Looking for a FM-3 tech to do a rebuild

Hi,

I have a real clean Dynaco FM-3 tuner that I would like to have a tech with the necessary equipment and expertise, build my FM-3 into a very nice tube tuner.
I have a set of the new boards with James Lin improvements
Please message me if interested. Open to discuss options. I purchased the new boards just in case.They seem to be unobtainium.
I'm located in Reno,Nevada

Thanks,
Gary

Hi Gary,
I obtained 2 clean FM-3's & wanted to get a tech to make the best tuner out of both of them.

Before I went down that path, I researched all of the information that I could find from a well renowned but now passed Dynaco Guru named Bill Thomas.

Check out this thread:

https://dynacotubeaudio.forumotion.com/t3761-iso-photo-meta-data-from-fm-3-rebuilds-from-bill-thomas-a-double-dose-of-fine-tuning-from-audio-circle

The final post has links to the files that have not only the posts, but the pictures too.

I had an open communication with Chauncey Epperson A.K.A. ‘C’ from the FM3ZONE DynacoDesigns and The FM-3 Zone and wanted him to recommend someone who would dial in my FM-3 plus install his PEC modules. Before I even purchased my 1st FM-3, I was hoping to get the "The FM-3 Single Piece Board".

I asked C if he knew a tech who could take the best of my two radios to make a Super FM-3.

He sent me to Herb Ward, you can read about him & get his contact info from the services page of the Dynaco Designs website.
I shipped both of my FM-3’s to Herb, learned that one of them had the flat top tuning transformers (not the ones to get) but the other unit was the best unit to start out with.

I ended up with all of C's upgrades available to the public plus a few that he had not even published yet due to the connection between the 2 of them. It was not cheap, but I got what I wanted, I highly recommend him.

Herb has all the equipment to test, align make the radio just right.

Take Care, Be Well… Be safe!

Aguaazul

aguaazul wrote:Hi Gary,
I obtained 2 clean FM-3's & wanted to get a tech to make the best tuner out of both of them.
Herb has all the equipment to test, align make the radio just right.

Take Care, Be Well… Be safe!

Aguaazul

Hi Aguaazul,

I thank you for the lead. Your FM-3 beginning sounds exactly like mine ...

much appreciated!

Cheers,
Gary

Hi Aqua,

The bass performance is really important to me and I was wondering if you talked to Herb Ward about this?
I read Kirkvin's monster FM-3 review and I was drooling....
I would appreciate your thoughts. It looks like "C" increased the P.S. quite a bit too.

Gary

Some info on bass response from C at Dynaco Designs....

"The low end response you
desire comes from C82 and 83.
Additional filtering is a waste of
time and money...C"

I built 5 FM-3's a while back and one thing stands out after a few years of using them. I have the best one in my main system and the other in my shop on an ST-70 w / Kef 101's.

I am referring to the dead silent noise floor on the tuner I used an Epperson one piece motherboard in. I also used all the other parts he had at the time. This tuner does not have detectable ground hum or any other noise. The other one and the spare one I kept both have wired grounding links to join the boards as per original. I did replace all the boards in both these and did a complete replacement of everything possible at the time. All of them had the tuning section done with a signal generator and are spot on.
The grounding noise is very touchy problem on these tuners. My advice is check out the one piece board and use a signal generator for the tuning section if you want the best results. Good luck on your project, I love these FM-3's.

P.S. I have a few left over parts around if you need something.