It's alive...!! The Dynaco system is up and running!!!

Well, I just had to post a few of my first impressions upon joining the tube generation.

First off, let me say that I was cheating tonight-- since others were at home, I was listening at low level, and actually hit the loudness circuit to compensate for the lack of volume. I'll do some straight (uncolored) listening tomorrow.

I like the sound a lot, but I have to say that the frequency balance of the output is **much** different than what I've been accustomed to with my H-K sand amp... and at first, I didn't quite know what to think. It's a darker sound, with what started out as a sort of a bulge in the bass and midrange. A very "throw-y" type of sound, not unlike an old-style juke box... FYI: the components are stock, and tube complement is four OS Amperexes in the ST-70, and four OS Telefunken 12AX7s in the PAS-2.

I resisted the urge to play with the bass and tone controls and just let the music play for an hour or two. And strangely enough, as the music played on, either I grew accustomed to the tonal balance, or the system began to break in, because things started sounding much more "right" to my ears as time went on. Particularly when I had "Let Me Roll It" going, and the guitar riff started up... **very** much like a real guitar tone!!! There was still less treble than I was used to hearing, but of course, there was no sense of listening fatigue, either.

I don't feel that I was necessarily missing audio info, but I am aware that there was a definite roll-off of the "higher" highs. And of course, everything had a wonderfully smooth texture to it... I particularly enjoyed the S&P "Judy in Love" disc-- nice job, Steve!!!

Anyway, these are my first thoughts... I'm sure as the system breaks in, and the tube rolling begins, I'll have more to say, but for now, I do want to repeat my "Thanks" to everyone who helped out and encouraged me to make the change-- I know that I'm going to enjoy this old but new-found sound for a **long** time!!!

(And Steve-- a special "Thanks" to you, for giving me the biggest incentive to change-- the opportunity to hear this music the same way **you** do... now I know why you love your work!! In fact, I'll make you a deal-- you keep crankin' out new stuff, and I'll keep buying it, okay??)

-Kevin

 

Kevin,

Congrats! Better kill that loudness control though. On a tube amp with a slightly warm texture, it's death!

Let us know what happens tomorrow!

 

Well, here it is, the next day....

Lesson #1: Never use the Loudness switch on the PAS-2. You won't get any idea of what your amp sounds like!!

But boy, when I turned it off (and turned things up)-- Heaven!!

Although I was somewhat prepared for the change in "depth of sound" from the sand amp to the glass bottles, what really surprised me was the revealing of overall tonal differences in all of the various recordings that I auditioned. It was fascinating to note the infinite variations in the way things were recorded, mixed and EQ'd...

On this same topic, I was in an e-mail conversation with someone that mentioned that he felt that all of Steve's material had the same overall sound signature to it, and while this person stopped short of saying that Steve was mastering to a generic "cookie-cutter" sonic template, that was clearly his underlying point. The best response I have to this would be to hand over any selection of discs that Steve has mastered from several different artists, and tell the listener to use a tube amp while auditioning them. Although I had noticed recording level differences from track to track in discs like "Spirit of America", I never had any idea that the EQ's and mixing styles changed quite so dramatically, as well. And the vocal blends are clearly now made up of individual singers, not one smooth (slightly thin) sheen of voices.

(Incidentally, the levels in "Dance, Dance, Dance" now make sense, too-- there's a **lot** more slam and dynamics on the chorus with tubes!!)

It was mostly Steve's stuff that I listened to today... and I have to say that if anyone wants to sell tube amps, all they have to do is get a copy of the DCC "Ram" or "The Very Thought Of You" and slap it on the CD player. They'll make a fortune.

A lot of the MCA material was on the CD player as well, and I highly recommend the the Vintage Music series (Vol. 1-10), the Mamas & the Papas, and also the Garland "Footstompin' Oldies" collection... though I must say, it's a little unsettling to feel that Clarence "Frogman" Henry is standing right in the same room with you as he sings!!

There are still things that I can improve-- I've got a **very slight** buzz in the left channel noise floor of the ST-70, but it's not serious, and disappears when signal is going through the amp, so instead of driving myself mad by tracking down every last flaw, I'm willing to just enjoy some music for a while!!

Anyhow, those are the thoughts for Day 2... I'm sure there'll be more later!!

-Kevin

 

Well, it sounds like you are having fun, and that's the main thing!

Noticing the tonal variations on "Spirit Of America" is a good thing. It tells me that your amp isn't glossing over everything into one sound (the way your friend thinks I do it).



It also means that it is telling you the truth. Those Beach Boys recordings all sound different from each other. "Dance Dance Dance" is slightly muddy, with that "Altec" honk, "This Car Of Mine" is crisp and tonally miles away from "Dance".

Don't forget to break it to your buddy that his little theory needs some reworking...



Let us know what you discover at your next listening session!