jhoak Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 OK... My apologies for the slaughter of a movie line [] I took a little road trip yesterday and came home with a pair of Dynaco MK IVs. Cosmetically they're kind of rough but not horrid. Functionally they're perfect. They underwent a total rebuild by NOS Valves in 2005. At the same time Triode Electronics front end boards were installed. Earlier last week I had purchased from willand a NAD preamp, tuner, and amp. The intent was to use the preamp and tuner with the MK4s and sell the amp and my Marantz 2240. It turns out that I like the 2240 at preamp duty better than the NAD. I guess all the NAD stuff will be for sale soon. Before doing any listening I checked the bias on both amps. They were both off a little (1.42V & 1.38V) so they got dialed back in to the required 1.56V. They're currentyl populated with a set of Dynaco (by Mullard) EL43 XF2 output tubes and NOS East German 12AU7’s on the front ends. The rectifier tubes appear to be original Dynaco branded 5AR4s. The amps are dead quiet with no hum whatsoever and only the faintest hiss if I put my ear right up to the tweeters. At first I was getting a funny distortion that only appeared at very high volume. It took me a while to figure out that they were picking up vibration through the stand. A quick trip to the local Home Depot of a couple of concrete blocks and door bumps (a whopping $12) and ptoblem solved All I can say is I'm lovin it. A very different character from my La Scalas. Smooth lush mids, solid bass and much crisper highs. Even FM radio sound good. Go figure. Going forward I plan the do a complete "physical" restoration repainting the transformers and probably fabricating some nice wood bases for them. I haven't decided if it worth respraying the cages or not. I kind of like them naked. At some point I'll get in to the whole "tube rolling" thing but for right now I plan to just listen and enjoy. [] Here's a picture with them in place... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 congrats, they look nice on the concrete blocks. Hope you enjoy. duder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete H Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 If you don't mind me asking, what did you pick those up for? I'm looking to get some tubes and really don't know a great deal from a sucker deal. Your set up looks nice and clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Hell yeah : ) I heard Dee's restored MK IV's at the Goat Roaper in Hope 2004 on Cornwalls. They were great. I was very surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 I paid just under $600 for the pair. He had the NOS Valves invoice and he paid almost that for the rebuild. Not a "garage sale" deal but considerably better than I've seen the occasional MK4 pair go for on audiogon. MK4s don't show up for sale very often. When they do they're either completely tricked out and BIG $$$ or totally trashed. These are a nice compromise. I'll be able to do some work on them to dress them up. I have no doubt that I'll get every penny I paid back out of them should I decide to sell them at some point. The clincher for me was that these were local to me. OK... an hour and a half away but I didn't have wonder what I would receive from the brown truck. That and the seller had them hooked up to a really sweet pair of Cornwalls (mint 76 CWOs) to audition. About 20 seconds in to the second song I was pulling out my wallet. I have a line on a pretty nice ST-70 at $450 or a pair of MK3s at $800. The ST-70 puts out 35w/ch and the MK3s are 60w. I can hook you up if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete H Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I paid just under $600 for the pair. He had the NOS Valves invoice and he paid almost that for the rebuild. Not a "garage sale" deal but considerably better than I've seen the occasional MK4 pair go for on audiogon. MK4s don't show up for sale very often. When they do they're either completely tricked out and BIG $$$ or totally trashed. These are a nice compromise. I'll be able to do some work on them to dress them up. I have no doubt that I'll get every penny I paid back out of them should I decide to sell them at some point. The clincher for me was that these were local to me. OK... an hour and a half away but I didn't have wonder what I would receive from the brown truck. That and the seller had them hooked up to a really sweet pair of Cornwalls (mint 76 CWOs) to audition. About 20 seconds in to the second song I was pulling out my wallet. I have a line on a pretty nice ST-70 at $450 or a pair of MK3s at $800. The ST-70 puts out 35w/ch and the MK3s are 60w. I can hook you up if you're interested. I have an interest to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Hell yeah : ) I heard Dee's restored MK IV's at the Goat Roaper in Hope 2004 on Cornwalls. They were great. I was very surprised. Hey Iain! Dee's amps were MK IIIs (use 6550 tubes). These MK IVs use 6CA7/EL-34s and are basically an ST-70 split into monos. The Goat Roper experience was magical... BTW, love the avatar. You can never really trust bunnies, can you? jhoak: Nice deal! Can you take some close-up pictures? It'd be fun to look under the hood, too. I have a pair of MK-IVs that I bought 5 years ago in non-working condition...the same condition they are now in...[:$] http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/48378.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 jhoak: Nice deal! Can you take some close-up pictures? It'd be fun to look under the hood, too. I have a pair of MK-IVs that I bought 5 years ago in non-working condition...the same condition they are now in... Happy to. It'll be a couple of weeks though. I'm in the process of gathering the bits, pieces and supplies to do a total restoration on them. Once I start I'll be taking a LOT of detailed close-up photos. I figure I'll need the pictures to know how to put them back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Hell yeah : ) I heard Dee's restored MK IV's at the Goat Roaper in Hope 2004 on Cornwalls. They were great. I was very surprised. Hey Iain! Dee's amps were MK IIIs (use 6550 tubes). These MK IVs use 6CA7/EL-34s and are basically an ST-70 split into monos. The Goat Roper experience was magical... BTW, love the avatar. You can never really trust bunnies, can you? OH that explains some of the confusing Dynaco discussions I've had lately : ) Thanks for letting me know. I'll check on the goat roper next time I'm in Hope. : ) bunnies kill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dubay Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Enjoy the Dynaco's! I like the concrete block with door stop solution to the microphonic problem. Nothing like tubes and horns! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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