diytube.com

These amps were MKIIs when I got 'em. The bloke who supposedly had restored the amps in '95 did a spectacularly poor job as was evident from cold solder joints, wrong cap and resistor values, etc. Just plain ugly. Pretty much everything on these were replaced with new parts except for the PC boards and irons. Added chokes and kept 5U4s for added voltage drop to keep the filter caps happy. I also kept the $125 paint job. I wasn't too crazy about the metallic bluish green at first, but it kinda grew on me after looking at finished amps long enough. These have new KT88 EHs and Mullard (GB GEs) 6AN8s. Boy these are loud! The KT88s need some breaking in though. They sound a little too bright and overly aggressive for now. Here are some pictures:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_i08-ibvZ150/RumkvRBtDmI/AAAAAAAAAMo/QhqAZLrYjUk/s1600-h/Both+togethe-L.JPG

http://bp3.blogger.com/_i08-ibvZ150/RumHNxBtDdI/AAAAAAAAALg/XL8GR-j4zPc/s1600-h/Rear+view.JPG

http://bp0.blogger.com/_i08-ibvZ150/RumHaBBtDeI/AAAAAAAAALo/-Pws2-JtfGo/s1600-h/Closeup-R2.JPG

http://bp2.blogger.com/_i08-ibvZ150/RumHkhBtDfI/AAAAAAAAALw/uSTgBvr56kc/s1600-h/Under+the+hood+-+after.JPG

http://bp1.blogger.com/_i08-ibvZ150/RumHyRBtDgI/AAAAAAAAAL4/JKZJQc4_PJU/s1600-h/Sophie.JPG

Thanks to those who put up with me for pestering this forum with too many questions, both relevent and otherwise. Also, I'd like to thank Sophie the Boston for teaching me that beauty can be found in ugliness (see my last picture). I would have never kept the paint job if it wasn't for her googly eyes. Peace out.

Great job, Min. Hope you took "before" pictures so you can pat yourself on the back a few years from now.

I noticed something interesting. Dynaco sold raw transformers as well as amplifiers in their pre-solid state days. I can't remember if they offered it as an option, but the A-430s (and the A-450s, for that matter) that I have are potted in rather ugly Navy Gray cans. Go figure . . .

The finish on the chassis is neat. Cold,
metallic turquoise. The ultra-retro look.

Sophie.JPG WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

kheper wrote:The finish on the chassis is neat. Cold, metallic turquoise. The ultra-retro look.

Ditto!

Very nice! I', impressed. Great looking Boston Terrier, too!

/ed B in NH

Thanks, guys! It's funny how the chassis actually does look turquoise out in the sun. It's more like dark green indoors. I guess metallic paint has that chameleon effect. -Min

A fine looking pair of amps. Do you have any feelings yet about your decision to stick with the original 6AN8 driver board?

Thanks, Ty. I am happy with the original board for most part, but again I have no way comparing it to the posiedon board 'cos I ain't got one built with it. My feeling for now is that I actually prefer how my ST-70 with DIYTUBE better than those MKIIIs. The ST-70 seems to have a bit more depth and less transparency to its sound than that of MKIIIs. This is quite apparent to me when listening at lower volume. It's been only a month since I started listening to these, so maybe I haven't heard the best yet. I really hated my DIY ST-35 with new JJ tubes at first, but I love it now after several months.