I have owned my own pair of Dynaco A-25s since 1971. I bought
them
when I was at university, from another guy living on my floor in the dormitory. He needed quick cash and I had desperately coveted his stereo system. It consisted of those Dyna A-25s, an Acoustic Research integrated amplifier, a Dynaco FM3 stereo FM tuner and a Thorens TD-160 turntable. Lastly, I added a Sony TC-366D open reel tape deck my dad gave me as a Christmas gift. At the time, this was close to as inexpensive and good a stereo system as someone like me, with high-end tastes and low-end money could get.
My components changed over the decades, but I've never been able to bring myself to sell the A-25s. They just sounded musical in intangible ways that many much more expensive speakers didn't.
About 10 years ago, I noticed they were just not performing as I remembered them from when they were new. I wasn't sure if it was me going deaf, or simply my audio tastes "evolving," or whether their performance really was deteriorating. By then, I was living in Madison, WI. In Middleton, a Madison suburb, is a great resource, Madisound Speaker Components. Primarily, they sell loudspeaker components to manufacturers, auto stereo installers and DIYers. They also offer loudspeaker kits and design assistance for speaker enclosures and crossovers. Madisound told me that the speakers at the very least needed new capacitors. They also offered a replacement dome tweeter by SEAS that SEAS, the A-25s' manufacturers, offered as a drop-in upgrade/replacement for the original. SEAS claimed the new tweeter offered better high-range extension and dispersion.
I bit. I bought new capacitors that Madisound assured me were much better quality than the originals were when new. I also bought the drop-in replacement SEAS tweeters.
The basic sonic signature of the A-25s was unaltered. But the high frequencies were more extended. There was noticeably more detailed high end. More importantly, the speakers just disappeared! I listen primarily to jazz and classical music. The instruments were spread in front of, in the background, evenly across the soundstage. These 40-year-old speakers that originally sold for $160 per pair in 1971 - about $1,000 in 2020 dollars, actually showed really good stereo imaging qualities.
So these are now my primary speakers again. Another outstanding quality of the A-25 was their very natural reproduction of voices, especially male voices. Solo voices, choral recordings sound more real and natural through these speakers than through most speakers I could buy today for less than $1,000 per pair. Strings and piano are also very realistic through these speakers.
Bass is tight and detailed, if not especially extended. Many bookshelf speakers that are otherwise of good quality disguise their lack of deep bass with a broad rising characteristic over the 60Hz - 120Hz octave and rather loose bass transient response - especially among bass-reflex ported designs. I remember that test reports from high-fi publications at the time praised the A-25 and its unique quasi-transmission line aperiodic enclosure design for its ability to reproduce recognizable bass range square waves, attesting to their excellent bass transient response. In other words, the bass that is present is accurate, not flabby and over-emphasized.
I don't miss having a subwoofer on music listening. Orchestral basses are reproduced well, as are pipe organs. 32-foot organ pedals and orchestral bass drums come up out of the floor as they should. But I DO miss a subwoofer on movie sound tracks. Yes, I use these as my speakers for home theater too. Their imaging is good enough that dialogue through the virtual center is properly placed and understandable, so I feel no need for a center channel. But booms, explosions and other sound effects do lack that impact that a subwoofer would provide.
The bottom line is that I HAVE heard better speakers. But none more musical, at least not for any price I can afford to spend.
My components changed over the decades, but I've never been able to bring myself to sell the A-25s. They just sounded musical in intangible ways that many much more expensive speakers didn't.
About 10 years ago, I noticed they were just not performing as I remembered them from when they were new. I wasn't sure if it was me going deaf, or simply my audio tastes "evolving," or whether their performance really was deteriorating. By then, I was living in Madison, WI. In Middleton, a Madison suburb, is a great resource, Madisound Speaker Components. Primarily, they sell loudspeaker components to manufacturers, auto stereo installers and DIYers. They also offer loudspeaker kits and design assistance for speaker enclosures and crossovers. Madisound told me that the speakers at the very least needed new capacitors. They also offered a replacement dome tweeter by SEAS that SEAS, the A-25s' manufacturers, offered as a drop-in upgrade/replacement for the original. SEAS claimed the new tweeter offered better high-range extension and dispersion.
I bit. I bought new capacitors that Madisound assured me were much better quality than the originals were when new. I also bought the drop-in replacement SEAS tweeters.
The basic sonic signature of the A-25s was unaltered. But the high frequencies were more extended. There was noticeably more detailed high end. More importantly, the speakers just disappeared! I listen primarily to jazz and classical music. The instruments were spread in front of, in the background, evenly across the soundstage. These 40-year-old speakers that originally sold for $160 per pair in 1971 - about $1,000 in 2020 dollars, actually showed really good stereo imaging qualities.
So these are now my primary speakers again. Another outstanding quality of the A-25 was their very natural reproduction of voices, especially male voices. Solo voices, choral recordings sound more real and natural through these speakers than through most speakers I could buy today for less than $1,000 per pair. Strings and piano are also very realistic through these speakers.
Bass is tight and detailed, if not especially extended. Many bookshelf speakers that are otherwise of good quality disguise their lack of deep bass with a broad rising characteristic over the 60Hz - 120Hz octave and rather loose bass transient response - especially among bass-reflex ported designs. I remember that test reports from high-fi publications at the time praised the A-25 and its unique quasi-transmission line aperiodic enclosure design for its ability to reproduce recognizable bass range square waves, attesting to their excellent bass transient response. In other words, the bass that is present is accurate, not flabby and over-emphasized.
I don't miss having a subwoofer on music listening. Orchestral basses are reproduced well, as are pipe organs. 32-foot organ pedals and orchestral bass drums come up out of the floor as they should. But I DO miss a subwoofer on movie sound tracks. Yes, I use these as my speakers for home theater too. Their imaging is good enough that dialogue through the virtual center is properly placed and understandable, so I feel no need for a center channel. But booms, explosions and other sound effects do lack that impact that a subwoofer would provide.
The bottom line is that I HAVE heard better speakers. But none more musical, at least not for any price I can afford to spend.