Volume - I Issue - III Network AAA U U DDDD IIIII OOO A A U U D D I O O AAAAA U U D D I O O A A U U D D I O O A A UUU DDDD IIIII OOO BBBB IIIII TTTTT SSS B B I T S BBBB I T SSS B B I T S BBBB IIIII T SSS & Audio Software Review (c) Copyright 1987 by Michael A. Murphy All original materials Copyright by the Author ======================================================================== CONTENTS Editorial Compact Disc Reviews 1) Radio K.A.O.S. - Roger Waters 2) The Joshua Tree - U2 * By Robert Chambers * 3) Solitude Standing - Suzanne Vega a. Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega (1985 LP) 4) Dead Letter Office - REM Record Reviews 1) The Washington Squares 2) Saint Julian - Julian Cope Equipment Reviews * By Dave Holmes * 1) The NAD 3020 Integrated Amplifier 2) The Dynaco ST-70 ======================================================================== Welcome to the third issue of Network AUDIO BITS & Software Review! This issue contains several Compact Disc and Record reviews, some equipment reviews of some older pieces of stereo equipment that can perhaps be had for bargain prices, and will hopefully inform and entertain you. I must apologize for the lack of speed in getting this third issue put into print. The last couple of months have been pretty hectic and as this is a non-profit production, it got put onto the back burner for a while. With moving, changing working hours (no, same job, just different hours - graveyard hours...!), a 7 month old baby to care for and loss of use of my stereo for a few weeks, it's been hard to find the time or the resources to get anything accomplished with this magazine. The upheaval and confusion from moving has settled a bit, I am getting somewhat used to graveyard hours (though you can never really get on a good, consistent schedule), the baby still needs care and I alleviated my stereo problem by purchasing the receiver I mentioned that I had been using in N-AUDIO BITS002. So, now that all those things are settled and in their places, I hope to start making this a more consistent (timewise) publication. Thanks for being patient. Now, on to the reviews! ======================================================================== Radio K.A.O.S. Waters, Roger Radio Waves Producers: Ian Ritchie, Roger T Who Needs Information Waters & Nick Griffiths R Me or Him Engineer: Chris Sheldon A The Powers That Be Columbia CK 40795 C Sunset Strip Released: 1987 K Home Total Disc Time: 41:25 S Four Minutes Source - Compact Disc The Tide is Turning (After Live Aid) Performance: 9.5 Sound Quality: 10 SPARS Code: DDD Roger Waters, one of the creative forces behind the music of Pink Floyd and most notably "The Wall," has just released his second solo album "Radio K.A.O.S." Radio station KAOS provides the setting for the recorded portion of the story of this album. The principle character, Billy, converses throughout the album with Jim, a DJ at KAOS. Billy is a veritable vegetable, somewhat akin to the Who's Tommy, who can pick up radio waves in his head. Both his twin brother Benny, who Billy lived with until Benny was jailed, and his Great Uncle David are ham radio operators. Though there are countless radio waves to pick up in Los Angeles, where Great Uncle David lives and where Billy is sent after Benny is jailed in Wales, Billy has trouble adjusting because Benny is "Home" to Billy. Billy experiments with the cordless which Benny stole and hid in Billy's wheelchair prior to being sent to jail. He accesses computers and speech synthesisers and soon develops considerable expertise with the phone and the computers. Enough to control the most powerful computers in the world, anyway... Through working with the speech synthesiser Billy learns to speak. At this point he makes contact with Jim at Radio KAOS, described as "a renegade rock station fighting a lone rear guard action against format radio." Billy, with his controlled computers and cordless phone, sets up a mock nuclear armageddon and talks with Jim throughout the final countdown. Musically, "Radio K.A.O.S." is very listenable. It is definitely Waters' best work since "The Wall." This album is completely digital and the Compact Disc is essentially perfect sonically. "Radio K.A.O.S." is another great headphone recording like so much of Pink Floyd's music. There are a lot of subtleties within this recording that are most easily heard with headphones at a reasonable level or with your speakers really cranked up. Waters raises numerous personal and political issues with this recording which are brought to the fore, but never really dealt with or resolved. And some of these are things which are not resolved in our own world. The most poignant issue Waters raises is the issue of communication, both on interpersonal and national levels. And radio format wars are a prime, though low-level, example of the issue with perhaps far reaching and dire consequences if not handled properly. Waters has always had a flair for the musically dramatic and also has the ability to surprise you even when you know what to expect. Like the alarms you know are about to ring on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", Waters accomplishes the same thing at the end of "Four Minutes", the countdown to annihilation. Though I've listened to it several times, it never fails to catch me off guard. "Radio