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Always ask "Do you have any stereo stuff?"

Katalyst

Katalyst

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
The wife and I were checking out garage/estate sales. Lady running the sale spoke of her father who had passed telling me "He built all kinds of stuff". A small block on an engine stand and custom headers were on display.Nice welds and fine craftsmanship on all parts."Do you have any stereo stuff?" I ask. She responds "No most of the guitars and such are gone.". Then she says "Well I think there is his amp he built.". She came out with the item. "You know this is a pre amp not an amp." I said. Plugged the item in and no smoke and pilot light lit up. Sold. The item is a Dynaco Pas 3x. There are added 1/4" instrument plugs added to the special input. Other than that looks stock. Cleaned the contacts and pots. Plays both channels and the phono works.Pictures attached.
 

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Wow.. good move!

The last estate sale I gandered, there were some JVC components left over, the last day basically "clearance day". I asked about the AV receiver and the cassette deck and CD player. Sellers wanting to be rid of the whole kit and kaboodle.. :idea: They threw in just about anything that would fit in my arms.

Anyways.. :bye: I ended up with the JVC units (all with remotes), a pair of JBL bookshelf G50s, two Minumus 77s as "the package", and they wouldn't let me leave without the connecting cords!?

Needless to say, it was quite a :thumbsup:haul, as I did have a pickup.

Oh.. and as a kicker.. they stopped me at the checkout counter to get back a "universal remote" claimed to have belonged to a DVD player :wtf:

For $30 in total and the relief they felt, I did not complain :rflmao:
 
This sounds very nice. Hooked the pre amplifier up to the main system tonight. Utube off the computer into the Dynaco .Then to a Crown PS200 into the econowaves I built. The blend switch works well. The loudness switch is nice for low volume play. My plans for this will be to replace the rectifier with diodes. Change the pilot bulb to led.Add a fuse. Measure and replace out of spec caps and resistors. That is all. No board replacement or bypass mods. Tubes are a working for now. Tube replacement at later date. Very surprised at how good this sounds with the original parts.
 
Very clean outside.
Build could have been a little neater but I've seen worse.
I had a pas3x . Functioning well, you can do a lot worse.
 
Nice score. There is soooo much documentation and support for dynaco stuff. Especially the tube gear. I'm a fan myself. The PAS3 is a nice preamp. There are several power supply upgrades for these along with any part you would need to replace at Dynakit. If your going to keep it, replace the electrolytic capacitors. There is also lots of mod kits for these. Including phono stage boards. But with such a nice example I would just get the updated power supply. There are several companies that sell Dynaco tube amplifier clone kits. I have two myself.
 
That power supply is made by Erhard Audio. I've bought a preamp board and another power supply from him in the past. I also bought a finished preamp from Erhard Audio. Solid stuff. The diode for the lamp is a good idea as it draws less current compared to the bulb. The power transformer should run a bit cooler.
 
This is so original I ordered parts from Dynakit. Multicap, diodes, terminal strip and power cord. I have the caps for the filament supply. These should take care of the power supply without an added board. Somewhere I have a fuse holder from a receiver saved. The type that unscrews and mounts thru a hole in the chassis. This will keep the 120 volt power under the chassis and below the transformer. Really what should have been done from the factory. Thanks Lavane for the recommendation for Erhard Audio.
 
Katalyst said:
This is so original I ordered parts from Dynakit. Multicap, diodes, terminal strip and power cord. I have the caps for the filament supply. These should take care of the power supply without an added board. Somewhere I have a fuse holder from a receiver saved. The type that unscrews and mounts thru a hole in the chassis. This will keep the 120 volt power under the chassis and below the transformer. Really what should have been done from the factory. Thanks Lavane for the recommendation for Erhard Audio.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with getting everything from Dynakit. I've ordered enough from them I have 3 of the free caps they send with bigger orders.:biggrin: I liked the board myself with everything on it that needs replacing. But that's just me. There is also a small board available that replaces the pilot light with a LED and a trim pot to adjust the brightness. Some find the straight swap to a LED to be too bright. Ive used several in amp builds.
Post some impressions when done. These preamps were, and are popular for a reason.
 
in stock form the "special" input uses the phono preamp with no EQ switched in. Probably was using it for a mic or a guitar input.
 
Yes, good to ask. That's how I got some controversial Pioneer CS99a's for $200 that I wouldn't other wise have.
 
Years ago, saw some cassettes, asked the question, left with a mint Marantz 4300 in a wood case, less than $100.
He made me take a broken turntable.

Tom
 
I once got a Leak Stereo 20 and it's matching Stereo Point One preamp for fifty buck. Asked at a garage sale.
 
I have scored some nice stuff by asking if there were any electronics they though were too old, too ugly or too heavy to drag out to the garage sale table.
 
I always ask, as that’s the only reason I stop at tag-yard sales. I’ve gotten some lucky great finds.
Speaker stands, Mcintosh Amp and preamp, DCM Time Windows, Mitch Cotter SUT, AR2x’s, Some decent Vinyl occasionally, lots of hidden treasures out there!
 
Or records!

I've gotten a few rare ones by asking if they had any. Ever so often they do.

Sometimes they forget all about them in the frenzy of setting up the sale.

Q
 
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