Terry, this is apples and oranges here. I ran an M-117 on my Maganpans for a decade, and that amp is without question one of the smoothest, sweetest, most TUBE-LIKE solid state amps you can buy. The Luxman is voltage driven, not current driven. It is a very unique design -- and will absolute POUND something like those Dynaco's into the ground. I can say this with absolute certainty because my best friend ran that same Dynaco on his DQ-10s. I challenged him to a duel so to speak -- and a week later his Dynaco was in his basement in permanent storage.

Bridging that type of amp is a complete waste. PLEASE, if you want the power, than passive biamp the system. Leave them in stereo, put one on the highs and one on the 15's. That Cornwall crossover is complete cake to split out.

600 watts is good enough if you want to start a fire. But cant you wait till winter? Ill sell you a truck load of voice coils.

I have already made up my mind that this is how I'm going to do it. As a matter of fact one of the amps is now at the techs being "tuned up", relamped and bridged. I'll be sending the other amp out to him when he finishes with the 1st one. I don't wanna over work him >:-)

I did ask you all what you thought and appreciate your input. At this point I'm not interested in suggestions from members on how to set my system up differently.

As it is now the one st400 in stereo (200wpc) is powering my CW's ...When I turn the amps R & L levels all the way up I have a hard time getting to "3" on my NAD 1020 preamps volume knob. Beyond "3" is an awesome experience for both myself and the immediate neighbors.

With 600 watts pounced and ready to produce any sound I chose to throw at the CW's it should be unlike any other audio experience ...at least in my 13' x 15' listening room.

I'm expecting to be all set up in a couple weeks. I'm quite sure I'll be in audio bliss but we'll soon see!

This coming from a guy who owned the fasted production street bike ever made. It's even in the guiness book of world records! Off the showroom floor it went 196mph. Do you think I ever went that fast? Nope!

BIGGER IS BETTER

You're right, Big...you did ask for our thoughts on the subject (and you got back a whole lot more in return). But I can appreciate the fact that you're sticking to your guns and doing what you want to do to your system. After all, you're the one who's listening to it, and if you didn't like the sound your system reproduces, then you wouldn't be going through all the trouble with bridging your monster amps! For that alone, I congratulate you!

I've also been questioned for liking vintage Carver components...maybe it wasn't high-end enough for the purists who swear that vacuum tubes are the only way to go with Klipsch. I love tubes, and have nothing against tube gear, but I also know that tubes aren't for everyone, just like Klipsch loudspeakers aren't for everyone. This is nothing more than an enjoyable hobby, not rocket science, and we should be allowed to explore this audio hobby of ours in any fashion we choose, with whatever components we choose to use. That's what makes this hobby fun.

But if you don't like me for my SS Mac amps, then so be it. All I know is that my McIntosh sounds fabulous with my Cornwalls, just as your Dynacos will sound fabulous to you with your Cornwalls.

As Nike plainly puts it, "Just Do It!"

If you already had your mind made up why did you waste our time by asking for advice? Enjoy the grit and your new hearing aids.

duh...it's bragging rights! hehe

all i gotta say is u can never have too much power, sometime u should try bridging the bridged amps together and go for 1200watts

i wonder if your amps would put out enough power to completely blow apart some bose...i would totally buy u a set to blow up if you managed to videotape the process. and then hook up your klipsch and videotape the windows shattering and the furniture moving (well ok, it won't be that exciting, but one can dream).

and lastly, there's nothing wrong with listening to music with earplugs! crank those babies up so high that u can feel high end slamming into your chest...just imagine what the corresponding bass would be like

ok, on a more serious note...it'll prob sound better unbridged but it's cooler to say u got 600watts bridged instead of just 300watts. (though both are way overkill for horn loaded speakers and your ears). but if u don't notice a difference in quality, then go with the 600 cuz it's cooler to have lots of extra power it's all about being cool! hmmmm, sounds like a rap song (cool daddy? i dunno, i don't listen to rap)

And I to think I've been feeling guilty for running 60 watts.