K.A.O.S." is a moving, powerful, thought provoking piece of work. The music is excellent, the sound is perhaps as perfect as it can be, and the story is cohesive and believable (almost). With the exception of the ease with which Bill accesses and controls major supercomputers everything in the story rings true or possible. Perhaps Waters will write a book or make a movie which will go into greater detail on how Billy accomplished all this. For now, we'll have to make do with the album. ======================================================================== The Joshua Tree Where the Streets Have No Name U2 I Still Haven't Found What Producers: Daniel Lanois and I'm Looking For Brian Eno T With or Without You Engineer: Dave Meegan R Bullet the Blue Sky Island 90581-2 A Running to Stand Still Released: 1987 C Red Hill Mining Town Total Disc Time: 50:16 K In God's Country Source - Compact Disc S Trip Through Your Wires One Tree Hill Performance: 9.5 Exit Sound Quality: 8 Mothers of the Disappeared SPARS Code: AAD The latest work by Ireland's U2 in my opinion is one of their best. They have a unique style of playing and unmistakable voices. This latest album has some of what one would normally expect on a U2 album, but there is also something new. The word Dylan-esque describes a couple of the songs. There is also a country influence. This, combined with U2's passionate lyrics and energetic performance, makes for a very enjoyable disc. The album was originally recorded on analog equipment, and during some of the quieter passages there is a very minor trace of background hiss, but the engineer has done a superb job of mixing and the disc was very well mastered. The first song on the disc opens up very quietly, with a deep haunting sound created by synthesizer, off in the background the unmistakable sound of U2 guitar which builds up and takes over as the synthesizers fade out. One of the more interesting tracks is "Running To Stand Still." It starts off as almost a ballad and builds up intensity as it goes. The twangy guitar is really interesting. Track 8, "Trip Through Your Wires" is the song that really shows a Dylan influence, complete with harmonica, it's certainly worth a listen on the grounds of historical interest. (* Hee *) Track 10, "Exit," is another very well performed piece.. with the clarity that the CD affords, its really quite easy to imagine that you're outside sitting among the musicians and the crickets, which chirp in the background throughout the song. At first I didn't know if it was the CD or not!!! Overall this is a top rate disc, and if you are a U2 fan then this is a must for your collection, if you're not that much of a U2 fan but do like some of their songs, then this disc will probably push you over the edge into the fan status. I recommend it highly. Robert ======================================================================== Suzanne Vega Cracking Suzanne Vega Freeze Tag Producers : Lenny Kaye and T Marlene on the Wall Steve Addabbo R Small Blue Thing Engineer: Steve Addabbo A Straight Lines A&M SP6-5072 C Undertow Released: 1985 K Some Journey Total Disc Time: 35:26 S The Queen and the Soldier Source - LP Knight Moves Neighborhood Girls Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 9 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Solitude Standing Tom's Diner Suzanne Vega Luka Producers : Lenny Kaye, Steve T Ironbound/Fancy Poultry Addabbo & Mitch Easter R In the Eye Engineers: Steve Addabbo and A Night Vision Rod O'Brien C Solitude Standing A&M CD 5136 K Calypso Released: 1987 S Language Total Disc Time: 44:25 Gypsy Source - Compact Disc Wooden Horse (Caspar Hauser's Song) Tom's Diner (Reprise) Performance: 9 Sound Quality: 9 SPARS Code: AAD Suzanne Vega's strengths lie in her ability to write subtle, catchy lyrics and music while packing the wallop of a mule kick along with them. At first listen Vega's tunes sound pleasant, enjoyable and catchy. And unless you listen closely you'll never notice that these bright, bouncy tunes have a complexity that matches their bounciness. She writes of Death and Freedom in 'Undertow' from her 1985 debut LP, of child abuse in 'Luka' from her recently released album "Solitude Standing", of heartbreak in 'Cracking' also from her 1985 record, and a 17 year old boy who was shut away in a basement since infancy in 'Wooden Horse (Caspar Hauser's Song)' from "Solitude Standing." And her lyrics have a quality of jumping out at you, especially after listening to her songs more than once. Lyrics are provided with both her 1985 self-titled release and 1987's "Solitude Standing." And it's a good thing that lyric sheets are included because Vega's writing demands to be read as well as heard. Her voiced images are reinforced by the written word; her music emphasises her voice and your reading. In 'Undertow' she writes "I would leave only bones and teeth/We could see what was underneath/And you would be free then, free then" equating death and freedom in the same breath. In 'Cracking' "It's a one time thing/It just happens/a lot/Walk with me/And we will see/what we have got" and "My heart is broken/It is worn out at the knees/Hearing muffled/Seeing blind/Soon it will hit the Deep Freeze" Vega paints an image of pain and despair, yet there's also acceptance since "It just happens/a lot." In 'Luka' "If you hear something