Surely everyone remembers this commercial. If you don’t you’re probably too young to be reading my blog anyway.
I just finished restoring/rebuilding an all tube, circa 1962, Dynaco PAS-3 pre-amp and ST-70 amplifier. Actually I finished them almost a year ago but there was an electrical bug in the ST-70 I couldn’t find and I just now got around to enlisting professional help. The culprit? A bad ground. DUH!
Well I fired her up this week and OMG the sound is awesome.
Here’s a couple of photos of the finished ST-70.
When I bought this stuff a year ago my research told me, even though it was 47 years old and broken, it had the potential to put modern solid state systems to shame and was considered a “poor man’s” McIntosh. The PAS-3 was in working condition so all I had to do with it was have a tech go through it just to make sure I wasn’t going to burn the house down when I plugged it in.
The ST-70 however was a different story.
The unit was rough but the purchase price was pretty low so I bought it. First thing I did was completely disassemble the unit. I then replaced everything except the original transformers and power supply with new parts. I had the choice of upgrading the unit or keeping it stock and I chose to replace the old parts with new stock parts. I figured this was one of the most popular stereo amplifiers of all time why mess with a good thing. After spending a week or so trying to polish the rusted nickel finish on the unit I decide to have it sandblasted and powder coated. I then began re-assembly; it took me about a month.
Here’s a before and after of the restoration.
So... how's it sound?
Effing incredible!
For the techies The system is a Dynaco Pas-3, Dynaco ST-70 and Polk Audio Monitor Series 4 speakers. I am using a borrowed CD player and my iPod for input but will soon add a turntable (mine is broken beyond repair), an all tube FM tuner and a permanent CD player to replace the borrowed one.
Here's a photo of my listening room.
So you tell me, "Is it real? Or is it Memorex?" All I know is it sounds awesome.
Enjoy!
6 comments:
does it go to 11?
a bad ground had you out of commission for a year? you jackass.
i have a lot of free time so it shouldn't be surprising that i actually thought to myself a few days ago: "I wonder if Zac ever got his tube amp working." Then i continued wondering: "What a waste of money. I wonder what's Zac's latest useless endeavor. Wow, that's a big bird on that power line. Man, Abby's stinking up my truck. She needs to go to the bathroom."
A peek into the mind of Don. Scary.
i forgot to mention that your listening room looks pretty sweet, but is there only room for one? cuz i think you can easily pick up chicks by mentioning you have a working tube amp back at the house.
dam Z man thats sweet. put an audio sound bit up.
Zac, I had no idea you were so handy.
(That's nice-speak for 'nerdy' from one nerd to another.)
Here here!
Post a Comment