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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakatabg
It has 12AX7 tubes and I just read the manual book and they don't mention anything for biasing. That is strange. I will check to find around a place where they do that and I will get the amplifier checked there! Thank you guys for the big big help! Soon I will be helping people like you are helping me know for the tube amps!
As Peabody mentioned 12AX7 is a preamp tube, so fixed bias. Your output tubes should have bias pots. I am not an expert, perhaps your output are fixed as well. Either way take it to a pro. Another benefit of a pro is they will test your tubes for strength, and estimate how much life is left in them.
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I have been listening to this amplifier and whole morning and I love it. I think the bias is fixed because I don't have anywhere a bias pots and I checked everywhere even online there is nothing. I will still go to a store. I am looking now and this afternoon I might go get the amplifier to the professional doctors to check it! I like how when I turn it off it keeps going for few seconds. Thanks everyone who helped me.
Regarding the power, now it is a lot powerful than before! I guess it had to work for a while to get going and again love the sound, I can't imagine how those mcintosh tube amps will sound. Maybe one day :)
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No, Dak, the 12ax7's do not get biased, they are your preamp tubes. Only your EL84's will need biased.
FWIW, there is a Dynaco power amp ST-35 which is also 17 watts. Could be where the confusion came in. Oddly enough same power but a bit different circuitry from the SCA-35.
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Ok here are 2 good news.
I went to a store where they fix guitar amplifiers and etc to check my tube amp. I left it there and I had to wait like an hour till they check whatever they have to check. I was walking around and I found a thrift store few streets down. I walked it and I found in mint condition Technics SA-5200A receiver. All lights work and there is not even a single scratch. For $7.00 and in that condition I couldn't pass it. I put it next to the SA-300 I have.
The second news is that the amplifier I have is in great condition and the tubes are like new the guy said. He said they were hardly used and he sees in them many years ahead. He said the amp bias is right and he hasn't done anything to the amplifier. He said free of charge but I gave him $10 for the favor.
Ok here is a picture of the new find for today!
http://i31.tinypic.com/fcs6rk.jpg
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Congrats! What a good day! You & the Kid must have the Midas Touch!
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We have a lot of electronics home. I have few piles of receivers and amplifiers, I know thekid has a lot of stuff too. We like new vintage things like most of the people here but sometimes we overdo it! Rock n roll
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakatabg
We have a lot of electronics home. I have few piles of receivers and amplifiers, I know thekid has a lot of stuff too. We like new vintage things like most of the people here but sometimes we overdo it! Rock n roll
No Way! Hey, all you need is a pathway to the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.:14:
I really enjoy (as wellas others I'm sure) the "finds", comments, and seeing all that neat stuff. Goes to show good audio doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg.
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I enjoy it too, thats why I made this thread and I keep it updated.
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Midas touch indeed, to get a Dynaco in mint condition...... It's like the perverbial only drove it on Sunday to church and occasionally to the store :)
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I am like that, I see a good deal and I get it.
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Right on dak!! Enjoy the amp!!
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O yes, since the electric guy told me it is good to run, I feel good now and I enjoy the sound of it a lot. I wasn't much into the tube amplifier but now I am.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luvtolisten
Congrats! What a good day! You & the Kid must have the Midas Touch!
Need to work on my "touch" as I would love to score some tube gear like Daks just got. I don't even see it come on CL down in my area. Would love to hear what my Klipsch sound like on tubes.....
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Nice!! I especially like the 3rd and 4th pictures. I know I'm dating myself, but that's the stuff I used to go to the audio stores and drool over.:cool:
But I know your holding back on us! I'm sure you have more speakers to go with some of those amps. C'mon,Give!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
Need to work on my "touch" as I would love to score some tube gear like Daks just got. I don't even see it come on CL down in my area. Would love to hear what my Klipsch sound like on tubes.....
Man, you could not buy another thing and still be miles ahead of the rest of us!
Once in a blue moon I'll see some tube gear here, but the price is high. I think a lot of people in this town have discovered vintage, or maybe there was none to start with. The Goodwill stores. garage, and especially estate sales have dried up.
That deal Dak got is a once in a lifetime . Like the old guy who had a mint old car in his garage for years, and doesn't realize the full value.
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Yeah there are more but I didn't feel like going to the storage : )
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakatabg
Yeah there are more but I didn't feel like going to the storage : )
I understand, I have about 30 pair myself, but it's just too hot for that sort of thing right now. Maybe a good winter time thing to do.
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So what are your plans for all that vintage gear?