The output stage of the Dynaco S400 was designed by James Bongiorno of Ampzilla fame.

James also worked for Marantz and SAE during that time period.

Speakers were mostly 8 ohms then. A Cornwall dips down to 4 ohms.

All these 200W/8R amplifiers used series connected outputs with a ±75~80V supply. The maximum collector current rating of the outputs used (2N5631/2N6031) is only 16A.

Driving a 4 ohm load can exceed the maximum current rating for these outputs. That is with the amplifier in stereo. In mono driving 4 ohms is an accident waiting to happen.

Modern designs have paralleled high voltage outputs that didn't exist when the earlier amps came out. The output stage in an Adcom GFA555 is rated at 60A vs the 16A of the Dynaco.

McIntosh is one of the few companies that made robust high power amplifiers. By using the autoformer they were able to avoid the series connected outputs and parallel all theirs for higher current. The MC2300 output stage was rated at 96A vs the 16A Dynaco.

The big 'fix' for the ST400, after it hand-grenades, if to convert it to a ST416. This doubles the number of outputs. The ST416 will drive a 4 ohm load in stereo, or an 8 ohm load in mono.

A ST416 can be rebuilt to have the same output stage as an Adcom GFA555, after this it can drive a 2 ohm load in stereo or a 4 ohm load in mono.

Deang chill ...I can pay you an hourly wage for the time you wasted replying to my post.

I wasn't really asking for advice on how to set up my system. I asked "what do you guys think" about what I am doing.


Sorry I was not specific enough.

djk the dynaco stereo 400's were frequently bridged and used as a 600w mono amp. There was a kit availible in the 70's (MBI-400) that bridged the amp to 600 w mono. I seriously doubt Dynaco would have offered the bridging kit if it were "an accident waiting to happen".
From the website below ..."The MBI-400 bridge kit allowed use as a single channel 600 watt amplifier."


If you're interested in reading more about this particular amp, its stats and capabilities you can here http://home.indy.net/~gregdunn/dynaco/components/ST400/

I think you don't want to know what anyone else thinks.

God speed to you, sir.

This reminds me of a anecdote from my youth. I had a friend that thought it would be GREAT to drop acid and go to the State Fair (here in Minnesota).

I thought he was already tripping if he thought that would be good. I couldn't think of one worse possible combination, except maybe tripping while having your teeth drilled at the dentist.

But he did it, and later, he sat there and said "It wasn't as good as you'd think it would have been."

Big,

I don't suppose that's Busa as in Hayabusa?

Just looking for a pattern...

You got it! I sold the busa because I got too many speeding tickets.

Hello Dere BigBusa !!

The last I heard you were buying a set of Khorns for $1500.00 but needed to wait until you had the $$$$. Now you are talking about driving your Cornwalls with bridged Dynaco 400's !

I am a little puzzled. Did the deal on the horns fall through ? Did you buy the amps instead of the horns ?

----------------
On 7/13/2003 8:54:00 PM BigBusa wrote:

You got it! I sold the busa because I got too many speeding tickets.
----------------

Ah hah! You're trying to compensate for the loss of the Busa. What you really need is a K12RS with about 15-20 watts of vintage tubes. And a V-1.

K12RS Pilot–BBG

This reminds me of "The Ultimate LSH* Loudspeaker" that PWK was writing about in the Dope from Hope Vol 14, No.1 April 1974:

We take the original LSH loudspeaker as a point of departure, build a forced-draft box on which to set the LSH, and wire a shunt resistor R2, of 0.1666Ohm rated at 50 W and a serier resistor R1 of 3.837 ohms rated at 1200 W. This will give an effective load resistance of 4 ohms and a continous input capacity of 1200 W. .... and so forth. PWK did state that it "will dissipate the heat and keep the house warm. Rated SPL was 100 db at 1 Watt at 61 cm.

*Loudspeaker and Space Heater

Gad it would of been great to know PWK, he had to be a hoot!!!!