Will Vincent "Dynaco" Amps

I like what I see on the appearance side of the amps made by him. I think his work is excellent. But.... I wish he would include a new circuit on the input boards. I think those 7199's are good tubes but there are better tubes used in several other mods. I would seriously listen to mods using 6GH8's, 6DJ8's, 6SN7's, 12AX7's, 6LU8's(a 6GH8 variant) before deciding on the 7199 circuit. I am using a Sound Values Board with Telefunken 6LU8's and it's wonderful. My board was mofified by Tom Tutay as was the rest of my amp. Most of the same mods I have are in the Vincent amps with the exception of the input boards. Some people think the 7199's are excellent tubes since they were designed for audio. After owning well over 50 ST70's of various mods I like mine best. I have owned many much more expensive amps both solid state and tube and my Dyna is still going over 10 years after I bought it and along with my Spica TC60's will make you smile.

Some mods I would choose over his are VanAlstine, GSI, Audio Research C70 (?) and of course Transition Audio Design. Mine is the latter. There are many many different mods for the ST70 and opinions will vary on this topic but I prefer that the 7199's be gone! I hope this does not cause a controversy. It's just my opinion.

bill thomas' work is great too, over at audiocircle. look under the vintage audio forum.

I have one of Will's Dynaco ST-70 rebuilds. I have found it to be a very good amp. It has a nice smooth sound. It also very good bass for a lower powered tube amp. Though the sound was good the way it came, i couldn't help but roll some tubes. I ended up with winged "C" el-34's, RCA 7199's and a Mullard gz-34. With these tubes i feel the amp jumps up another level or two. The tube that made the biggest difference was the gz-34. They aren't cheap, but the improvement it made to the overall sound is well worth it.