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Dynaco A-10


dynaco_dan

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Hi there;

The Dynaco A-25 speaker came out sometime in 1969.

We have seen the Scan, first issue, and Seas, later issue, speaker drivers.

I was just looking at the, Dynaco A-10 April 1972 Stereo Review magazine photo.

At this much later date, I see they used a 4 screw, possibly a Scan woofer.

The tweeter is the Seas, 8 screw version.

Considering that Seas was the primary developer of the Dynaco A-25, I wonder where and how Scan fits into the timetable.

The reviewer claimed that the averaged frequency response was, +/-4 db from 50 Hz - 15 Khz, maximum low-frequency output was at 80 Hz and a broad high frequency maximium at 10 Khz.

Distortion was @ 1 watt level, was below 5% down to 65 Hz, reaching 10% at 50 Hz.

They felt that 50 - 60 Hz was the lower practical limit, not bad for a 6" woofer, in their opinion.

There was an extreme loss of highs above 10 Khz.

Tone burst response test's were taken at 100 Hz, 1 Khz and 10 Khz, very clean and sharp.

Strange that two other magazines found a peak at 9 - 10 Khz and there was no comment about this tweeter having that.

Overall the speaker was smooth and the bass, impressive, they gave a B+ in the listening test.

The highs output and dispersion were better than average.

Pipe organ and bass drum's were not carried off, as in a larger system and the highs were noticeably in less obvious abundance than units using multi-unit dome tweeter arrays.

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  • 1 month later...

I could not figure out from your posts if you have the Dynaco A-10 or just interested. I have a very nice pr of A-25 I use for the TV room thinking I'd like to get an A-10 for a center channel to voice match my current right and left. How do the A-10's sound? I have been searching for a set or single, but haven't found one yet.

I have a pdf of the 1975 catalog that says they voiced it as close to the A-25 as possible used the same tweeter same aperiodic enclosure.

David

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I could not figure out from your posts if you have the Dynaco A-10 or just interested. I have a very nice pr of A-25 I use for the TV room thinking I'd like to get an A-10 for a center channel to voice match my current right and left. How do the A-10's sound? I have been searching for a set or single, but haven't found one yet.

I have a pdf of the 1975 catalog that says they voiced it as close to the A-25 as possible used the same tweeter same aperiodic enclosure.

David

Hi David

When I first wrote here on this site about my, classic Dynaco A-10, all I owned then was a single

speaker, less the woofer.

It had been given to me free from a past customer of mine.

It has a vinyl covered cabinet with a dark brown grille cloth.

Time passed by and I got the ebuy bug, badly.

I was rescuing everything I could and finally bought a mint pair of complete A-10's in an

oiled walnut cabinet, with the original beige linen grille cloth's, from a fellow Canadian seller.

They look like they just came out of the factory, they were very well looked after and also well

packaged for shipping to me.

Being as he was a Canadian seller, there was really no bidding competition for me, it seems like bidders stay away

from Canada, probably thinking that our customs is such a hassle to deal with.

It is.

The tweeter used is the 1 1/2 inch Seas model, was the same 8 ohm unit also used in the classic A-25, A-35 and A-50 speakers.

The later XL 1 inch tweeters were slightly more efficient and so they are a little louder sounding when compared.

The A-50 used 2 - 15 ohm woofers, paralleling them is an 8 ohm load, all other classic speakers used, were 8 ohm woofers.

There may have been a Scan tweeter used in early production A-10 units, I do not know that for a fact.

The A-25 and A-50 used some Scan tweeters and woofers in early production units, amount unknown.

The speaker model number, the first two numbers on the rear label, did not change, whether using the Seas or Scan model drivers.

The A-10 woofer uses the same magnet assembly as the 1 1/2 inch tweeter, as did most, but not all of the 10 inch woofers.

I will be taking pictures of these and starting another topic in the near future with photos galore, showing these differences.

The A-10 cabinet was also vented externally, Aperiodic, similar to the A-25.

There is no level control or banana plug connections, just screw terminals.

All Dynaco classic speakers were all approximately of the same sound quality, except mostly in the lower, under 100 hz range.

The fuse for it, as well as some of the others, was 1 amp fast blow and for the A-50 a 1 1/2 amp fast blow fuse, slow blow fuses were never mentioned.

