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  1. #226
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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

  2. #227
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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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?

  3. #228
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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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.

  4. #229
    Phila combat zone JoeE SP9's Avatar
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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).
    ARC SP9 MKIII, VPI HW19, Rega RB300
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    Behringer UCA222, Emotiva XDA-2, HiFimeDIY
    Accuphase T101, Teac V-7010, Nak ZX-7. LX-5, Behringer DSP1124P
    Front: Magnepan 1.7, DBX 223SX, 2 modified Dynaco MK3's, 2, 12" DIY TL subs (Pass El-Pipe-O) 2 bridged Crown XLS-402
    Rear/HT: Emotiva UMC200, Acoustat Model 1/SPW-1, Behringer CX2310, 2 Adcom GFA-545

  5. #230
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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.

  6. #231
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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/

  7. #232
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    That's interesting how the power drops as the impedance gets lower.

  8. #233
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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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...

    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.
    Last edited by thekid; 07-24-2010 at 03:48 AM.

  9. #234
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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.

  10. #235
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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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!!

  11. #236
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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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.

  12. #237
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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

  13. #238
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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.
    Last edited by thekid; 07-24-2010 at 04:14 PM.

  14. #239
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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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.

  15. #240
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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.



  16. #241
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    It would be interesting to see what Sherwood sounded like back then.

  17. #242
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
    It would be interesting to see what Sherwood sounded like back then.
    there is no way I can describe the sound but it sounds pretty good to me. They used to make tube amps at that time and Sherwood has some of the S series with tubes.

  18. #243
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    I just picked MIT Terminator 4 cables. A guy gave me them for free and I see they go for a lot online!

  19. #244
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    Dak, that's awesome. If you don't want them I'll take them. Are they speaker cables or interconnects? I hope you do some experimenting with them to see if you hear any differences.

  20. #245
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    Right now I am not home but tomorrow once I wake up, I have the day off so I will take a picture and post it here. I will experiment to see if there is any difference. I will keep you updated.

    They are interconnects and they have something like boxes at each end, I have no idea what those boxes are for.

  21. #246
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    Here are few pictures of the MIT Terminator 4 cables.

    I feel some difference, it seems that the sounds is more full and clear. Does anyone know what those boxes are for at the ends?






  22. #247
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    The "boxes" are networks, and the cables are directional, it's critical they go into place the right direction. If they are the same as Transparent the networks go away from the source. For instance, if putting them between a CD player and receiver, the networks go closest to the receiver. Check the cable to see if any arrows are provided, the arrow should point the way the signal flows.

    Any difference will depend on how much resolution the gear has, like the 9090 will show it better than the Technics.

  23. #248
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    I just noticed they have the arrows for the signal flows and of course I had it put the opposite way so I switched them.

  24. #249
    Forum Regular luvtolisten's Avatar
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    I wonder if maybe they contain Ferrite beads inside? Just curious for what type of network and what it does.

  25. #250
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    I haven't read the MIT website but I have Transparent, Transparent was started by former MIT employees. The theory behind the network is to zero out the "antenna effect" of various lengths of cable. I'm not sure what is in the network. Thankfully when Transparent came out with the new line some years back the networks were quite a bit smaller.

    Dak, notice any difference when switching the cables around? The arrow goes toward the amp or receiver.

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