ $1499 and I think that in maybe 2 years time, this amp will not exist anymore. They made the same mistake that Panor did in the 1990's with the Dynaco ST-70 Series II > "Let's bring back the Dynaco ST-70 in a wired version but update everything to 1990 standards". Panor could not sell their version for $1000 in the mid '90's and the unsold stock was dumped on the US market for about $400 per amp. Does that sound similar to > "We can't sell the (2018) Dynaco ST-70X for $3000 so lets flush them out at $1499" ?

Earlier Dynaco ST-70X post

Bob

But doesn't everybody love "New and improved" at twice the price???

Even if they'd sell you one, it wouldn't fit a VTA ST70/120 or Vintage Dynaco either...

From their site-

Dimensions:
17" x 9.25" x 7.5"
(431 x 235 x 190mm)

Brushed aluminum.

Maybe you could get a Dynakit one and have it nickel plated..?
I got the black one from them (Kevin was very helpful)
It's very solid and nicely done. Just a happy customer, BTW

New2Tubez wrote:Even if they'd sell you one, it wouldn't fit a VTA ST70/120 or Vintage Dynaco either...

From their site-

Dimensions:
17" x 9.25" x 7.5"
(431 x 235 x 190mm)

Brushed aluminum.

Maybe you could get a Dynakit one and have it nickel plated..?
I got the black one from them (Kevin was very helpful)
It's very solid and nicely done. Just a happy customer, BTW

That's a thought too!
I think I'll probably order a black one when they come in, and be done with it for now.
Kevin had me somewhat intrigued when I spoke with him, that's why I investigated.

I've got a black Dynakit cover. It's perfect.

Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

Do you think there would be that many of us interested in a stainless steel cover?

bbqjoe wrote:

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

Do you think there would be that many of us interested in a stainless steel cover?

Prolly not, but you don't know till you ask.

deepee99 wrote:

bbqjoe wrote:

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

Do you think there would be that many of us interested in a stainless steel cover?

Prolly not, but you don't know till you ask.

There's always what a friend of mine referred to as Okie Chrome. (spray paint)

bbqjoe wrote:

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

Do you think there would be that many of us interested in a stainless steel cover?

Yes. Or any other non-magnetic material.
As for welding destroying the finish, i do not care as i want it black painted anyway.

peterh wrote:

bbqjoe wrote:

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we ask the other mfgrs (Kevin, McIntosh, whomever) what shops they use to make their covers. I doubt very many have in-house fabrication shops. A single design cost would be prohibited, but if a few hundred of us ordered the same thing that might bring costs down to a reasonable level. Perhaps a design contest with scale-able entries for the three basic amp chassis types.

Do you think there would be that many of us interested in a stainless steel cover?

Yes. Or any other non-magnetic material.
As  for welding destroying the finish, i do not care as i want it black painted anyway.

@ peterh -- you and the Rolling Stones

My Dynakit cage is steel therefore magnetic. It saves on fasteners.

I put vents in the sides of mine (another forum thread) and filled them in with a similar perforated stainless so the material is available.
I happen to think the black contrasts nicely with the S/S amp.

I would be fascinated to know why non-magnetic materials would be of concern. I have considered physical issues - and come to the conclusion that those would translate to mechanical noise in the worst case, and therefore easily overcome. I have considered some sort of magnetic interaction affecting the sound, and as the only possible source of magnetism would be the transformers and chokes, that interaction would be present in any case. And any sort of induction would work equally well on stainless as aluminum as mild steel as copper as brass.

Welding stainless is no trick at all, if done with care. I worked a few years as a machinist, and one of our products was a bellows-seal for pumping liquid sodium. The ID was about 11" (28 cm) and the bellows was welded 20-gauge stainless. They were *PERFECT* when finished.

Thoughts?

Peter W. wrote:I would be fascinated to know why non-magnetic materials would be of concern. I have considered physical issues - and come to the conclusion that those would translate to mechanical noise in the worst case, and therefore easily overcome. I have considered some sort of magnetic interaction affecting the sound, and as the only possible source of magnetism would be the transformers and chokes, that interaction would be present in any case. And any sort of induction would work equally well on stainless as aluminum as mild steel as copper as brass.

Welding stainless is no trick at all, if done with care. I worked a few years as a machinist, and one of our products was a bellows-seal for pumping liquid sodium. The ID was about 11" (28 cm) and the bellows was welded 20-gauge stainless. They were *PERFECT* when finished.

Thoughts?

Kevin told me he was a welder, FWIW.
From what he told me, the covers they have/make are spot welded.
I haven't messed with spot welding since high school shop class, but I do recall it could leave quite a burn mark.

Peter W. wrote:I would be fascinated to know why non-magnetic materials would be of concern. I have considered physical issues - and come to the conclusion that those would translate to mechanical noise in the worst case, and therefore easily overcome. I have considered some sort of magnetic interaction affecting the sound, and as the only possible source of magnetism would be the transformers and chokes, that interaction would be present in any case. And any sort of induction would work equally well on stainless as aluminum as mild steel as copper as brass.

Welding stainless is no trick at all, if done with care. I worked a few years as a machinist, and one of our products was a bellows-seal for pumping liquid sodium. The ID was about 11" (28 cm) and the bellows was welded 20-gauge stainless. They were *PERFECT* when finished.

Thoughts?

I have tried a genuine st70 cover on my vta70. And it hums !
The field from the mains transformer is enough to set the cover above the transformer in motion,
causing a noticable hum.

Same occur d to me an thousend year ago when i built a pair of mkIII. The hum was
unbearable, but as most of it came from the thin chassies that was set in motion,
removing the covers only partially silenced them.
They were sold and an AR D76 took their place ( with a thick chassies of aluminium and
a well shielded mains transformer ) that did not put the cover in motion.

The VTA is well build on a non-magnetic and thicker chassies, thus it is quiet !

I never said welding stainless steel was difficult and have in the past years welded very thin gauge materials including titanium and various aluminum alloys. I was actually referring to the spot welding or heliarc welding of mirror polished stainless steel. Discoloration will occur on polished side of the material and removing this coloration will likely impact the mirror finish. Now it is possible to polish these out and completely restore the finish...but the cost to do all of this would be crazy expensive. Now if we made this cover from 2-B finished stainless steel and then glass beaded the exterior we could achieve a very uniform finish and not need to worry about any welding discoloration.

FWIW, neither my VTA ST120 or my black painted steel Dynakit parts tube cage audibly buzz or vibrate to my ears.

New2Tubez wrote:FWIW, neither my VTA ST120 or my black painted steel Dynakit parts tube cage audibly buzz or vibrate to my ears.

Could be 50hz / 60hz issue. We have 50hz here.

Finally ordered and received my black Dynaco cover.
It looks just fine.
A slight oversight on my part, it's not going to fit with the heatsink I installed on the back of the transformer.
Three choices as far as I see it.
Remove the heat sink.
Don't use the cover at all, or
Cut the cover to fit for the heatsink.

Not sure how I'd go about cutting it if I chose to.
I suppose a Dremel with a cut off wheel would probably work.

I'm really only planning to use the cover to keep dust off it when not in use.

The heat sink really isn’t necessary.

corndog71 wrote:The heat sink really isn’t necessary.

Yeah, I know it probably isn't, a little caution can't hurt though.
Without ac, sometimes the ambient temp in the house can reach 100º in the summer.