There hasn't been any information, that I am aware of, regarding using a Bussmann or Littlefuse FNM/FLM slow blow fuse, as Advent and AR had recommended

for their speaker owners, also there was no fast blow fuses even mentioned by them.

Smooth impedance curves means that any of these 4 models could be used without as much concern about adding

difficult amplifier loading, as with typical speakers.

The A-10 had the least bass output of the 4 clasic speakers, the tweeter across the board, was by far the stronger of the two drivers.

You may be interested in using a Dynaco Quadaptor and a pair of A-10's.

Another pair of A-25's will likely cost you less and offer you more satisfying sound.

Do a search here for, "Dynamax", a wiring diagram for various multi Dynaco speakers.

At this time it is actually just 2 topics below this one, it was originally started by, "dynacophil".

Just a thought for tonight.

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  • 2 months later...

I just "rescued" a pair of walnut Dynaco A-10 from the dormant system of my late father. Other than fading of the walnut finish where

one loudspeaker has been sitting in sunlight for 30+ years (now cured by rubbing in brown shoe polish and buffing!), they're

like they came from the factory. Dynaco and its Danish partners who made those speakers (and the classic A-25s, too) are to be

commended for making something of such high performance and longevity.

The A-10s are about the same size as my main speakers, a pair of Red Rose Rosebuds, a Mark Levinson import with ribbon tweeters.

It will be interesting to compare the two, both with the subwoofers I usually operate with the Rosebuds, and without. Amplification is

all tube, modified/upgraded Dynaco preamp and monoblock power amps.

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I just "rescued" a pair of walnut Dynaco A-10 from the dormant system of my late father. Other than fading of the walnut finish where

one loudspeaker has been sitting in sunlight for 30+ years (now cured by rubbing in brown shoe polish and buffing!), they're

like they came from the factory. Dynaco and its Danish partners who made those speakers (and the classic A-25s, too) are to be

commended for making something of such high performance and longevity.

The A-10s are about the same size as my main speakers, a pair of Red Rose Rosebuds, a Mark Levinson import with ribbon tweeters.

It will be interesting to compare the two, both with the subwoofers I usually operate with the Rosebuds, and without. Amplification is

all tube, modified/upgraded Dynaco preamp and monoblock power amps.

Hi there

Sorry for the loss of your father.

He had great speaker taste and it was fortunate that you inherited the A-10's.

I am certain that he would be very happy knowing that they will be well looked after by you.

Longevity and durability was a highlight of all Dynaco products.

Only a few classic pieces were ever dropped from their product line, after stereo became the norm and tube equipment sales declined,

otherwise Dynaco sold upgrade kits for most all of their solid state and tube electronic products.

An exceptional consumer oriented company, not to be seen again.

Thank you for mentioning the shoe polish coverup, it gives us another option.

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Hi there

An exceptional consumer oriented company, not to be seen again.

Thank you for mentioning the shoe polish coverup, it gives us another option.

If I just edited my previous write-up, it would not be picked up by anyone.

The Seas tweeter, as I have written plenty about previously, was the stronger of the two drivers, at least in the A-25 speaker system, about

100 - 1, woofer versus tweeter replacement.

I only ever serviced one A-50 speaker system, I still remember writing down all of the cabinet measurements.

The A-50 required a new tweeter and it would appear to be the weaker link in this dual woofer system.

We will never know which woofer brand, Seas or Scan, ot tweeter brand, Seas or Scan, was ever used in any of the classic Dynaco speaker systems.

It would bug me to find that I had a Scan speaker version in one channel and a Seas speaker version in the other.

I would have said to myself, they must be different.

I guess the tweeter dispersion comments in different old reviews reflected the reviewers opinion and the reflection from the baffle and cabinet edges.

We will never likely find out the full story of Dynaco and how, why and when, the A-25 speaker system.

Why they did not change prefixes when changing the drivers, cabinet layout, mirror images and crossovers mid stream, is anyones guess.

Last visit to ebuy I saw A-10's selling for much more than A-25's.

My guess is that compared only to the A-25's Dynaco sales, their other model sales would be slimmer.

We do not have any hard data about that.

Over a million sold of the A-25's, that is all I've ever read.

Not bad considering that the discounted packaged pair of A-10's were selling new for just over one A-25's list price.

An electrical schematic of the A-10 would be nice along with some crossover photos.

If I wanted center fill, or rear add-on speakers, I would buy A-25's at a generally lower priced, better sounding system, unless space is

also a serious consideration.