late at night/Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight/ Just don't ask me what it was" and "They only hit until you cry/And after that you don't ask why/You just don't argue anymore" are hard hitting lyrics, but you can easily gloss right over them because the beat is as infectious as the lyrics are poignant. Vega has smarts and she has style. She has a slightly off-center view of the world that has provided us with two wonderful albums full of poetry to read AND listen to. Rolling Stone Magazine called her music 'Uneasy Listening'. In two words or less, nothing describes her music better. Her music is haunting, relaxing, shocking, subtle, blunt, melodic, hard hitting and pleasant all at the same time. Listening to and reading Suzanne Vega can shake up the old brain cells. She gets her point across very well, very subtly while hitting you over the head. It's not an easy thing to do, but she does it very well. Both her 1985 LP and the CD of "Solitude Standing" have excellent sound and production. Her debut album is a little more sparse, it is mostly an acoustic album, with instrumentation than "Solitude Standing." "Solitude" has a much more noticable drum mix and the CD is virtually flawless. ======================================================================== Crazy There She Goes Again Burning Down Voice of Harold Burning Hell Dead Letter Office/Chronic Town White Tornado REM Toys in the Attic Producers: Mitch Easter, REM, T Windout Don Dixon, R Ages of You Joe Boyd, A Pale Blue Eyes Don Gehman C Rotary Ten Engineer: Mitch Easter K Band Wagon I.R.S. CD 70054 S Femme Fatale Released: 1987 Walters Theme Total Disc Time: 63:51 King of the Road Source - Compact Disc Wolves, Lower Gardening At Night Performance: 9 Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) Sound Quality: 8.5 1,000,000 SPARS Code: A?D Stumble As stated in the liner notes of the Compact Disc, this recording shouldn't be taken too seriously. "Dead Letter Office" is a compilation of outtakes and B-sides from each of the sessions for their four albums. The Compact Disc version also includes their 5 song EP "Chronic Town" which fills the disc up nicely to a total of 20 songs and 63+ minutes. If you're an REM fan, then this disc is a must. It shows some strange, weird and wacky sides of the band which let's us know that these guys are pretty ordinary sorts of guys, unwinding a bit and having fun, like anyone else who has worked hard at something and then used the same tools for a little fun and games. Like you. Like me. The sound of the disc is generally pretty good. There aren't enough quiet passages to make hiss a factor. REM fills up their tracks with a good deal of music. Quiet belongs between their tracks for the most part. Due to the various producers and recording techniques (a couple of the tracks are recorded live to two track tape) the feel of the music changes slightly from track to track. This is neither good nor bad, but it is worth noting since some of the tracks are a bit 'rougher' than others. The "Chronic Town" portion of the disc certainly contains more serious music than the preceding "Dead Letter" portion. "Chronic Town" starts with the 16th track, "Wolves, Lower" and ends with "Stumble". "Stumble" is the best track on the disc. "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" and "Gardening at Night" are close seconds to "Stumble". The best of the B-sides are "Crazy", "Burning Down", "Toys in the Attic" (yes, their version of the Aerosmith song), "Windout", "Ages of You", "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Femme Fatale". The latter two songs are covers of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground songs. "White Tornado" and "Rotary Ten" are instrumentals. All in all, this is quite an enjoyable disc. The music and liner notes give one a little more insight to a band that has come into prominence within the last 5 years and who are still emerging as talents and rock performers. My only complaint about the disc is that lyrics were not included. Without listening to their songs closely and more than once, it can be difficult to make out the lyrics of their songs. ======================================================================== The Washington Squares New Generation The Washington Squares Can't Stop the Rain Producer: Mitch Easter T You Are Not Alone Engineer: Mitch Easter R D Train Gold Castle 171 003-1 A You Can't Kill Me Released: 1987 C Daylight Total Disc Time: 34:08 K He Was a Friend of Mine Source - LP S Lay Down Your Arms Samson and Delilah Performance: 10 Walls (Polish Union Song) Sound Quality: 9 The Washington Squares are a New Wave Folk group. The songs on this LP are filled with energy, showcasing tight guitar playing, beat- capturing bongos and percussion, and impressive intricate harmonies. Lauren Agnelli, Tom Goodkind and Bruce Jay Paskow have all the trappings of a 60's folk band, Paskow's goatee, berets, Solidarity/protest songs, songs titled 'New Generation' and 'Lay Down Your Arms', yet they have an 80's feel for their folk roots. Their New Wave feel adds considerably to the tunes on this record. Each member of the band wrote at least one tune, and they collaborated on one and arranged the traditional tunes which they covered. If 80's folk will come to be known as music of this sort, then more power to groups