You may have read in another thread about my buying a "stock" Dynaco ST-70 as my first foray into tube amplification.  I bought it off of audiogon after some research, knowing the wealth of info/parts/upgrades that are out there.  I figured I'd upgrade it as I went.
Except I can be an obsessive little bugger and when I found a deal on a Bob Latino ST-70 kit, built by Bob himself, that is almost brand new...a deal that when added up equaled considerably less than if I were to buy all the parts myself for my stock ST-70....never mind the time I'd need and the unavoidable mistakes/"learning experiences".....I decided to sell some of my other hobby stuff and just buy the sucker.
(I sold a Jomox Xbase 999 analog drum machine that's been largely unused for 2 or 3 years)

I took delivery of the thing yesterday.  I had one of the tech's here assist me with switching it over to 4 ohm for my JBLs before I left work.  Just a matter of unsoldering the 8 ohm wire and putting the 4 ohm wire in it's place.
The difference in sound between the stock unit and this one is pretty apparent!  To begin with, since this one has the "high gain board" I didn't need to put the cheezy CMOS amp between it and the pre-out of my AVR like I was with the stock one.
I had since put one of my Yaqin tube buffer's in line as well, which I left in place.
There's more clarity and definition.  There's just more there to hear.  It seemed more free and effortless.  I listened for a little while, let the thing warm up and adjusted the bias.  Then I remembered those switches are to go between pentode and triode mode and it was set for pentode.  So I flicked the switches and sat back down.  I knew there'd be a difference in sound, but I didn't expect such a distinct difference.  Switching it into triode mode made it sound like what I've been expecting to hear all along, but didn't know I *wasn't* hearing yet!
Because it was getting late (I am always the last one up) I didn't get a chance to turn it up, but I was really enjoying what I was hearing at a relatively low volume.  Apparently you take a hit on the watts in triode, if I remember about 30% less so I'm curious to hear what happens with a little more volume.  The thing is since the majority of my listening time is done when the rest of my family is either in bed or on the way I can't really listen too loud anyway.  The sound-proofing I did does a pretty good job and I'm quite happy with how loud I can actually listen without disturbing the others.

So now I do have this stock ST-70 which I really should get rid of.  If any of you know of someone who'd be interested please let them know.  I got it for a decent price and I'm willing to let it go for even less if I don't have to deal with an auction site/paypal/etc.
It's all original except for the updated power switch and Chinese EL34's with maybe 20-30 hours on them.  Has the tube cage and is in pretty average-to-nice condition cosmetically.

It's kinda odd, but I don't think I have ever listened to a Dynaco ST-70 in my entire audio "career." 

F rch

LEVLHED, I'll need to hold off on that purchase.... experimenting with SS right now. I was out of commission for a while. I had a transformer go bad in my Equi=Tech power conditioner and had to send it in for repair. All under warranty and I'm the third owner!

Just got it back yesterday and letting everything settle in.

Have fun with the Dynaco. F rch

if it sounds thick/etc I wouldn't know as I don't really know any better.

I did take the Yaqin tube buffer out as it was picking up some nasty EFI (I think anyway).

xmas was rather good to me and it ended with my owning some more 12AT7's to try out and a quad Genalex Gold Lion KT66's to replace the EH EL34's

After pulling a Mullard and putting in an RCA black plate, then dropping in the KT66's I had to stop experimenting because it sounded too damn good!  I really wasn't sure how much of a difference these "xmas tubes" were going to make, but I'm actually a bit stunned at the difference.  I need to listen to it for awhile again to get used to the sound. 

Yes, jumped into tubes.  I've done a pretty serious run of 12AT7 rolling since my system uses them in three spots.  If anyone is interested, I'm using a Dared SL-2000A preamp with a pair Tele ECC801S.  RCA Black Plate 12AT7WA in the middle position on the ST-70 and Siemens ECC801S Triple Mica's on the sides.
I still have to try out a pair of Mazda's, but I'm having a hard time believing I can get a sweeter sound out of this stuff!

If anyone has been wanting to try out some different classic 12AT7's let me know, I've got an impressive pile of them that I haven't determined what to do with just yet.
I may just horde them for a rainy day