Dynaco Sca-35 vs Sansui AU220 vs Sansui SAX200

[travellersol]

Hello all. I am new into this hobby, I started with vintage solid state amps/receivers like Marantz 1060 and Sansui 7070. Now I want to delve into the tube world, and in my place I have 3 choices offered to me:

Dynaco Sca-35
Sansui AU220
Sansui SAX200

I don't care about whether it has radio or not, the most important thing is sound quality. My main diet comprises of vocal, jazz, orchestral, some 80s Brit pop, and not-so-heavy rock (Dire Straits, ELO, etc.)

I have no experience at all in valve/tube. Please advice as to which one from the above 3 that I should get, or any other worthy pieces in that similar price range. Should I also consider new equipment rather than going vintage?

Thanks.

 

[macyjrm]

I imagine the sansuis are just fine. But I'm sure the sca-35 will be more "supportable" than the other two. There are several firms that offer direct replacement parts for Dynaco amps.

 

[airtime]

Especially if you are new to this hobby the SCA-35 is the way to go. Hundreds of web pages discussing this amp as well as companies still offering EVERY replacement part if needed. Besides it also makes for a wonderful starting platform if you want to upgrade the crap out of it.

Also it sounds pretty darn good.

And if you really don't need that tuner that's a ton of work you don't have to deal with. Besides tuners needing specialized tools to reset all those coils.

 

[Dandy]

What macyjrm and airtime said. Those Japanese receivers are difficult to work on, especially for a beginner. The SCA-35 has a full kit assembly manual to get to know, and excellent upgrade support, including replacement printed circuit boards. You don't have to start with the upgrade boards immediatetly, but you probably will eventually. http://www.tronola.com/html/daves_store.html The seller is a great guy to deal with, and a highly respected and helpful person on AK.

 

[StuartB]

I think you have your answer! (I agree by the way).

 

[travellersol]

Thank you all for the sound advice (pun unintended), seems like this is a no brainer. Ok, Dynaco.

 

[rhing]

If you decide to go with a Dynaco SCA-35, I highly recommend Dave Gillespie's SCA-35 amplifier boards including the power supply capacitor board that includes his excellent Enhanced Fixed Bias (EFB) circuit for the power tubes. I also modified the phono stage following this modification:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=dynaco&m=8153

In restoring and modifying the amp, I thoroughly cleaned all of the original pots and switches by soaking them in lighter fluid for a day and then followed it up with Caig DeOXIT treatment. I also replaced the wiring with Teflon-insulated MIL-SPEC Silver-plated Copper solid core wire and all of the wiring from the RCA inputs to the selector switch with shielded Belden 88641 Plenum Cable.

It's a lot of work, but worth it as I do not have any issues with hum or noise and the EFB circuit really improves the dynamic range and distortion over the stock unit. Additionally, the EFB circuit prolongs tube life and runs the amp a bit cooler. I installed Sovtek 12AX7LPS low noise tubes in the phono stage and JJ EL84 power tubes in the power amp stage.