Unusual Dynacos

[Martin]

As the original owner of several pairs of A25, A25XL, A35, & A40XL, I'm pretty familiar with Dynaco's 1970s speaker line and with the common variations of the original A25.  This pair of A25s is unusual and is different from anything I've ever seen before: it has different drivers and a different vent screen, but has the same crossovers, tweeter level controls, cabinets & linen grills. The drivers are made in USA and nowhere on the cabinets does it say "Made in Denmark" like all the others do. They have never been opened up before now and have never been modified in any way.  They remind me of the A25-VW, but in a walnut-veneered cabinet.  When played side-by-side with a pair of Seas A25s, the only difference I detect is a slightly extended high-end range.  The pictures show one next to an A40XL and the tweeters are pictured next to a common Seas unit.  Has anyone ever seen an A25 like this before? 

[Martin]

FWIW, I'm told that these were made for Dynaco by USS in the USA and that they are not so uncommon.  

[Vicious-Poodle]

Hello, Martin. I stumbled upon your post.

I have the exact same Dyanco A25 loudspeaker (first row on the left) as mentioned in your post and I noted the drivers weren't obviously SEAS (or Scanspeak); the box is stuffed to the gills with pink fiberglass. The tweeter has a U.S. patent number. I never heard of a manufacturer "USS" and can't find anything by searching. Can you tell me more about them?

You are right that the high end is more extended than the SEAS units, which were used on the A10s I have but these A25s have the "Dynaco sound" all the same

Thanks.

[Vicious-Poodle]

On 3/27/2017 at 11:42 AM, Martin said:

FWIW, I'm told that these were made for Dynaco by USS in the USA and that they are not so uncommon.  

Anything on USS: I never heard of them. Search results return nothing. Does your A25 tweeter show a U.S. Patent number? You can search and mine is an archived patent on domed drivers.

[Martin]

I didn't get very far either when searching for USS. I do recall that this same tweeter was used by other manufacturers, including, I think,  McIntosh. Anyone who felt shortchanged by owning this American-made A-25 need not feel bad as it sounds great, even without the Seas drivers.

I've never confirmed this, but I think these same drivers were used in at least some A-25VWs which were the cheaper, vinyl-clad version, that were introduced after the original A-25 became very popular. They were not as elegant with vinyl cabinets & dark grill cloth, but they sounded great & were priced to compete with AR 4x, AR 7 & KLH 17, all formidable competitors, but IMO, no match for the A-25. Most A-25VWs I've seen used a very different-looking tweeter that had an orange-colored dome. I bet these 2 tweeters were otherwise very similar. 

[Vicious-Poodle]

20 hours ago, Martin said:

I didn't get very far either when searching for USS. I do recall that this same tweeter was used by other manufacturers, including, I think,  McIntosh. Anyone who felt shortchanged by owning this American-made A-25 need not feel bad as it sounds great, even without the Seas drivers.

I've never confirmed this, but I think these same drivers were used in at least some A-25VWs which were the cheaper, vinyl-clad version, that were introduced after the original A-25 became very popular. They were not as elegant with vinyl cabinets & dark grill cloth, but they sounded great & were priced to compete with AR 4x, AR 7 & KLH 17, all formidable competitors, but IMO, no match for the A-25. Most A-25VWs I've seen used a very different-looking tweeter that had an orange-colored dome. I bet these 2 tweeters were otherwise very similar. 

Thanks Martin. That's more than I know about USS; I wonder if they're similar to AR domes. And yes, they do sound great. One of mine went bad. The Vifa D27TG-35-06 1" Silk Dome Tweeter from either Madisound or Part Express sounds very similary to this unit and the SEAS just as an F.Y.I.  

Also, we use two rear A25XL (with the Vifa, which is better than the origninal domes that rang and blew up) for our 5.4 surround sound home theater: two A10s for the center, with original units, left and right are the A25 with USS drivers except the right now has the Vifa tweeter. In the rears each A25XL has a Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior beneath it (they're mounted on stands) and they add great output from 40HZ down to at least 30.

Modified VMPS smaller subwoofer in center, Sunfire Tru Subwoofer Mark II to the left in the front. I guess SVS get deep bass below 20HZ but that would be too much for our room size.

Thank you again.

[GlenD]

Looks just like mine.  But mine are A25 WV.  Also mine have a super cheap particle boar case with vinyl wrap on them.  they sound good though!

[GlenD]

trying to post a pic.  stand by.......

[GlenD]

[Martin]

Yes, the A-25 VW was a great one and was untouchable at its original low price.  Looks like you are ready to set up a stacked pair. 

[Vicious-Poodle]

Quote

Thanks Martin. That's more than I know about USS; I wonder if they're similar to AR domes. And yes, they do sound great. One of mine went bad. The Vifa D27TG-35-06 1" Silk Dome Tweeter from either Madisound or Part Express sounds very similary to this unit and the SEAS just as an F.Y.I.  

Found out it was the Carver Silver Seven Transfer Function amp run in mono mode was refurbished and defective; not the tweeters. There is a Scan that's a better choice from Madisound, Danish made in any event. 

This tweeter can be used for A25, A25XL, A10 and here's the replacement woofer:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/scanspeak-soft-dome-tweeters/scanspeak-discovery-d2606/9220-1-textile-dome-tweeter/

Woofer

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/scanspeak-woofers-6-7/scanspeak-classic-p17wj00-6.5-woofer/

With the Danish made tweeter our A10 gave an early generation B&W 800 serious competition, other than in bass below 45hz.

Found out about Emotiva A-300, this is a superb amp and much cheaper than many refurbished "vintage" gear.

https://emotiva.com/products/a-300

This is a little incoherent but I agree with his conclusion these are great amplifiers.

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/emotiva-a-150-basx-power-amplifier/

Happy New Year, Martin and thanks for the info. When I pulled the U.S.S. tweeter, I found a U.S. patent number, interesting reading. I like these very much and so far, far superior to the Elac Debut, which I'm using as height speakers. They're OK for that. I hope you're doing great and again, Happy New Year.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Vicious-Poodle
Link to speaker

[Pete B]

Interesting, first I've heard of these.