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I wrote this review of the A-10s a few years ago (for Epinions, a site not exclusively for audio nuts) and I still think it's accurate. A-25s usually go for somewhat more than A-10s on eBay (I always watch Dynaco speakers), but really minty A-10s can go for around $200/pr. I've had about 10 pairs of A-10s pass through here and all had the same complement of SEAS drivers. Don't know if there were ever any Scanspeak A-10s.

http://www99.epinions.com/content_278745878148

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I wrote this review of the A-10s a few years ago (for Epinions, a site not exclusively for audio nuts) and I still think it's accurate. A-25s usually go for somewhat more than A-10s on eBay (I always watch Dynaco speakers), but really minty A-10s can go for around $200/pr. I've had about 10 pairs of A-10s pass through here and all had the same complement of SEAS drivers. Don't know if there were ever any Scanspeak A-10s.

http://www99.epinions.com/content_278745878148

Hi there

I thank you for correcting my Scan driver comment.

A few moments ago I re-visited a scanned SR review that I have and on closer inspection, I

see that I was aware of the 4 screws, and missed the other 4 screw holes.

I know that the Scan have 3 screws.

My scan is inferior to Wally's original copy, which I have already returned to him.

It took a blowup of my best scan to see where I went wrong.

I guess I was tired and didn't pay close enough attention to details on my scanned copy.

I was quick to draw a conclusion because of the many photos I have seen of A-25 and A-50 Scan and Seas versions, sorry.

Thank you very much again.

I've enjoyed a number of speaker write-ups you've done at that site, very well done.

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  • 9 months later...

Hi there

Last week there was a pair of nice looking A-10's on auction.

I only saw it once and the price was around $60.00 for a pair located here in Vancouver BC.

A location was requested by a bidder also here in Vancouver.

I missed the finally as to the final price but one living so close would be able to bid higher.

A few years ago I won a pair for under $100.00 in Ontario.

No one seems to bid if in Canada, what a shame.

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  • 7 years later...
On 6/6/2011 at 1:54 AM, Horswispr said:

I wrote this review of the A-10s a few years ago (for Epinions, a site not exclusively for audio nuts) and I still think it's accurate. A-25s usually go for somewhat more than A-10s on eBay (I always watch Dynaco speakers), but really minty A-10s can go for around $200/pr. I've had about 10 pairs of A-10s pass through here and all had the same complement of SEAS drivers. Don't know if there were ever any Scanspeak A-10s.

http://www99.epinions.com/content_278745878148

Of course, epinions on this date 01/23/2020 is dead but since it's not political, thank heavens the WayBack Machine preserved it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080719111926/http://www99.epinions.com/content_278745878148

 

Quote

Horswispr's Full Review: Dynaco A-10 Speakers


Dynaco A-10 loudspeakers were among the best really small loudspeakers of the early 1970s. Following the success of the famous Dynaco A-25, introduced in 1969, the smaller A-10 was introduced in 1971. Only 8.5" wide x 15" tall 8" deep, and weighing about 12 lbs each, the A-10 could fit anywhere and looked essentially like a smaller A-25, with its real walnut veneer cabinets and characteristic light grille cloths. It used the same tweeter as the A-25, coupled with a smaller 6 1/2" woofer (the A-25 used a 10" woofer).

Vintage Dynaco A-10s are still popular today, and a really nice pair can command over $200 on Ebay though the retail price was only $100/pair in 1971.

I've been fixing up Dynaco A-25s lately, looking on with envy as I see pretty pairs of A-10s selling on Ebay for as much as Dynaco A-25s, so I knew I had to get me a pair.

Finally, a couple of months ago, I was able to snap up a pair of A-10s on Craigslist for under $100. As one would expect for that price, the screens were in horrible shape, and there were some small scratches in the veneer, but overall the speakers looked pretty good.

I set them up and gave a listen after cleaning up a surface or two. I wanted to see how the A-10 compared with the famous A-25.

First of all, I should mention that these speakers are cute as heck! Their small size means they can fit onto just about any bookshelf unobtrusively, and their walnut veneer is of extremely high quality: it's the same stuff as is found on the famous Dynaco A-25s. The grilles clean up nicely as well. If you can find a pair that has been skillfully restored, these are incredibly attractive little speakers.

