Re: Stinky sounding toob amps

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:04:38 -0500, Jon Yaeger wrote:

> in article pan.2006.01.04.20.50.14.500000@xxxxxxxx, bart at bart@xxxxxxxx
> wrote on 1/4/06 3:50 PM:
>
>> On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:05:34 +0000, Patrick Turner wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>>
>>>> Bret Ludwig wrote:
>>>>> Some tube amps sound stinky. SETs are usually guilty but some
>>>>> push-pull amps do as well. Most of the brands like Lafayette, Eico, HH
>>>>> Scott, Sherwood, etc. had many bad sounding models. Dynaco ST70 in
>>>>> stock fit sounds mediocre, not terrible, but will fail with constant
>>>>> operation usually today. Can be improved on by modification.
>>>>
>>>> ------------
>>>>
>>>> Bret,
>>>> What do you listen to? Tell us what you're system consists of,
>>>> I'm running my 4th stock ST-70 - and I think if you can get one
>>>> with the PA-60 and A-470 and the cloth leads in excellent condition -
>>>> you truly have a nice amp, without any mods at all,
>>>> I sold my first one for $450 and got $675 for my last one, which
>>>> was close to mint - people are willing to pay for a GOOD
>>>> st-70, many are trashed and were built poorly.
>>>> I live in New Mexico and it is very dry here,
>>>> so there is no oxidation, and there are more PHD engineers
>>>> per capita than anywhere else in the USA, these Sandia and
>>>> Las Alamos engineers were very good at building kit amps
>>>> because the ones I find are truly amazing, the wiring looks
>>>> professional.
>>>> I bought an ST-70
>>>> from Canada once and could not believe how rusty and
>>>> crappy it sounded - maybe you live in a wet climate and
>>>> have only heard ruined ST-70's or something.
>>>> Get some Svetlana tubes in there, and clean it with
>>>> some 2-26 or similar cleaner, it's a very good amp.
>>>> You can't judge the amp until you heard and tinkered
>>>> with at least 4 or 5 of them either.
>>>> The ST-70 is hardly stinking sounding, I've heard many
>>>> amps - it may be "mediocre" if you are an affluent 5k + amp person,
>>>> but hardly mediocre to most hi-fi enthusiasts and better than most
>>>> amps under 2k IF you find a good one, which is hard but not
>>>> impossible, $500 on ebay may get you a decent one.
>>>> AR-XA turntable - another of my favorites, better than all
>>>> the entry level crap for $500 + being sold today.
>>>
>>> A friend here waited awhile and bought a stock ST70 on Ebay.
>>> Its a not a bad amp compared to Leak or Quad II
>>>
>>> And plenty of opportunity exists to upgrade ST70
>>> power supply and input driver stage so that it is as good as anything made
>>> now.
>>> My friend listened, compared the ST70 to his existing SS gear,
>>> found he liked the sound, waited a bit more and bought an ST80,
>>> which I think was the last tubed Dynaco.
>>> ST80 has a better PS, far better pcb, and heavier power and opts.
>>>
>>> About half of the pile of stuff that my friend has bought on Ebay from the
>>> US has had some problem,
>>> even the ST80 needed new PS caps, but these were easily replaced
>>> by the tech who lives here so he is way in front with regard for value
>>> overall.
>>>
>>> Patrick Turner.
>>
>> The Dynaco ST80 was a 40+40 watt transistor amp with circuitry
>> derived from the ST120, (60+60 watts), it uses a high watt resistor as a
>> voltage divider between pair of NPN power transistors for output. A high
>> voltage electrolytic capacitor is used to isolate DC from the output
>> terminals.
>>
>> IMHO: The sound is okay. Bass is not very defined, treble is a bit soft.
>> Of course this is with my, (as defined by others in this group), "crappy"
>> Klipsch Heresy's.
>>
>> http://home.indy.net/~gregdunn/dynaco/components/ST80/schem.jpg
>>
>> http://home.insightbb.com/~dunn.greg/ST120/schem2.jpg
>>
>> -Bart
>>
>>
> No offence, Bart, but I traded for a pair of Heresy studio monitors and
> after I fixed the diaphragm I made the guy take them back. How can you
> stand it?
>
> Jon


I also listen to music through a pair of Advent Legacy's. I like the sound
better, but the efficiency has me driving my ST-70 at max. The Heresy in
comparison has reedy mids and a notch of frequencies in the bass region
missing, treble is okay though.

Are Advent Legacy speakers also "crappy" to this group?

-Bart
.

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