Dynaco / Power cord

dcarlson

I half assedly soldered a an IEC inlet externally on my Dynaco to get an impression of how significant of a change a power cable would make before I cut a hole in the chassis. I used some Kimber 4vs speaker wire that I had laying around to solder to the inlet. Once that was all done, I plugged in my 2nd Cardas Cross power cord and there was an immediately noticable change. I'll have to wait a little while to see if there are any changes to come, but so far, it's really cool.

organ

Sounds great, Derick. It's very nice to be able to switch power cords. That's more flexibility whenever your sound changes as you switch tubes and upgrade parts. Have you thought about replacing the internal wiring? I think I'll get an IEC done on mine when I get it rebuilt.

Did you receive the EH tubes yet? I just popped them back in because the new North American Svets just can't move me. Those two sound very similar but EH have much more bLOOm and magic in the mids and highs.

Maurice

dcarlson

I never did order the EH's. The RT25i's I got from criverajr took whatever funds I had available my system, for now. I do want to get the EH's but it'll have to wait.

I'm going to cut a hole for the IEC, it has made a real nice improvement. The Cross was horrible on my CD player, I think it needs the extra juice to come alive. It sounds great on my integrated and great on the Dynaco as well. Just goes to show the importance of synergy, I guess.

Once I'm settled in the new house, I'll be able to set up a workbench. I'd like to rewire the Dynaco after I put the Foreplay together.

organ

Did you try those 25i's on the Dyna? I tried a pair of RT5's and it was awesome.

I'm really enjoying this cable stuff and system synergy too. I'm so impressed with the Polk Cobra speaker cables. It's the cleanest, most open and clear sound compared to my Monster stuff. The difference was noticable immediately.

Good luck on the new house. You're going to have a great time building stuff on the workbench. tubestore also sell gold plated tube sockets. I'm sure that would make an improvement. Replacing parts on the driver board is also very easy. Do you have a solder vacuum?

Maurice

dcarlson

I got the 25i's for rear duty in the HT but out of curiousity I will hook them up to see how they do for fronts.

I do want to replace the tube sockets, wiring and some caps as per suggested. I imaging it'll be a bit of a job.

All I have right now is a cheap iron. I have to get some supplies once that Foreplay finally comes.

organ

Let me know how the 25i's do up front.

It's very good to have a solder vacuum. I believe mine was about $10. You should use it when disconnecting or connecting new/old parts. Heat up the old solder, suck it up with the vacuum and then apply fresh solder.

Maurice

dcarlson

I just ordered the EH's. Idiot me, I didn't realize they were $19.95/pair. I was thinking each.

The new power cord has me wowed. I was listening to Darkside of the Moon and Beck Mutations at lunch. It sounds fantastic

As for the soldering supplies, I'll be stocking up when the Foreplay finally comes.

gidrah

Great to hear. I've been thinking about replacing the power cord on some stuff. It seems like this would be a great place to start. Someday.

dcarlson

I definitely recommend the upgrade, especially if you have the original cord attached.

I'm finally now very impressed with the Dynaco and think I got it for a steal. There just seems to be this weight and thickness to everything that makes it sooooo appealing. Not to mention realism. It's almost like I've got a whole new system. (I may just be beaming right now, but what I'm experiencing is damn cool)

Some recordings sound totally weird though. I'm not sure how I'll cope with them.

Now that I have some new tubes coming. Do you guys have a particular method of rolling tubes?

organ

That's great. I'm sure you'll enjoy the EH. The mids they produce is just spectacular. The HF extension is a little better than SED and bass is very tubey. SED has more contolled and tighter bass.

Glad to hear you're very impressed with the amp. I was as impressed as you with my Dyna when I first got it and still feel the same today. I just can't think of using another amp in my system. I love that amp so much.

I really enjoy the thickness and weight too. Sounds more realistic to me. You will lose some of that thickness when you convert to triode but you'll be rewarded with much better mids, soundstaging and imaging. Like I mentioned in my triode thread, I missed the thickness at first but the new sound especially mids, highs and PRaT just makes up for whatever was lost.

From what I know, rolling tubes is just trying out different brands to get the best sound.

Let me know what you think of the EH.

Maurice

organ

Oh yeah, lower your bias before installing the new tubes and raise it slowly over a period of 30mins to an hour. Keep an eye on the bias voltage for for the first few days.

Maurice

dcarlson

I got the EH's on Friday, did some listening over the weekend and I prefer them over the SED's. The EH's seem less colored.

I'm very interested in hearing what the Dynaco would do with some horns but that'll have to wait for funds.

It seems that Bottlehead's Fourplay pre and Seduction phono Kits have gone up in price. I think my Fourplay may have finally shipped.

organ

Glad to hear you're enjoying the EH. Yeah, they sound more neutral to me as well. I really like the mids they produce, very sweet. I also love the thick sound of SED but now I'm back to EH.