Two things the Dynaco A-10s do NOT have: 1) there is no five-level tweeter control as there is on most A-25s. 2) The speaker wire terminals are just little screws. They do not accept banana plugs as the A-25s do, and getting speaker wire attached to the terminals can be a bit of a pain.

That said, how do they sound? Are they worth the $200 per pair some folks are paying on Ebay?

Overall, they sound like Dynaco A-25s but without the larger A-25's characteristic warmth. In other words, they sound tonally neutral, with good definition, and no real peaks or valleys in their frequency response. Music sounds like music through A-10s. But they roll off quickly in the bass, and the result is a brighter, crisper presentation than with the Dynaco A-25s.

Imaging is quite good with the Dynaco A-10s. Because they're small, they act almost like mini-monitors when placed on stands. Much of the music occurs behind the plane of the speakers, and the musicians are well-spread about the soundstage. The dynamics are also good. Individual notes start and stop quickly. If anything, micro-dynamics (very subtle dynamic contrasts within the music) might be a bit better than with the A-25s, perhaps due to the smaller woofer.

But I have to admit that I sometimes missed the warmer sound of the larger Dynaco A-25s and A-35s while I was listening to the A-10s. On Greg Brown's The Poet Game, Brown's dark, gravely voice sounded just a tad small through the A10s. To compensate for this effect, I turned on my Cambridge Soundworks Basscube 12 subwoofer, and set the sub-woofer's volume low and the crossover frequency high. Much better.

On bluegrass music, the A-10s sounded good, but I still missed the warmer sound of the A-25s. Guitars and mandolins sounded nice and crisp and were nicely suspended in space, but the upright bass that provides the rhythmic drive to bluegrass music was down in level. Again, subwoofer to the rescue.

On Govi's Seventh Heaven, a well-recorded CD of "new age" acoustic guitar with a Latin influence, the A-10s sounded really nice. In fact, I say it was with really small scale delicate music that the A-10s really shone for me. Fingers on strings sounded real, as did the tone of the acoustic guitar overall. Same with Alex DeGrassi's Slow Circle, another album of well-recorded acoustic guitar music.

On Miles Davis's jazz classic, Kind of Blue, the A-10s sounded quite good, though I again turned on the subwoofer to get the upright bass to come through with the heft I like. Miles's horn sounded crisp and clear, and individual instruments were well suspended in space.

On classical music from my local radio station, the A-10s sounded fine. The speakers sounded neutral on a wide variety of music, and announcers' voices sounded natural, not overly chesty.

Overall, I enjoyed the Dynaco A-10s. If I had enough space, I might opt for the larger Dynaco A-25 over the smaller and cuter A-10. The A-25s have more warmth, while not sacrificing much in the way of imaging. However, the A-25s are substantially larger and cannot as easily be "hidden" in a small bookshelf like the A-10 can.

Another positive about the Dynaco A-10 (and other Dynaco speakers): the woofer surrounds are made of rubber, which is extremely durable, meaning you won't need a "woofer refoam" every few years. Used pairs of Advents and ARs often need work on the woofers to make them work properly.

How do the Dynaco A-10s compare with the recently reviewed KLH Model Twenty-fours, another small speaker of the same era? That's a tough call. To me, the KLH Model Twenty-fours came off as a bit brighter, while the A-10s came off as a bit smoother in the upper midrange. Bass response was roughly comparable between the two. The KLH may be a better bargain, since it seems to be relatively unknown, and nice pairs are going on EBay and Craigslist for well under $100/pair. The A-10s are a bit more of a "cult" favorite, and a really nice pair can command over $200, almost as much as the larger and more common A-25.

If you are looking for a set of small speakers for your den or office, and aren't concerned with the bottom couple of octaves of music (deep bass), then I'd give the A-10s a listen. If you can find a pair on Craigslist for $75 or so, snap 'em up and see if you can find a local wood worker to pretty up the cabinets and screens. A nice looking refinished pair can sometimes be found in the $140 to $180 price range. You'll be rewarded with a really attractive and good sounding set of speakers, and a part of audio history as well.


Recommended:


Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 90

My own opinion is that oftentimes they do a better job on vocals than the A25, given the smaller size and dispersion characteristics. More similarities than differences. I'm using two as dual mono for the center channel in my home theater; and two with Vifva one inch domes (Scandanavian made, Scanspeak makes a model) tweeters with a more extended high end than the original SEAS, but very difficult to tell the difference with one side by side with the classic A10 (mint condition from Canada too!) with a Sunfire Super Junior handling the lows for my smaller living room TV setup. Great speakers.

