Monday, June 22, 2015

Building a new Dynaco PAS-3 tube preamplifier

The existing Dynaco PAS preamplifiers are now all getting a little long in the tooth - with a history that goes back to the Golden Age of stereo, this simple circuit has provided many of an hour of audio enjoyment.  Sure there are more transparent and detailed units out there, along with newer products with better reliability.

But I do have many fond memories of the Dynaco PAS - the first time I heard Quad ESL-63s, and with surprising results coupled with a simple Mosfet amplifier from Stereo Cost Cutters driving a pair of Wharfedale Diamond V speakers.  Both had huge soundstages - both in depth and width - along with a thoroughly musical presentation.  In an effort to capture those glory days, I decided to give this preamplifier another whirl, but this time decided I wanted to build it from scratch.

Chassis and many of the parts from Dynakits.com, while everything else was from various Ebay sellers, along with a few stops at Mouser.

For now this will just be a picture presentation.  Updates later.