Dynaco speakers

[brian slattery]

Hi, I have a pair of 30yr old Dynaco A-25's that are still sounding pretty good. I am about to jump into the home theatre world and I was wondering if I could still use my Dynacos? If it is possible, what type of AV receiver would be recommended? Also any suggestions for subwoofers and rear speakers? If possible a total outlay of less than $1200. Maybe I am being unrealistic in trying to use 30yr old speakers connected to digital/ 2006 system.

 

[Sheep]

No, but finding a center channel to match will take some serious footwork on your part.

Speaker hook up methods haven't changed since you bought those speakers, still a positive and negative wire.

Personally, I would like all my speakers to match (fronts, rears, center) but I haven't heard those and don't know how good they sound.

Maybe you can start a 2 channel rig with those and a decent stereo receiver, and get a totally different system for movies.

$1200 can get a you decent surround system.

SheepStar

 

[JoeE SP9]

www.audiokarma.org is a site that specializes in vintage gear. They have a lot of posters who have and use Dynaco A25's. They are still very popular.

 

[Nick250]

Hi, I have a pair of 30yr old Dynaco A-25's that are still sounding pretty good. I am about to jump into the home theatre world and I was wondering if I could still use my Dynacos? If it is possible, what type of AV receiver would be recommended? Also any suggestions for subwoofers and rear speakers? If possible a total outlay of less than $1200. Maybe I am being unrealistic in trying to use 30yr old speakers connected to digital/ 2006 system.

Welcome Brian. A subwoofer and an up to date receiver would be the first things I would get since others has said your main speakers are OK. The sub recomendations would depend on the size of your room and listening tastes. Something in the $400 - $600 range from Hsu or SVS will get you a quality sub. Same price range for receivers from any of the major players like Denon and Yamaha. The efficiency of your speakers may come into play receiver choice.

You could learn a lot about subs fast by scanning through the Sub Forum at AVS..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=113

The same can not be said for their Receiver/Amp forum. Nonsense posts in that forum. You will learn all you need right here. Also check out the review section here.

Nick

 

[Zer0beaT]

Hi, I have a pair of 30yr old Dynaco A-25's that are still sounding pretty good. I am about to jump into the home theatre world and I was wondering if I could still use my Dynacos? If it is possible, what type of AV receiver would be recommended? Also any suggestions for subwoofers and rear speakers? If possible a total outlay of less than $1200. Maybe I am being unrealistic in trying to use 30yr old speakers connected to digital/ 2006 system.

Wow! I'm surprised to see another owner of these

Well, I have some bad news from my experience which was pretty much the same about 2 years ago.

I bought a Yamaha 7.1 reciever and wanted to get a 5.1 system. My main speakers were the Dynaco A25's.

I don't make alot of money so I decided to go piece by piece. First I added a center channel. A month later I added bookshelves, which meant moving the Dynaco's to the surrounds. Finally I had a surround system (5.0) which was an awesome experience.

I used this setup for about a year until recently finally getting matching floorstanders and moving the bookshelves to the back (meaning replacing the Dynaco's )

Anyway, the Dynaco's are a sentimental thing to me, but honestly they don't hold up to the speakers you can get nowadays, especially for movies (but music too). I went with Axioms in case you're wondering, and they're just so much more detailed, and have a wider range, and I just hear so much more even things I'd listened to many times I hear things I never heard before, it's a whole new experience all around. I always thought the Dynaco's were great speakers, but I've learned differently now, though I won't ever get rid of my Dynaco's because they have their own character (and they were the family speakers for 30+ years)

Where I did like the Dynaco's was when I had them in the surround position and played music on all-channel stereo, they added that vintage quality to the overall sound.

But as far as movies the Dynaco's just are not made for modern mixes, and sadly aren't as great as I thought they were even for music.

And now that I have all Axiom's, I even notice a major difference just from having all the same speakers and taking the Dynaco's out of the system all together.

But, if you did want to stick with the Dynaco's, you could get some more off ebay and just use all dynaco A25's (even for the center)

There are alot of options out there for a 5.1 setup in your budget though, and you'll get outstanding quality at low prices these days. Some people here can point you in the right direction.

 

[brian slattery]

Hi
Thanks for the advice. Recounting your experience was the info. I was wanting. I will probably do what you did and hold onto the Dynaco's for awhile and then upgrade, because of the $$$. But at least I will have a realistic expectation and confidence in upgrading.
Cheers
Brian
P.S.This is the first time I have used this site and I am really impressed with the help from other members.

 

[Nick250]

Zer0bdaT, I am considering Axiom 22s or M50s for a 2.1 system. Could you give me some pros and cons on your Axioms. Especially about the going from the 22s, to M60s. This is a music only system. Thanks,

Nick

 

[Zer0beaT]

M22 vs. M60:

It's tough to compare. I don't have any golden ear and I don't have a way with words.

I think the M22 is an amazing speaker, very detailed in the midrange.

The M60 sounds pretty much like the M22 but with a ton of low end range. This can be good or bad or a mixture. For me it's a mixture. Sometimes my music has too much emphasis on the bass, to the point that the midrange stuff can get a bit muddied by it with the M60. I imagine M22's with a sub, you could just lower the level on the sub to mix better, and not disturb anything with too much bass. So it's tough to say. I could probably mess with the crossover and get somewhere between the two.

In my opinion my perfect Axiom speaker would be like an M22 tower. So the M22's 5 1/4" driver x 2 but only 1x 6 1/2" driver. I think the 5 1/4 drivers are magical!

The M60 sounds a bit louder even on lower volumes, and fills the room a touch better in my opinion. But it's very slight.

So I think they're fairly equal and sound very similar, but have some slight strengths and weaknesses versus each other.

The M22 will play ridiculously loud btw (and obviously the M60 even louder, I will never test its limits though)

The M60 kills the M22 on movies, simply because of the amazing low-end.

The M50 I haven't heard, but I did have the M3's (the M50's bookshelf equivelent) before I got the M22's. I returned the M3's because they gave me listening fatigue, and they just didn't suit the music I listen to (60's rock, garage rock, indie rock, old country, brit pop, some jazz, blues,etc mostly vintage guitar type sound) they have recessed mids (which means less or softer mids) and I found the M22's very different and so much more what I was wanting to hear.

The M22's are a great price and if you've got a subwoofer, you wouldn't be missing a thing in my opinion.

 

[Nick250]

Zer0bdaT you describe what you hear very well. I thought the M50s were supposed to be the laid back speaker. I do have a sub, Rocket UFW-10 that I will be using with them so what I want from the speaker is a solid mid-range and a smooth high end. My thinking was that the M50 would do that better than the M22. Can't find a local demo so not sure what I will do. Maybe order both.

Anyway thanks a lot for your post Zer0bdaT, it helps me flesh out what each speaker brings to the table.

Nick