Got this old girl all warmed up and just had a good listen to it. First impressions is this is not a modern amp. I listened to some Tasha Sultana and boy does this amp pair well with her type of music. Absolutely beautiful, smooth warm and holographic sound. Very good match. Going to listen to some more electronic music and see how it does. I get the feeling it might not do as well. Will report back but I need to power it down now. It’s hot as balls in here now!
Dynaco ST-70 project
Just got a crusty old Dynaco ST-70 tube amp off e-bay to rebuild. It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s amazing that you can still get replacement parts for something so old. The unit I got is in good shape electrically, but needs a new chassis. The chrome is old and pitted with rust here ans there. The output transformers also need a nice coat of paint too. Going to listen to it for awhile then do a transplant into a new chassis. It will. Give me the opertunity to replace older components while I’m in there.
I have been looking over the schematics and it’s a really simple design. Elegant simplicity that has stood the test of time. Will take some pictures when I get the chance. Plan on using it on my main workstation. Currently using an Emotiva integrated amp but I think it’s more interesting to use a preamp and amp here. Going to use a cheap Schitt amp for now and maybe get a vintage Dynaco pre-amp to rebuild later on down the road. I have also been eying a Dynaco Stereo 400’s on e-bay but that’s way down the road.
Want to get more into repairing old vintage equipment. Might hit some estate sales and garage sales this year and see what I can find… Not much in terms of deals in e-bay… Most people know what they have. Someday maybe a Sanusi AU X11! That’s a grail for me. Anyway that’s enough for now.
Latest project completed
Finally finished a project I have been dragging my feet on for awhile. The surround on my Vandersteen’s midrange detached. I have tried my hand at re-foaming speakers before and didn’t have very good luck with it. I decided to remove the drivers are send them back to Vandersteen.
Above is me testing them once I got the drivers back and re-installed. Richard Vandersteen really is brilliant with this design. Everything is well build but he saves so much money on the finishing just covering it with a sock and some fancy top and bottom plates!
Above you see them under test after I installed the new socks and top and bottom plates. They sound as good as ever even without proper placement. Still working on getting this system back up and running. I have some really nice vintage amplification going on them soon and my highly modified Rega P3 as the main source.
It’s been a minute!
Been super busy for awhile! Finally got a chance to check in here and make sure things are still running smoothly. Will do a better update when I can but for now just letting people know that I am still alive and well