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Van Alstine Dynaco ST 150, Hmmm....

D

dumptruck

Lunatic Member
What do you think? Is this seller saying that the mods listed are the only mods, and that Van Alstine performed them? Is this seller on this forum? If those are the only mods, is this worth the $150? I need (reasonably) clean & flat performing amp in a hurry right now for $300 or less, so this intrigues me..:scratch2:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ele/1310251022.html
 
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Its a nice amp stock and I've heard the VA Mosfet mod is pretty good although I've not heard one directly. I agree with the cap mod and the RCA mod although I personally hate where Dynaco put the inputs (middle and below the heat sink fins, a PITA to reach). The speaker binding post mod is pretty SOP for Dynaco units.

At the price of $140, a decent deal, would be nice to get it for a little less as stock units can go for $100 or so. If the unit is clean and well kept cosmetically, you could do a lot worse for the money.

BTW, the stock units can be modded with some PS mods to give about double the power. However, I don't know if that would apply to the VA mod since I suspect he changes the entire circuit board.

If its local to you to avoid shipping charges and possible damage, its a good deal.

There's also a Crown D150 and Yamaha CR2020 both at $300 in the same CL section. There's also an Accuphase E-202 for $450, really nice but out of your price range. There's also a Yamaha P2100 pro amp (85w/ch into 8 ohms) but it doesn't like 4 ohm loads too much, mid 70's design for $145.

However, all these vintage amps may at some point need maintenance and/or repair. If the VA mod was done recently, that is a plus.
 
I have a friend who owned a Van Alstine modded Dynaco integrated, solid state amp, back in the early 80's.
Back then, I think it was called.....Jansen Stereo Shop?
Anyway, it beat the living daylights out of a, then new, 60 wpc Denon DRA-600 receiver that I owned.
I tried to buy it from him, but he wouldn't sell it......nuts!!


Steve
 
Thanks for your thoughts! I did see those others you mention, but they seem like bad deals to me for various reasons. I also hate those sellers that go on and on about their meticulous cleaning of the unit and then just say "all functions work great". I think I'll just grab that Dynaco. Seems like something that would be fun to mess with even if it doesn't please me right away.
 
Van Alstine has a great reputation for their mods. I can't give you any input on this amp but they are located in the Twin Cities if you ever have a problem with it.

Seems to me the mods would cost more than the price without including that of the amp.
 
I can't imagine that it wouldn't be worth that. I have an unmodded Stereo 150 and really like it. It's simple and clean, sounds good with a tube preamp especially. If it showed up near me for that price, I'd grab it (then again, I don't have the best track record for resisting anything on CL).
 
Well, I got it dropped off at my door for the asking price. Exterior is less than perfect, but totally acceptable. Inside is crazy clean. Just listened to all of the Historie De Melody Nelson reissue and it seems to be performing just great. Big, clean sound. Seems to get along really well with the ol' VP130. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever for $140, so far anyway.
 
Sweet!! Now,

:worthless

At least some high resolution pics and maybe some nudies of the interior? Also, slow off the walnut side panels, a nice touch for an amp and aside from the sister QSA-300 (a double ST150 in a wider chassis), the only Dynaco Amps with wood sides.

Nice!
 
Congrats on geting it. I owned a SuperPas3 preamp that Frank built and it was closer to an Audio Research in performance than any PAS 3X. He knows how to do take Dyna designs and make them what they should have been and could have been. Give them a call and they can give you the history if they did the build and also if there have been updates since it was done.
 
I heard and worked on a VA modded ST-70. Fantastic build quality on the board and was dead quiet. About the only true hi-fi and well designed mod for the ST-70 I'd seen in awhile.

The VA st-140 must be a pretty good thing..... :scratch2:
 
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