like the Washington Squares! I haven't heard any of these songs on the radio yet. The fact that I don't listen to the radio much and the fact that this is not a Top40 type of record means that such wonderful songs as 'D Train' and 'You Can't Kill Me' will probably not get a lot of airplay. More progressive stations may play a lot of the tunes from this record, but the only good station in this area is too far away to pick up consistently. And it's a shame that more people will not get to listen to the Washington Squares. They are certainly worth a good listen. Just for information's sake, Mitch Easter produced and engineered this recording. Mitch is best known for his work with REM, a band becoming more and more recognized and reviewed earlier in this issue. ======================================================================== Saint Julian World Shut Your Mouth Cope, Julian Trampolene Producers : Ed Stasium and T Eve's Volcano Warne Livesy R Shot Down Engineer: None Listed A Planet Ride Island 90571-1 C Saint Julian Released: 1987 K Spacehopper Total Disc Time: 41:43 S Pulsar Source - LP Screaming Secrets A Crack in the Clouds Performance: 8 Sound Quality: 9 "Saint Julian" is an enigmatic, charismatic, passionate, eccentric recording. Lyrics throughout the record are so personal that if you're not Julian Cope, then you can't possibly know exactly what they are supposed to mean. Cope's plays and sings with passion and charisma, his tunes are catchy, danceable and likeable even if you don't completely understand what he's really trying to say with his lyrics. 'World Shut Your Mouth' and 'Trampolene' start the record off with a fast pace. 'Eve's Volcano' slows down a bit to a sing-song chorus and then the pace picks up again and remains pretty steady until the final and slowest song 'A Crack in the Clouds', which nicely slows down our heartbeats and brings us back down to earth. "Saint Julian" is laced with religious and sexual references. Cope meets "God in a car" in the song 'Saint Julian', screams "Jesus help me" in 'Screaming Secrets'. 'Eve's Volcano', 'Planet Ride' and 'Spacehopper' all make some pretty blatant sexual references, but the way Cope has written, one can't be sure that he hasn't got something else in mind as well. "Saint Julian" is an enigmatic, charismatic, passionate, eccentric recording. I'd like to get into Cope's head and find out a little more about what this album is about. Maybe he wrote that way on purpose to play with minds of people like me. Oh well, at least it's a listenable enough album that I don't mind being played with, if that's the case. ======================================================================== The BARGAIN BIN Anybody out there interested in reviews of older equipment that can be had for a song and a dance? Well if so this should be a welcome break from the semi hi end components I've been reviewing of late. Fear not though, an upcoming review will be featureing a pair of $3780 speakers that need almost at least 1/3 as much money in amplifiers to drive! But for now we'll take a look back at a couple of audio classics. It is only in the last couple of years that I've had the finances available to buy SOME of the equipment that I've really had my eye on. But back in the dark ages before that time I was on a very strict budget when it came to buying audio equipment. My goal has remained the same over the years though, buy the best sounding stuff that I can afford. Well, as many of you know the used audio equipment market is just full of bargains. Very little audio gear has any resale value at all with the notable exceptions of some of the older tube equipment. We must also remember that audio paranoia is a great asset to those of us on a tight budget. A new review comes out in someone's favorite underground audio publication saying that the component they just purchased last month with a class A rating now sounds terrible compared to the latest equipment from another manufacturer. This causes people to go out and sell what they just bought, in spite of the fact that it probably does sound incredibly good, to get the latest class A equipment which (you guessed it) sells for about 2/3 of the price they bought it for if they're lucky. I plan on exploring some of the better used bargains in the future if there is enough interest generated. Hopefully this review will generate some feedback as to whether any of you would like to see these kind of reviews in the future. And now on to the components at hand. The NAD 3020 Integrated Amplifier The NAD 3020 integrated amp was designed as a no nonsense budget amplifier with the main goal being the best attainable sound for the money.Consequently the exterior looks CHEAP! It is housed in an ugly brown metal case with equally repulsive looking brown plastic knobs, the feel of which are also not too good and speak loudly of cost cutting. It is also rated at a miserly 20 watts. This is perhaps the most misleading feature of this amplifier as it is capable of generating up to 40 watts per channel over short periods of time. However all of this obviously makes no difference in the way a component sounds and if your goal in building a stereo is the sound you can get out of it then none of this will sway you in a final purchase decision. The original price of the 3020 was $175 back when it was