SpruceMoose
Super Member
well, i finally have my analog system up and running. here's the story:
about 25 years ago i bought a dynaco PAS preamp, dynaco Stereo-70 amp, and a Lafayette stereo FM tuner. i used the PAS and the ST70 for a whille, but one day the PAS developed a nasty hum. i narrowed it down to the power transformer, but back then there were no replacements available. into storage it went, along with the amp and tuner.
fast forward 23 years: lo and behold, i happened upon a replacement transformer on the web. so, i bought it, dug out the PAS, and fixed it!
now, i had to have an analog system to go with my HT rig. but i didnt have a good place to put the cool looking dynaco stuff. enter my idea from 2 decades ago: take an old victrola, like the columbia graphonola we have, gut it, and use the cabinet to house the dynaco gear, with my dual 1245 in the top. well, there is no way i would gut a perfectly working victrola. thats just not right. when i mentined the whole idea to my wife, she said " lets go look at the antique stores for just a cabinet." yeah, right. that'll happen... so, we went looking. nothing. not even a working victrola. and the stuff on line was either too expensive or pick-up only. in the midwest. not happening. the next day we went to the antique mall that we missed on the first day. and there, half-way down the first isle, was a gutted Edison phonograph being used as a display case. 100 bux later and it's mine!
ok, the hunt for a cabinet was over. now for the rest of the gear. i wanted to keep the ST-70 on top of my right-hand speaker. it looks great there, all shiny and everything. and it puts out a bunch of heat, that i didn't want under my turntable. so the PAS got put into the cabinet, all alone. the lafayette tuner is ugly, and does not match the PAS, so it is not in use. i got on ebay and bought the matching FM-1 mono tuner for 8 bux plus 10 to ship it. after polishing the faceplate it looked really nice stacked on top of the PAS.
the turntable: i had made a custom base for my dual 1245. because the dust cover had no way to be hinged to it, it just sat on top. one day my wife bumped into it and the tonearm went skittering across the nice, grabby, discwasher anti-static mat. i never did find the diamond from the micro-acoustics MA-282e. oh well. shoulda locked the tonearm down. but in the end i bought a B&O 3300 linear tracker with an MMC5 cartridge. then i bought an MMC3 cartridge for it.
but, i had always wanted to mount the dual in a victrola case, and the B&O wouldn't fit anyway. so i made a mounting plate from a piece of dark brown bakelite and mounted the dual in the top of the case. i also got a new Shure M97xE cartridge for it.
so far, so good. i rewired the PAS to take two phono inputs. all my extra processing gear is in the bottom of the cabinet, including a Sony D-5 cd player.
ok, you managed to wade through all this stuff, here are the pics:
about 25 years ago i bought a dynaco PAS preamp, dynaco Stereo-70 amp, and a Lafayette stereo FM tuner. i used the PAS and the ST70 for a whille, but one day the PAS developed a nasty hum. i narrowed it down to the power transformer, but back then there were no replacements available. into storage it went, along with the amp and tuner.
fast forward 23 years: lo and behold, i happened upon a replacement transformer on the web. so, i bought it, dug out the PAS, and fixed it!
now, i had to have an analog system to go with my HT rig. but i didnt have a good place to put the cool looking dynaco stuff. enter my idea from 2 decades ago: take an old victrola, like the columbia graphonola we have, gut it, and use the cabinet to house the dynaco gear, with my dual 1245 in the top. well, there is no way i would gut a perfectly working victrola. thats just not right. when i mentined the whole idea to my wife, she said " lets go look at the antique stores for just a cabinet." yeah, right. that'll happen... so, we went looking. nothing. not even a working victrola. and the stuff on line was either too expensive or pick-up only. in the midwest. not happening. the next day we went to the antique mall that we missed on the first day. and there, half-way down the first isle, was a gutted Edison phonograph being used as a display case. 100 bux later and it's mine!
ok, the hunt for a cabinet was over. now for the rest of the gear. i wanted to keep the ST-70 on top of my right-hand speaker. it looks great there, all shiny and everything. and it puts out a bunch of heat, that i didn't want under my turntable. so the PAS got put into the cabinet, all alone. the lafayette tuner is ugly, and does not match the PAS, so it is not in use. i got on ebay and bought the matching FM-1 mono tuner for 8 bux plus 10 to ship it. after polishing the faceplate it looked really nice stacked on top of the PAS.
the turntable: i had made a custom base for my dual 1245. because the dust cover had no way to be hinged to it, it just sat on top. one day my wife bumped into it and the tonearm went skittering across the nice, grabby, discwasher anti-static mat. i never did find the diamond from the micro-acoustics MA-282e. oh well. shoulda locked the tonearm down. but in the end i bought a B&O 3300 linear tracker with an MMC5 cartridge. then i bought an MMC3 cartridge for it.
but, i had always wanted to mount the dual in a victrola case, and the B&O wouldn't fit anyway. so i made a mounting plate from a piece of dark brown bakelite and mounted the dual in the top of the case. i also got a new Shure M97xE cartridge for it.
so far, so good. i rewired the PAS to take two phono inputs. all my extra processing gear is in the bottom of the cabinet, including a Sony D-5 cd player.
ok, you managed to wade through all this stuff, here are the pics:
lots of time and thought went into this project. the finishing touch will be to duplicate the grill that used to cover the end of the horn, where the dynaco gear is now. look at the first pic, above. oh, the crank handle is not original, btw. the cabinet did not come with one. i asked my father-in-law if he had any victrola cranks in the basement. he told me which box to look in, and there it was! it's not the correct one, but by using a dished brass washer for a trim ring (held on with double-stick foam tape) and some spray paint, it's sure good enough. for me, anyway!
