Today, Dynaco is best remembered for its highly regarded vacuum tube stereo amplifier, the Stereo 70 (ST 70). Introduced in 1959, the ST 70 was available as a kit (Dynakit) intended for assembly by the purchaser or as a complete factory-wired unit. The ST 70 used four EL34 output tubes, one GZ34/5AR4 rectifier tube, two 7199 input (driver) tubes, two output transformers, one power transformer, and a preassembled printed circuit board (PCB) containing the driver circuit. It produced 35 watts per channel. The driver circuit had a single 7199 pentode/triode tube per channel and used the driver tube to handle both voltage amplification and phase splitting. The output transformers are an ultralinear design, whereby part of the primary winding is fed back to the output tube's screen grid. This design reduced distortion and improved audio quality.
The Dynaco ST-70, introduced in 1959, is a vacuum tube stereo power amplifier widely regarded as a significant achievement in audio engineering for its high performance-to-cost ratio. Designed by David Hafler and Ed Laurent, the amplifier utilized an efficient circuit topology that allowed for high-quality sound reproduction at a price point accessible to the mass market.
During a period when the audio industry was transitioning toward solid-state technology, the ST-70 sustained consumer interest in tube-based amplification; due to its exceptional value and build quality, the unit was frequently referred to in the industry as "the poor man's McIntosh." With over 350,000 units sold by the time production concluded, it remains the most commercially successful vacuum tube power amplifier in history.
A smaller tube amplifier, the 17.5wpc Stereo 35, was introduced in 1963, and was followed the next year by the SCA 35, the company's first integrated (preamp + power amp) tube amplifier. In 1992, an updated version of the Stereo 70, the Stereo 70 II, was produced by Sound Valves for Panor Corporation. Even today, upgraded components, rebuilding kits, and complete tube amplifiers using the basic Stereo 70 design are still in production, and the ST 70 has inspired numerous other amplifier designs, such as Ars-Sonum's Filarmonia SE. Dynaco continued to build both mono and stereo amplifiers until 1977.
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The company's final contribution to vacuum tube technology was the massive Mk. VI mono power amplifier of 1976, which produced 120 watts (continuous).
In later years, the company began to produce a line of solid-state audio components, commencing in 1966 with the introduction of the Stereo 120 power amplifier (60 wpc). Because of early problems involving circuit, power supply, and transistor failures, the ST 120 was not as popular as earlier Dynaco tube amplifiers. Numerous small circuit changes were introduced by Dynaco over the years in an attempt to improve the stability and reliability of the ST 120, without much success. With the PAT-4 preamplifier in 1967, the company affirmed its ability to design reliable solid state equipment at an affordable price. In 1969 the Dynaquad 4-channel matrix decoder system was introduced, helping to start the quadrophonic sound craze. In the 1970s, the Stereo 400 was developed and marketed. This was a high power amplifier at 200 watts per channel that offered automatic protection circuitry to prevent electrical destruction of the loudspeaker. The FM-5 tuner was offered as was the SCA-80 integrated amplifier in the early 1970s time line. Dynaco's solid-state kits were different from the popular Heathkit products (and Dynaco's own vacuum tube kits) because of their preassembled circuit boards. These boards were wired at the factory, tested and packaged with the unassembled chassis. It remained only for the consumer to attach the switches and controls to the chassis pieces, assemble the chassis and power supply, and solder connecting wires to the circuit boards. This saved considerable time and reduced error in assembly.
Dynaco also distributed the famous SEAS 'A-Series' of bookshelf loudspeakers that were manufactured in Denmark, using input from Dynaco's David Hafler and SEAS's Ragnar Lian. The A-Series were marketed between from 1970 until Dynaco's demise in the 1980s. The Dynaco A-25 model proved to be extremely successful, selling between 600,000 and 1,000,000 units. A modified aperiodic bass reflex design using SEAS speakers in a handsome wood cabinet, the A-25 sold for $79.95 each in 1969 making it competitive with much more expensive loudspeakers. The patented aperiodic (essentially non-resonant) woofer design utilized a highly damped vent instead of a reflex port, whose acoustic resistance is very carefully controlled. The resistant venting action lowered the "Q" of the system and reduced impedance variation near resonance in the A-Series speakers. Dynaco followed the A-25 with the slightly larger A-35, which featured a dual-chambered, non-vented design in a walnut-veneered cabinet with even greater transparency and fidelity. Over time, Dynaco marketed a wide range of loudspeakers, ranging from the small A-10 model to the floor standing A-50 series. After some 30 years, these loudspeakers still command good prices in markets such as eBay, and are a testimonial to their quality.
Concurrent with A-25 production, Dynaco introduced the QD-1 speaker adapter which synthesized 4-channel sound from the stereo amplifier output. This "Dynaco patent" required a single resistor and a threeway potentiometer for the two rear speakers, generating phase difference signals for a feeling of ambience. The system worked best when the stereo sound had been recorded via two bidirectional microphones on the same spot. When microphone set-up changed to the use of multiple directional microphones and multitrack tape recording and postprocessing (i.c. in the CD era), the QD-1 was less effective.
Dynaco became a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyco, Inc. in 1969. David Hafler remained with the company a few years longer, but left in 1974 to join Ortofon, manufacturer and importer of high-end phono cartridges. In 1977, Hafler founded the Hafler Company, continuing the tradition of high quality but inexpensive kits and assembled hi-fi gear.
In the late 1970s, Dynaco released a short-lived set of new loudspeakers developed by Ed Laurent, the Phase III. The speakers were well regarded by the audiophile community, but their introduction was apparently too late to make any strong impression in the marketplace, and Ed Laurent left shortly afterward to join SEAS Corporation. After Dynaco closed its USA operations, its former Canadian subsidiary released the Dynaco A-150, A-250, and A-350 speakers, all manufactured in Canton, Massachusetts. Critical reviews of the new audio speakers were not favorable, and they disappeared from the market in the mid-1980s.
