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YOUR fav tube amp/preamp & why


boricua2480

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I have loved my Dynaco ST-70 Series II since I bought it new in 1993. It has since been rebuilt, with improvements made to component quality and wiring traces on the not-the-greatest PC board (Thanks Jeff!). It has always impressed me with its sound quality.

 

For years I ran it with a solid state Adcom preamp. Then I bought a 200$ Chinese tube preamp based on the Marantz 7 and was blown away! I have since upgraded the preamp with high quality capacitors and NOS Mullard 12AX7 tubes for an extra 200$. This pre was the best improvement in SQ-per-dollar I have made.

 

I know many think that old tube circuits like the ST-70 and Marantz 7 are outdated and have been improved upon, but I've listened to amps and pre's costing several times more and have yet to hear an equivalent increase in SQ. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Schiit Freya (original version) using NOS GE 6SN7GTBs, and a Dennis Had Firebottle with a NOS Amperex 6SN7GTB, Shuguang (vetted by thetubestore.com) 274b rectifier, and new version Gold Lion KT77s...sublime sound that just won't quit...no hum, no problemo. Lots of tube rolling fun resulting in lots of spare tubes, and with the Had amp there's only 4 of 'em to mess with. Had amps are a world class hand wired bargain when available on Ebay, and one of the best sounding amps I've encountered over many decades...efficient speakers a must and my Heresy IIIs with 2 REL subs sound astonishingly good in this setup.

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On 6/10/2020 at 2:00 PM, Manual Garcia said:

Schiit Freya (original version) using NOS GE 6SN7GTBs, and a Dennis Had Firebottle with a NOS Amperex 6SN7GTB, Shuguang (vetted by thetubestore.com) 274b rectifier, and new version Gold Lion KT77s...sublime sound that just won't quit...no hum, no problemo. Lots of tube rolling fun resulting in lots of spare tubes, and with the Had amp there's only 4 of 'em to mess with. Had amps are a world class hand wired bargain when available on Ebay, and one of the best sounding amps I've encountered over many decades...efficient speakers a must and my Heresy IIIs with 2 REL subs sound astonishingly good in this setup.

Welcome to the forum!  Sounds like a great system.

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On 5/21/2020 at 9:05 AM, Tarheel TJ said:

I have had a number of tube amps over the years.  Had an AMC CVT 2030 (PP, Class A, 30 WPC) that sounded amazing but was unreliable and difficult to get serviced.  Had a Musical Paradise MP-301; sounded great but was too noisy for high efficiency horns.  Now running a home-build Bob Latino ST-70.  It is the best yet.  I am very satisfied for the ~$1000 I have in it. 

 

Now that I have one amp build under my belt, I am very tempted to try one of Transcendent Sound's OTL kits.  Coytee's comments only serve to stoke that desire!  Maybe 'll order a kit later this year....

I have a pair of aging OTL amps that are now rarely available on the used market, and think they are among the best I've ever heard.  I can almost recognize OTL sound by the top-to-bottom transparency and linearity, a nice thing in classical music.

 

If you have a tube preamp, I suggest an Essence power cord.  ESP is likely to have some used earlier generation cords, which are excellent IMO and really enliven the music sound. -- Larry

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On 5/21/2020 at 10:00 AM, Thaddeus Smith said:

 

 

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Love it ---Simple Answer , Any   recapped Scott  amp/preamp  , the new Nichicon caps give an exceptional tone clarity   versus the older components

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