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My Dynaco ST-70 Has Ruined My Other Amps

Nixxuz said:
Now I'm paraphrasing, and there might be some fundamentals I'm missing, but I've heard that my tube amp, (Yaqin MC-13S), is very close to the ST-70 in design.... Hybrid setups are awesome.
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Total agreement ..
Decades ago I was using tube pre's and hybrid amps but that was in the days before the electronic marketplace .. and you were limited in what used gear you could find ..
Now days .. I bi-amp ..
It's easy to find and obtain most any used amp for a reasonable price ( 3 clicks of the mouse and hello brown truck) and the flexibility of swapping in and out can't be beat ..
Wanna tighten that bass .. get a better bass amp (and the Aragon 4004 MK2 finished that search, after about 4 other amps)..
Tame a titanium tweeter and sweeten the midrange .. hang a tube amp on the top ..
And with more available power, I almost always notice improved dynamics ..
Just a much more flexible arrangement with less compromise in the sound of my music ..

And I'll second that Yaqin 13s .. It's making musical noises combined with the Aragon, on the big JBL's in the basement.
 
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I’m running a matched quad of JJ Apex with a matched trio of Mullards.....

Very happy with the sound, but thinking about trying another quad, but probably won’t change the Mullards.

That’s another beautiful thing about the ST 70, and other tube amps, a simple change in tubes can deliver a whole new amp....

The addition of a tube preamp has caused me to re-evaluate a pair of Polk speakers that I didn’t particularly like, completely changed my opinion of them.

Tubes can be a never ending journey!
 
Nixxuz said:
Love the Gold Lion KT77's. Have you tried their 12AX7's? I'm pretty much committed to both.
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Yea, they KT77's are pretty great. I haven't tried the GL 12ax7's yet. The Sylvania 12au7's are new from VTA (I bought them when I bought their driver board,) so I'm just enjoying them for now. And the rectifier is a new Mullard. It's all sounding great right now.
 
The reason I went with the VTA version of the ST-70 was being able to use so many different driver and output tubes. My favorite driver setup is two old stock 12bh7's and an old stock E80CC in the center. New production 12BH7's are not the same in construction as the originals. The new productions look like a 12au7 where as the original is twice as tall and sounds much better.
 
I had the same experience with tubes amps vs SS. Still have plenty of SS gear but I listen to my tube amps more.

I currently have two nice restored ST70s. I have SED Winged =C= EL34s in one with Sylvania 7199s. Running Mullard reissue EL34s / GE driver tubes in the other one. Have a matched set of Gold Lion KT77s and now I'm curious to try them. May break them out this weekend.
 
jbjsr said:
I had the same experience with tubes amps vs SS. Still have plenty of SS gear but I listen to my tube amps more.

I currently have two nice restored ST70s. I have SED Winged =C= EL34s in one with Sylvania 7199s. Running Mullard reissue EL34s / GE driver tubes in the other one. Have a matched set of Gold Lion KT77s and now I'm curious to try them. May break them out this weekend.
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Would really be interested in your thoughts on the Winged Cs vs the Gold Lion 77s.....they are on my list, just haven’t decided which to buy.
 
So far the 77's are my favorite. I tried a quad of JJ KT-88's. The top end and bass were great, but the midrange seemed recessed and kind of bland. I would like to try a better KT'88 though. A lot of people seem to like the EH 6CA7 fat bottle. I'll probably try them next since the cost is pretty low compared to.l Gold Lyon KT-88's.
 
Pleasantly surprised to find out my Latino ST120 can handle a quad of KT120 tubes, and even give me about a 10% wpc boost in the process. They'll never get close to rated power in my amp, so they should be pretty much bulletproof. Killer punch and clean across the range.

(Word of caution - don't attempt to fire up KT120s in an older Dynaco - the old iron can't handle the load!)

And a LOT of amp designs can trace their roots to Dynaco, just as they could trace their roots to prior designs. Where Dynaco grew famous was mass producing affordable quality gear for the unwashed masses. In your ears, audiophiles!

And the trend continues, with little tweaks here and there, Which is where VTA and their like come in, and are more than welcome. Keep up the good work, and keep em coming!
 
Lavane said:
So far the 77's are my favorite. I tried a quad of JJ KT-88's. The top end and bass were great, but the midrange seemed recessed and kind of bland. I would like to try a better KT'88 though. A lot of people seem to like the EH 6CA7 fat bottle. I'll probably try them next since the cost is pretty low compared to.l Gold Lyon KT-88's.
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Yea I noticed that Latino has the EH 6CA7s listed as high end on his website, and not a bad price if they perform as well as advertised.....
 
adnick said:
Yea I noticed that Latino has the EH 6CA7s listed as high end on his website, and not a bad price if they perform as well as advertised.....
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I couldn’t stop reading this ST-70 thread
I have probably the strangest ST-70 ever!
13 Tubes! Ed Duda Designed and built
3x bigger Power Transformer
807 Output Tubes a 6L6 with a plate cap
Vt244, 6x5’s and 6-6sn7’s
8 Watts per Channel of Glorious Triode sweetness
Enough to power my Big JBL Monitors
Full Range to ludicrous levels
A Citation 2 Tube Preamp is a perfect match
I have many other tube amps as well as SS
And none are more enjoyable
 

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BillWojo said:
My Dynaco ST-70 Has Ruined My Other Amps
Well imagine what happens when you get some Mac MC40 monoblocks. Even other tube amps get pushed aside......

BillWojo
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The Macs are great and quite prized
One of the best tube Bass amps ever
But for full range , mids and highs The Marantz 8’s are way better!
But this thread is about St70’s
It’s not really a fair comparison
 
Nyjblbob said:
I couldn’t stop reading this ST-70 thread
I have probably the strangest ST-70 ever!
13 Tubes! Ed Duda Designed and built
3x bigger Power Transformer
807 Output Tubes a 6L6 with a plate cap
Vt244, 6x5’s and 6-6sn7’s
8 Watts per Channel of Glorious Triode sweetness
Enough to power my Big JBL Monitors
Full Range to ludicrous levels
A Citation 2 Tube Preamp is a perfect match
I have many other tube amps as well as SS
And none are more enjoyable
Click to expand...
WOW that's a lot of tube glow stuffed in to that chassis! Cool amp.
 
Nyjblbob said:
The Macs are great and quite prized
One of the best tube Bass amps ever
But for full range , mids and highs The Marantz 8’s are way better!
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Bass amps? These are built by McIntosh and boast one of the flattest frequency responses you will ever find in any amp. Your joking, right?

BillWojo
 
Lavane said:
WOW that's a lot of tube glow stuffed in to that chassis! Cool amp.
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Thanks you would not believe the Bass along with the Triode sweetness it has.
It’s a bit noisy but probably because it has no Negative feedback. Seeing as Ed Duda is long gone, he was a good friend
And there’s no schematics it’s going to be an issue if something goes on it
 
BillWojo said:
Bass amps? These are built by McIntosh and boast one of the flattest frequency responses you will ever find in any amp. Your joking, right?

BillWojo
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No I’m definitely not joking
Flatness does not always sound better
 
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