introduced around 1979 - 1980. The unit hasn't been in production for about two years (maybe longer) but at the end of it's run the price had climbed to almost $275. The going used price, for one in very good condition, is typically between $75 and $100. Quite a bargain considering the overall sound quality of the unit. I will say right now that this is the component that holds the record for being in my system the longest (five years). This is quite a feat considering that most stuff doesn't last for more than two to three years at the outside. But how does it sound in comparison to what's currently available? In a word, veiled. That is the best way to describe it. Back when it came out in 1979 a few of the underground magazines were praising it's preamplifier section as sounding as good as some $500 preamps at the time. Well preamps have come a long way in the last 8 years. The low end is not very tight or well defined, the high end is also notably lacking, sounding rather dull and closed in compared to a lot of what's currently available. The midrange is also dull sounding and far too laid back for my tastes. I think probably the best part about it is that it doesn't do anything that is outright aggravating with the sound of the music. I've heard far too many cheap integrated amplifiers that do terrible things to the sound (an old pair of Akai's I had at one point spring instantly to mind). The high end gets shrill and unlistenable or the midrange is completely inaccurate, any number of problems. The NAD however doesn't do anything to the sound that is really bothersome. Anybody out there that doesn't think amplifiers sound different should try auditioning the NAD against some other models available, you might be surprised. The strong point of the amplifier is definitely the preamp section, the power amplifier is fairly wimpy when it comes to low end heft and control. The nice thing however is that the power amp can be disconnected so you can use the preamp section to drive whatever power amp you want. I wound up doing that for a number of years, when it was time to buy a better power amp I just continued to use the NAD preamp section to drive it. This kind of versatility is always nice and something you rarely, if ever, find in a unit this inexpensive. In conclusion, if you're really hard up for cash try to audition one of these. They are fairly easy to find and definitely a good bargain for anybody that doesn't have more than a $100 to spend on an integrated amp. If you have more money in the budget say from around $200 to $250 then you should definitely check out the new products in NAD's line not to mention the Rotel and Creek stuff. It's all reputed to sound quite good and is definitely a bargain. The Dynaco ST-70 As some of you may or may not be aware of, tube equipment is still going strong in the audio industry. It is also claimed by many to be superior sounding to it's transistor counterparts when it comes to amplification and preamplification. At this point you're probably saying, "You mean they still make tubes?", to which the answer is "yup". Well this review will be for anyone out there who has had a burning desire to hear the magic of tubes but can't afford it. I would guess that you can't get a new tube amp for anything less than around $1000. However there are a few used ones out there that go for a very reasonable price. This review will center around the Dynaco ST-70. You do have to keep in mind that any tube amp you buy second hand is probably going to need re-tubing which is not something to take lightly. Tubes are easy enough to get but are incredibly tough on the wallet. A company that was well known quite a few years ago was the Dyna Corporation. They supplied equipment kits that could be purchased at a substantial savings as compared to the assembled units. This may sound familiar to some of you that are acquainted with Hafler equipment these days. Well there is a striking similarity for good reason, David Hafler used to work for (or possibly founded, I can't remember) the Dyna Corporation. Dynaco was a well respected manufacturer in it's day and made a number of products ranging from preamps, amps, tuners, and even speakers. But all this is inconsequential seeing that this is a review of the ST-70. The Dynaco ST-70 was a 35 watt per channel stereo tube power amplifier. The tube complement is made up of 4 EL-34's, 2 7199's, and 1 GZ-34. If you need to re-tube one you can probably count on spending close to $100 for the tubes. One problem with tube amplifiers is that the tubes wear out fairly quickly and the sound of the amplifier degrades noticeably as the tubes get older. Most tube amplifiers need to be re-tubed every year, the ST-70 however runs at a fairly low bias so you shouldn't have to re-tube them more than once every 2 years or so. Tubes also tend to be a touch unreliable and come with a 90 day warranty at best. An expensive proposition if you run into a bad batch. Tube amps are also generally criticized for having poor bass control and a rolled off high end. Now that I've got all of the negative aspects out of the way, onto the review. I have been using a pair of ST-70's running bridged mono operation in my system for the better part of three months now. If you read my previous review of the Spica TC-50 speakers then you may appreciate why the