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Daks
Thanks for the pics!!
I showed them to my wife and now she has promised not to givem grief about all my gear in the garage....... :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frenchmon
So what are your plans for all that vintage gear?
Well the best stuff I keep for myself for my little collection plus i get everything on a super good deals so even if I decide to sell them one day I will get more than I have paid and with the time it is harder and harder to find good vintage pieces so the price will go up for sure. It is like a little investment :) ha ha
Ha ha thekid, I am glad I saved you some crying from the wife side.
Do you remember this picture from the last year I posted? I have the speakers in the storage but I have to check what I really have because some of the stuff I don't even remember.
Pioneer CS-R580 12" Woofers
Pioneer CS-G403 16" Woofers
Scott 315D 15" Woofers
http://i32.tinypic.com/2re5ira.jpg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
Daks
Thanks for the pics!!
I showed them to my wife and now she has promised not to givem grief about all my gear in the garage....... :D
Thekid, did you see the second picture with the Kenwood power amps and at the top the preamps for each amp? You must like that since you are a big Kenwood fan!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakatabg
Great stuff! I, of course, am particularly fond of the "silver" stuff from the '70s.
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That is the first thing that the people look at when they come home, the silver faced receivers and amplifier. Everyone who likes vintage electronics likes the silver stuff. It is a lot of money though
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1 Attachment(s)
Dynaco ST-80
Latest pick-up is a Dynaco ST-80 solid state amp from the late 60's. cosmetically it is in great condition but soundwise it has some issues. Not sure if is worth fixing up though I have read that with some modifications it can be a pretty solid performer.
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Great find Thekid, now we have to get together and compare Dynaco sounds with you :)
What is the problem with the amp? No sound or ..., it look nice
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
Latest pick-up is a Dynaco ST-80 solid state amp from the late 60's. cosmetically it is in great condition but soundwise it has some issues. Not sure if is worth fixing up though I have read that with some modifications it can be a pretty solid performer.
Nice. Just to be aesthetically different, I would fix it up. What's the prob?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poppachubby
Nice. Just to be aesthetically different, I would fix it up. What's the prob?
Pops-Daks
Thanks guys the pic really does not do it justice as the bottom is a really nice chrome. Almost mint condition.
Soundwise it just has a little distortion in it. Not too noticable on instrumental but its there on vocals. The caps look like they are in great shape so I am wondering if it is a transistor or something fairly minor. There are supposedly mods to it that some put it in McIntosh territory. Debating whether to put money towards a mod here or getting an Adcom amp because I really do like my recently rehabbed Adcom pre-amp and think that a complete Adcom set up would be sweet.
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I'm not sure how much experience you have with Adcom power amplifiers. At one time or another I've heard or used most of them. Many people myself included think the 545, 5400 series are the sweet spot in the line. IME they have a sweeter sound than the 555, 5500 series. The extra muscle the 555 etc have shows itself in effortless bass. The mids and highs just don't seem as sweet as the 545 series. The 535, 5300 series sound to me like the little engine that could. They don't have enough oomph! They give all they've got and it sounds like it.
The going rate for 545, 5400 amps is around $200. IMO you could do a lot worse with $200.
Of course you could do what I've done. I mentioned a while back I had bought a Crown XLS202 on someones recommendation. Well, I sold it for a $10 loss and bought a XLS402, 300WPC@ 8 Ohms for $199 including shipping. So actual cost to me is $209. I liked the 202 a lot. I was using it only for my subs. So when I had a chance to go for the bigger brother I took it.
I liked the bass the 202 was giving. I'm expecting the 402 to sound more effortless (I hope).
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If the Dynaco approaches Mac then that is the way to go. Adcom is pretty good but not Mac good. In Adcom I had the 5400 and sold it after picking up the 5500. Not only did the 5500 have more power it sounded much better, the highs were smoother and more refined. I think I remember talking about this already.... any way for me the 5500 was my sweet spot in the line. I haven't heard the older 545/555 but they are supposed to be truer to Passes original design.
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Thekid, here you can read all the specs, schematic and parts for the amp you just got so if you discover what is burned you can see the part
http://home.indy.net/~gregdunn/dynaco/components/ST80/
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That's interesting how the power drops as the impedance gets lower.
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Warning.... long post.....
Daks-Thanks for the link I have been there already as there does not seem to be much info on this amp. I think in part because of its age and in part because the pre-amps that these was often matched to were horrible based on the general consensus. My guess is that alot of people blamed the short comings of the pre-amp on the amp.