The Dyna sounds super with horns. Which speakers will you be looking at when the funds are in?

I still plan to build a FP. Too bad they've gone up in price. You got them just on time. How long has it been since you ordered yours? I'm sure it's been more than six weeks.

Maurice

dcarlson

I've waited almost 8 weeks now for the Fourplay. I guess with the price going up, there were a lot of orders and they had some trouble filling them all. Once it's here and put together, I'll forget all about the wait.

There are a couple of Klipsch dealers here in Sudbury. I'm curious to hear the dynamics they'd pull with tubes. Although, over a year ago I had a horrible listen at a mid-fi store here (hooked up to a receiver), I should really give them a second chance. I have to take a look see what's in town model wise, but I think I'm may opt for some bookshelves seeing that my 2 channel rig is going to be in my somewhat small livingroom. Maybe the RB-75. I'd also like to give some beemers a try, they're not as efficient but still in the low 90's.

Also in the mix, I'd like to give the MF a try with some more demanding speakers like the LSI's to see how it does.

Other than maybe a tube phono stage, 2 channel speakers are my next purchase.

organ

Your Foreplay should arrive any day now I guess. 8 weeks is a long wait. You have a lot of patience my friend:).

If the dealer will allow you to take them home for a demo, you should do it. What I heard in the store while auditioning can't even compare to what I get at home. They were hooked up to a TOTL Onkyo and Denon DVD player. Horns need A LOT of toe-in. The RB-75 should be an excellent choice. They have the largest woofers and a larger and better compression driver only in the 7 and 75 series. I know I've said this too many times but the high eff will sound awesome with the triode mod:).

Maurice

dcarlson

Hehehe. Yeah, Triode, I hear ya.

There's some method to my procrastination. Once I build the Fourplay, I'll play it stock for a little. Then, I'll do the upgrades I bought with it. Once those are all done, I'm going to totally rewire the Dynaco and upgrade a few parts while I'm at it. Then I'll do the triode. Hopefully by then, I'll have some new speakers. Many baby steps.

organ

Sounds like a good plan. I'm almost done summer school and will probably upgrade the coupling caps to better quality orange drops. Working on the driver board is very easy. You can replace all the resistors and caps on it. Are you planning to replace the caps with carbon type like the stock or are you going metal film?

Maurice

dcarlson

Summer school?

It's still too far ahead for me to think about any upgrades just yet. When the time comes, I'll get my read on. If I read now, I'll do everything right away. I'd like to see the progression the system takes. It'll be a long fun road.

organ

Yeah, just taking a course I didn't take back in Sept (PLC).

LOL! I know what you mean. Sometimes it's too hard to resist. I haven't done any work on my amp for a while now. It will be a fun ride indeed. Makes you appreciate what you have more when you take your time tweaking.

Maurice

dcarlson

Got the USPS tracking numbers today. The Fourplay was shipped on Friday.

Libertyc

dcarlson,
How did you cut the hole in the Dynaco 70 for the IEC inlet? I'm thinking of using a Dremel with a fine drill bit to cut the hole, the smooth edges with grinding stone? I want to upgrade the power switch also. I think RS sell a drop-in replacement, but I would like to use something more heavy duty. Thanks for any help. I love my Dynaco 70...everybody should own one:D

gidrah

Good call on the power switch. Someday I hope to relocate mine to the front. This is a stopping block to me paring it with the Altec in my main (family) rig that it so richly deserves.

dcarlson

I haven't cut a hole yet. I was going to look for some sort of nibbler to cut it. I still have some power wires extending through the power cord hole in the chassis to an IEC inlet. It works for now.

I replaced the power switch with the drop in replacement one from Ratshack.

organ

Awesome! Keep us posted on the FP.

I got my replacement switch from rat shack too.

Maurice

organ

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I replaced the coupling caps today with Sprague "Orange Drops" 715p (purchased from thetubestore). It was very easy, no polarity on the orange drops. I'll post a pic and impressions after I have more time to listen.

Maurice

dcarlson

Cool.

organ

Man, I knew this would happen lol. I ordered a fresh quad of SED along with the caps and now I want to try them out soooo bad. The old quad of SED I tried in triode were weak because the amp almost took them down when it broke. Now I really want to hear the new ones.

I guss I should post my impressions. I'd say I got to listen to the amp with the new caps for a total of about 3hrs. Well, there was a difference but not much. The biggest difference was in the highs. It was obvious right away that there's more high frequency extension now. The mids seems a little clearer but I can't say there was any difference with bass. It seems like micro dynamics improved a little. The extra sparkle I'm getting is really nice.

It's hard to say if the sound improved because the orange drops are better caps or because the stock caps are old and may be a little out of spec or leaking. But overall I'm very satisfied with the results. I spent about $15 on the caps.

I'll post a pic when I can borrow the camera from my brother.

I know it was a little soon to post my results but I know I'll end up putting in those SED later tonight:).

Maurice