Bob Latino ST-70 Kit Project

[erlingt]

Nice photos ... I also have one of Bob's ST-70 amps that I built from a kit a couple of years ago. It still works great. I notice on one of your photos that you have the stepped attenuator volume control that Bob now offers as an option with the amp kits. I was thinking of adding this to my ST-70 amp? Does the stepped volume control seem to work well with this amp? CharlieW

Yes, the attenuator works fine, it has 21 steps which is sufficient. But it is not easy to mount, there is not much workingspace. It was the single item, I swore most about mounting.

 

[1MOR]

Congrats!

If you like her now, try a quad of the reissue GL KT-66s. That is one significant upgrade. It will take a while for those big Russian caps to age.

 

[ricohman]

This looks like a great option for a first tube amp. And a great project. But I have some newbie questions.
Do I need special test equipment to "test" this amp before plugging it in?
I have no pre amp, but I would like to start out with something new, like this ST-70 kit. Does anyone offer a pre amp kit?
I'm leaning toward a kit as it will reduce the cost somewhat. And ever since I built those Z19's for my Altec M19's I've wanted another project.

 

[mikeski]

Check out www.tubes4hifi.com. No affiliation. But I just finished installing a bunch of their parts in my ST-70 and PAS3. Only things you need are a good pair of cutters, long nose, screwdriver and a soldering iron. A multimeter is helpful for the resistors. And a magnifying glass and .25 reading glasses. My eyes have problems with those little colored lines anymore. hahahahha. Other small tools can be helpful. The Teflon coating on the wire is best removed with a razor blade.

These guys have kits for both the ST-70 amp and PAS3 preamp.

I can't say how the other kits are from Curcio and Dynakit are.

 

[hhibrownsbac]

This looks like a great option for a first tube amp. And a great project. But I have some newbie questions.
Do I need special test equipment to "test" this amp before plugging it in?
I have no pre amp, but I would like to start out with something new, like this ST-70 kit. Does anyone offer a pre amp kit?
I'm leaning toward a kit as it will reduce the cost somewhat. And ever since I built those Z19's for my Altec M19's I've wanted another project.

You will need a multimeter to set the bias with. You can use ST 70 without a preamp but youll need to add a attenuator kit which they have available also. It limits the inputs but does the job till you can locate a preamp you would be happy with. I would think that with some sort of switch box you could up the input selections also if needed.

 

[ricohman]

Check out www.tubes4hifi.com. No affiliation. But I just finished installing a bunch of their parts in my ST-70 and PAS3. Only things you need are a good pair of cutters, long nose, screwdriver and a soldering iron. A multimeter is helpful for the resistors. And a magnifying glass and .25 reading glasses. My eyes have problems with those little colored lines anymore. hahahahha. Other small tools can be helpful. The Teflon coating on the wire is best removed with a razor blade.

These guys have kits for both the ST-70 amp and PAS3 preamp.

I can't say how the other kits are from Curcio and Dynakit are.

I didn't know Bob was a dealer for their kits. Great site. It will take me hours to go through everything. Thanks for the link!