Mr.P/JoeE- Glad to hear your opinions of the Adcom amps.... it now makes my decision process even tougher... :D
The 500 series is generally considered to be better than the 5000 series and I think would be the way to go since I already have the GFP-555 pre-amp and GFT-555 tuner. The GFA-555 is as JoeE mentioned the beast in that line up and usually goes for the biggest bucks, Stereophile magazine had a very favorable write up on it several years ago. The 535 or 535 II does not have the power of the 555 or 545 but is considered by many to be the better amp. I am still kicking myself that I did not jump on one E-bay that had a Buy Now price of only $100. They seem to be selling on E-Bay in the $125-$150 range plus shipping. My guess is that if I have the mod done to to the Dynaco it will probably be in the same range so you can see where I am torn. I am leaning towards the Dynaco for the simple reason that if I have that re-built now it should be good for some time to come. I could buy an Adcom blind and turn around a few years later and have to sink money into it. There is also a better chance of stumbling on a "deal" for a Adcom amp as compared to finding a modified Dynaco. Perhaps a little patience and things will all come together.
Mr P. you had mentioned to me in a thread somewhere you though that an Adcom set-up would be comparable to my Kenwood Basic set-up. This little experiment with the Dynaco gave me some insight to that idea. I tried the Dynaco with both the GFP-555 and the Kenwood C2 just to see if that might have been the issue with the distortion which it was not. Since I had things broken down I ran the GFP-555 with the Kenwood M1A amp. The sound was very similar to the Kenwood M1A/C2 combo. Previously I was running an Onkyo M-5000 amp with the Adcom pre and found the sound to be very detailed and open. Not so with the M1A which seemed a little muffled and a bit lacking on the low end. I am going to hook the Onkyo up to the C2 to see how that sounds but I think it is going to show me that at least the pre-amps might be similar.
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The Onkyo must be a pretty good amp. When you said the M1 lacked in bass do you mean amount or just detail? Kenwood never really seemed to embrace high current but their amps usually seemed to have ample bass, they do have sort of a murky quality to it though.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
The Onkyo must be a pretty good amp. When you said the M1 lacked in bass do you mean amount or just detail? Kenwood never really seemed to embrace high current but their amps usually seemed to have ample bass, they do have sort of a murky quality to it though.
Detail-murky is a good word.
I don't think the Onkyo is anything special-at least in pedigree. I think it came from a rack system that Onkyo was selling in the early 90's. I was using it as an extra amp in my HT set-up before I decided to trim things down.
I really am getting to the point where I want to get it down to 2 or 3 really good systems. so that means fixing up some things and letting others go. Just too much stuff!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
Detail-murky is a good word.
I don't think the Onkyo is anything special-at least in pedigree. I think it came from a rack system that Onkyo was selling in the early 90's. I was using it as an extra amp in my HT set-up before I decided to trim things down.
I really am getting to the point where I want to get it down to 2 or 3 really good systems. so that means fixing up some things and letting others go. Just too much stuff!!
Less is more. The stuff you sell, use the cash to make sure everything you have is running top notch.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
The Onkyo must be a pretty good amp. When you said the M1 lacked in bass do you mean amount or just detail? Kenwood never really seemed to embrace high current but their amps usually seemed to have ample bass, they do have sort of a murky quality to it though.
I use my M1 with G-1100 equalizer and I get a lot of bass. If you want bass Marantz is for that, they have so much bass that you can hear the cabinets in the kitchen shaking
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poppachubby
Less is more. The stuff you sell, use the cash to make sure everything you have is running top notch.
That's the plan. The audio shop I found up where my daughter goes to school does great work, is fast, affordable and best of all only $20 for a diagnostic fee which goes towards the purchase price. The places down where I live charge $65 for a diagnostic fee and don't ever seem to be in a hurry to get gear back to you.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
That's the plan. The audio shop I found up where my daugter goes to scholl does great work, is fast, affordable and best of all only $20 for a diagnostic fee which goes towards the purchase price. The places down where I live charge $65 for a diagnostic fee and don't ever seem to be in a hurry to get gear back to you.
I have never seen a shop with such a small bench fee. For a reputable shop, $75 is average here. CDN funds.
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I got this receiver few days ago but I haven't had much time to post it here. Near mint Sherwood S-7600 made in the mid 60's. I did a google search and it says it is one of the first transistor receivers all-silicone. Very nice receiver and it sounds pretty good.
http://i30.tinypic.com/xbcrv5.jpg
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