Recently, I looked all over the Net for a page about Dynaco audio gear. There are a few devoted to modifications or upgrades to (mostly tube) vintage Dyna gear, but not a single one celebrating the company, the rich catalog of equipment, or the fun of building and listening to Dynaco gear. This page will hopefully fill part of the gap. It is my ultimate intention to build and expand upon a modest history of the company, its wares, and their various evolutions. I will not attempt to chronicle all the mods and upgrades undertaken by other Dyna aficionados, but will instead provide links to the hard-working people who have already done more than I possibly could in that regard. This is from the standpoint of a satisfied customer/user spanning three decades (so far), and hopefully will invite comment and information from other users on the Net. Former Dyna employees are extremely welcome to comment on or correct my presentation! :-)

I want to salute the people of Dynaco, from their brilliant founder/designer David Hafler onward, and hope that wherever they are today, they know that the high fidelity industry is a poorer place in Dynaco's absence -- but was enriched immensely by its too brief presence.

"The real art is bringing the greatest good (music) to the greatest number." -- Bob Tucker

••• The Good Stuff •••

And now, on with the actual goodies you were probably looking for on this site:

Dynaco/Site FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions about Dynaco or this site. Check here first -- maybe save yourself some effort!
Latest Updates to This Site	What's new on this site.
Dynaco Component Equipment Catalog	Information I've gleaned over the years about the Dynaco product line; dates, specs, and designers. Some pages (mostly the solid state gear)include schematics and service info. Check here first for tech data!
Gary Kaufman's Dynaco Tube Audio Schematics Page	Gary Kaufman of The Dynaco Tube Audio Schematics Page shared some rare and extremely helpful data with me, relating to Dynaco part numbers and model introductory dates, and volunteered to be an alternate source for Dynaco information. Please visit his site for additional data (especially tube-related) not found on mine.
Unofficial Dynaco Company History	A fragmentary history of the Dyna Company from inception to demise.
Dynaco Products and Modification Overview	A nice article written by Bob Schneider about parts and modification for Dynaco's classic tube component equipment. Mirrored here with his permission.
Other links	Hi-fi and Dynaco-related links contributed by visitors and other friends.

Here is a map of the site, just to get you started. Obviously, there's more to it, but this is the rough structure.

KUDOS

Extra special thanks go out to the following former Dynaco employees who took the time to correspond with me and assure that the historical and component data was as correct as I could make it: Wade Burns, Chief Engineer; James Elliott, Director of Customer Services and Quality Control; John Ferranti, QC; Doug Hercus, Quality Assurance Manager; Richard Pley, Design Engineer; and Joseph Sparacio, Technician. My deepest appreciation and respect to Dynaco's first "hired engineer" and designer of a huge number of their tube and solid-state units, Ed Laurent. Ed graciously agreed to be interviewed by phone and helped sort out a number of factual items as well as contributing some fascinating recollections of life at Dynaco in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

I would like to thank a growing list of people who took time away from their "real work" to contribute to the accuracy of this page, even though none of them speak for, or are involved in support for, Dynaco hardware. I extend my deep appreciation to John and Joy Peterson of Sound Valves Corporation, formerly Stereo Cost Cutters/Sound Values, who maintained sales and parts support for Dynaco equipment until their stock was depleted in the early 1990s and they ended support for Dynaco equipment. Also Erno Borbely, owner of Borbely Audio, who designed many circuits for Dyna's ground-breaking solid-state components in the 1970s and continues to develop audio equipment of his own for sale. Thanks to Ned Carlson from Triode Electronics who scanned numerous 1950s and 1960s reviews of Dyna equipment from High Fidelity, Audio, and Stereo Reviewmagazines, and allowed me to mirror them on this site. Mark Williams provided extensive version and upgrade information for Dyna's early solid-state equipment. Bob Schneider wrote an excellent article about Dynaco upgrades (also mirrored here with his permission) and provided helpful comments and info by Email. Mike Hazel loaned copies of Dynaco brochures for me to scan, filling in the last tidbits of data for the 1970s. Steven L. Bender provided copies of the Mk. II and SCA-80 manuals, plus service info for the ST-120 and much fascinating data on the speakers and solid-state equipment specifications as well as the company history. He offers a line of Rebuild Amplifiers which Dynaco fans may find intriguing. Joe Waterkotte provided updated FM-3 tuner specifications. Mark McNally helped with speaker production notes and faceplate info, provided the remaining solid-state gear reviews for me to add to this site, and sent me many useful copies of Dynaco advertising brochures with which to double-check and update my specifications. Lloyde Dees sent pictures and specifications for the very rare Stereo 35, enabling me to complete my page on this component. Don Bilger provided dates and ad copy which added to the database of late-1970s Dynaco history. Mark Korda provided new info on latter-day Dynaco speakers. Norman Koren submitted a link to his audio amp design page. Eric Mintz contributed hardware and manuals to the ongoing museum project! Kevin Boales kindly submitted many cleaned-up diagrams and wrote an excellent page on troubleshooting your ST-400 and -410.

I sincerely appreciate their contributions, though I accept the blame for any misinterpretation or errors in handling the information they have given me. I would be honored to hear from anyone else who wishes to contact me. This web site is a living document, and my mailbox is always open to comments.

Please understand that all of these folks contributed information about Dynaco history with the understanding that they are not involved in support for Dynaco components as such. Please visit their Web sites, check out their new, original audio designs, and buy their Dynaco upgrade boards, but don't harass them for assistance which they do not have the resources to provide. Use the Web and Usenet for those purposes, as I did, and share your discoveries with me and other Dynaco fans. You will receive credit if I use your information on this page!

Among those who still derive some of their business from upgrades and modifications to Dynaco equipment, Frank Van Alstine of Audio By Van Alstine answered questions about Dyna parts replacement and circuitry. Joe Curcio of Curcio Audio has provided numerous schematics in PDF format for the Dynaco lovers to peruse and use, as he continues to produce new designs based on the tubes which enabled Hafler & Co. to change the course of high fidelity 45 years ago. These folks sell upgrade hardware for old Dynaco equipment as well as their excellent original audio gear, but PLEASE do not badger them for free support. Their time is valuable, and in particular Frank's Audio Basicsarticles are well worth the price for information on maintenance and upgrades of older stereo gear of many types.

Any errors in the data on this site are mine alone; none of the people who helped me by forwarding anecdotes, data sheets, etc. are in any way at fault for my mishandling of their data. Where not otherwise identified, ALL data on these pages come from manuals and data sheets in my possession, either originals or copies. Errors copied verbatim from Dynaco manuals or data sheets are not my fault per se, but I'd like to hear from you if you think there's a typo or a version change that should be corrected! :-)

Again, thanks to all the above for their help; this site would have been far less complete and interesting without their contributions.

RIP: David Hafler, founder and mentor of The Dyna Company; Harry Klaus, who contributed to many fine Dynaco products; Sid Lidz, designer of RF and power components; Bob Tucker, author of most of Dynaco's first-rate manuals; Bill Phillips, Dynaco's "golden ear" and customer service manager; Joe Sparacio, technician; and Bob Boehme, QC/Engineering. They will be missed.

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 hits since 20 April 2000

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