Edited by TheFrugalAudiophile
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In addition, SEAS makes this A26, available on Madisound. The two-way 6 inch market is over-saturated, but I hope they consider a two-way eight inch model.

http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=475:seas-a26-kit&catid=66:seas-diy-kits&Itemid=365

People who have built them (reviews on Madisound) do like them.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/seas-a26-10-2-way-kit-pair-based-on-the-classic-a25/

I've attached the brochure from SEAS. One review states:

Quote
A True Dynaco A25 Clone
I own several pairs of original Dynaco A25s. This new kit is as close to the originals than any other clone I have evaluated. They have a much better high frequency extension than the Dynacos however. Because of the this the clarity is better with better imaging while still maintaining the mid-range warmth. Do not go cheap on the capacitor or resistor. I recommend the mundorf silver/oil as it is the best band for the buck in this kit. The enclosures provided by madisound are gorgeous. I absolutely love the original A25s but the Seas A26 takes them to an entire new level.

 

SEAS_A26_AppNote.pdf

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  • 1 year later...

I just adopted a pair of classic A10's and a pair of A25's (as well as a pair of POLK model 40's and a pair of KEF Coda-3's)  and have spent the last hours looking for info on them. The only smaller Dynaco's I ever knew were the later vinyl ones. These are a marvelous extension of the A25-35-50 concept.

the A10's are a bit surface-worn (a bit of household wall paint and some nicks and scratches) but overall in fine shape, look indeed like junior A25's...
and as said in this thread that;s EXACTLY how they sound... with a bit lighter bass extension and power.
 

The Polk (cleanly BRIGHT...) and KEF's are nice but not remarkable. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by JohnV
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A note as to removing the grilles on the A10

FIRST REMOVE THE DYNACO BADGE: it's just a metal plate glued to a woodscrew (like the A25) .
You should be able to simply rotate it anti-clockwise until it is free.

the grillecloth and frame is a bit of a trick...
The grillecloth frame is simply-built... with the LONG side frame piece going fully top-to-bottom. 
This is important later in levering the thing off the glue, without breaking/separating the frame pieces from each other.

FIRST THING TO KNOW: the frame is both marginally GLUED (which means the folded-around-the-back grille cloth WILL be partially stuck to the speaker front panel... )
AND secured with TWO small brad/nails. These were a clever easy hidden idea... and thus an annoying trick to get the thing off.

These brads are (on mine anyway) ONLY placed on the upper-left and lower-right corners.
(directions as if the speaker is VERTICAL with the tweeter above the woofer)

MOST IMPORTANTLY they are NOT driven in STRAIGHT, but driven in at a specific EXTREME angle and so CANNOT be simply leveraged/pried off straight without breaking something.   I could NOT locate them from the front thru the grillecloth.
(if YOU can find them and get a grip to pull them out AT AN ANGLE, without damaging the grillecloth... I salute you)

The idea seems to be that you loosen the grille frame as best you can WITHOUT trying to loosen it on those 2 brad-held corners,...
they will NOT move, and will break the frame rather than come away being pried straight-up. 

You initially work your way from the OTHER corners, with a small putty knife as a lever (it reduces compression damage to the front verneer lip) gently applying pressure to break the glue bond (do NOT do this initially on the short frame piece as it can break where it joins the long frame piece) , then feeling your way along to ALSO get whatever grillecloth WILL be staying stuck to the FRONT PANEL rather than coming away with the frame.
Once most of the frame and grillecloth has its glue bond broken from the front panel, you can get the brad-corners out differently:

the trick I found was to lift the free corners out a bit so you can push sideways on them, and GENTLY apply tool leverage on the brad-held corners WHILE PUSHING SIDEWAYS (leftwards on the top... rightwards on the bottom) ON THE FRAME so that the result is to pull along the axis of the slanted brads.
It feels VERY risky as you do it... it takes considerable pressure to break the last of the glue AND get the brad to come out with the frame.

The previous owner for my pair had tried getting the grille off and managed to break a frame corner-joint and gave up. I had read a mention somewhere about 'nails'  on the A10's but saw none on the loose part of that grille. I managed to get it off without further damage and thus found the brads on diagonal corners.
Removing the other speaker's grille on that evidence worked well.

hope this is of help

 

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