ST-70's work so well in my system. As I noted before, tube amps tend to have poor bass control, the Spicas however roll off at a high enough frequency (100 Hz with the crossover) that low bass control is not a problem. The upper frequency rolloff is also low enough (14 kHz)that I may not be experiencing the lack of upper frequency response also attributed to tubes. I stated that I am using a pair of ST-70's. The ST- 70 comes with a switch on the front panel that allows it to be used as a bridged mono amplifier. This allows you to use the amplifier for either the right or the left channel and doubles the rated output power of the amp. Therefore I have one mono amplifier for each channel in order to attain stereo output. This was necessary in order to get a decent volume level. Tube amps like high impedance loads, being that the Spicas are a 4 ohm load it was fairly easy to drive a single ST-70 into clipping if I was listening at even moderately loud levels. Using a pair of them however has completely taken care of the clipping problem. As of this writing I have not been able to drive them into clipping yet, even with very dynamic music playing at very loud volume levels (a vain attempt to drown out the horrible rock band that practices next door). So how do they sound? Through the Spicas, great! Through my room mates Dahlquist DQ-10's not as good but still very respectable. The midrange accuracy of these amps is incredible, they have a way of floating a really 3 dimensional image of the instruments and performers around the soundstage. I am involved in a church choir and mens quartet so the ability of a stereo to reproduce the human voice is probably one of my top criteria for a system. Frequency extremes, although important to me also, fall behind my personal preference for an accurate midrange. The ST-70's really portray the human voice in my system like no other amplifiers I have listened to. This includes my Adcom GFA-555 power amp (which costs roughly 6 to 7 times the price of a used ST-70),a Denon POA-1500, Amber Model 70, Hafler DH-200, and Adcom GFA-2. The high frequencies are extended and natural sounding. A few people that I have run into ask if the upper range is good, to which I just tell them to listen. So far there have been no complaints and quite a few surprised people that didn't imagine that a 10 year old tube amplifier could possibly sound that good. The bass response that the Spicas have is very tight and controlled, not as tight as with the Adcom but it is a small difference at best. The ST-70's sound noticeably different from the Adcom. The Adcom seems to have a very slight edgy quality in the upper frequencies that are lacking in the Dynas, something I've heard in all the other transistor amps that I mentioned to a greater or lesser degree. Whether or not this reflects an accurate portrayal of what's on the disk or not on the part of the ST-70's is debatable, but it does help alleviate the problem of a rising high end that is typical on a number of cds that are out. The bass response with the Adcom is a little better with the Spicas, with the DQ-10's there is an incredible difference in low end response and heft but with the inherent problems with older tube amps (very little current into low frequencies) it is no wonder that the Adcom is better suited to a more full range system. In conclusion I have been very happy indeed with my budget find. They are a superb match for the way I have my system configured, limited frequency satellites and a pair of subwoofers to round out the bottom octave being driven now by my Adcom. When I first picked up the Dyna it was more of a novelty item than anything else. Somebody had traded it in at a local hi-fi store that takes in used equipment in trade for new. When I first saw it I decided that if it was under $100 I would buy it. The asking price turned out to be $75 and it worked, needless to say I couldn't resist (there's still a little bit of cheapskate left in me). When I first started listening to it I realized that it didn't sound as good as the Adcom in most respects, but at the same time it had that elusive quality in the midrange that made me keep going back to it. The bass at that point was lousy and the treble was definitely rolled off, but that midrange! A few months after that I ran into a friend that was willing to let me borrow his (and eventually, under duress of course, to sell it). At that point I decided it was time to re-tube it since the tubes easily looked like they were the originals. After that I haven't been able to go back, after re-tubing the amp it had a completely different sound. The treble became more extended the bass really tightened up and the midrange just got better. Anybody out there that's just dying to find out about the magic of tubes should try and find one (or better yet two) ST-70's. The selling price runs from around $75 to $150 depending on the condition. It's an incredibly high selling price considering they cost less than $150 new back in the 60's but, in my opinion, well worth the investment. What happens if you buy one, re-tube it, and really hate the sound? Well I know where you can always find a sucker to take it off your hands, just drop a line to holmesd@union, chances are you'll find a buyer. DMH ========================================================================