Dynaco A25 Loudspeakers. Most popular bookshelf speaker ever produced. Review and history. New grills replaced. Don't forget to subscribe for more cool videos: goo.gl/df7UBy
I still own and use the pair that I bought new in 1973, when I was in high school. They sounded awesome then and still just as good. I did the exact same grill repair a few years ago including the replica logos.
Have these bought at a thrift store in excellent condition for $10 in South Dakota. Original cloth and sounds great! I have all kids of vintage gear so I think these will match a 1963 Sansui receiver I have very well
I had a 70 watt per channel Dynaco Amp, Preamp, and Tuner back in the day, when they were still being manufactured in Philadelphia. Harman Kardon had a place on Market Street. I don't think Dynaco was making speakers at the time or I'd have scoffed up a pair of those as well. A third party even made wood cases for the preamp and tuner, which I also bought. Soon Dynaco was doing so well they had to build a factory over in New Jersey, where they lasted only a few years until going out of business. RIP, Dynaco! You were one of the best.
Yes....Good info. David Hafler started Dynaco and then went on to make some great amps in a new company "Hafler". I once owned 2 Hafler 500 amps. A pro model and a residential model. I believe they were made in Boston or New Jersey. Maybe you can confirm or correct me (?)
Just came up from the basement where I had my Dynacos blasting away! Nice to see people still have these around and enjoying them. I got mine in 1973 from my cousin who bought them new in 1971 but needed weed money (I think???)
Best Speakers Ever! I actually bought 3 pairs of these at a Goodwill! They were in Mint shape. They must have all came from the same estate. I love them!
I wish I could find scores like that. I'm never that lucky. I agree....They ARE the best bookshelf speakers ever !! Enjoy and all the best!! Thanks for looking at my video !!
Hi @csa967...I was going to make a video of the speakers playing in the video....but because of the low quality mic in the camera you just couldn't hear any discernable difference between my reference $15k Klipsch Klipschorns and the Dynaco book shelf speakers on the video playing on my iPhone and laptop. Sorry...so I didnt bother trying to record the sound. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your comments !!
Thanks for posting. Mine have the port at the top. My friend gave them to me. I really like them. I set mine to the highest setting and they sound amazing! Can you give me the link for where to get the Dynaco logos please?
Very nice speakers, I'm thinking, again, about buying a pair. I bought my stereo in 1973 and there was quite a competition going on between Dynaco A25 and EPI 100; I opted for the EPI's and they have been great. But why not try something different? I hope I can find a mint pair somewhere; usually if you wait long enough, something shows up. PS. there were several different audio mags around at the time, and many of those rated the EPI's "better". I was a classical music fan, and the EPI tweeter was/is unmatched in the audiophile world. BUT, Dynaco had the better mid-range; because I'm older now, I think I'd prefer the warm smoothness of that mid-range emphasis. I'm looking . . .
I agree with you....but there is something about the sound of those older bookshelf speakers with the larger cabinets that I like. Thanks for viewing !!
BTW, I bought them because they were not only the highest rated speaker, but not expensive, so Consumer Reports rated them a "Best Buy." They were & I certainly was never disappointed!
An aperiodic vent lets sound out while keeping mostly keeping air pressure in. Simply suppose to give you both sealed or acoustic suspension and ported characteristics in one design. Not used very often but I'm not sure why.
Simply stated, the "aperiodoc vent" mocks a sealed design with a larger box. It is "resistively leaky", and the bass rolls off at 12db/octave. Bass reflex rolls of at 24 db/octave. Sealed vs reflex? Sealed sounds like real bass, and transients are faster.
A better pipe and slippers speaker has not been invented than the A25. One of the most listenable speakers of all time. The XL was less good in the midrange but was more extended in the treble and would handle more power.
I love your description of the A25s!! I love these speakers !! They were $79 each when I bought them new. I had also bought the XLs new around 1980....not made as well as the originals. I had to return 3 pairs back to Crazy Eddie's before I got a good pair..... because the woofers were falling off the front baffle...because the screws holding the woofer in place had somehow damaged the particleboard baffle and the wood was chipped, stripped, damaged, crumbled, broken.
Bought a pair in very decent condition not too long ago to see what they are all about. I just couldn't pass them up at 60 Euro. Tried them on some of my more modern amps (that I tend to use in my music room for more critical listening) and wasn't all that impressed. Then tried them on my vintage receivers and integrated amps... My god: they are amazing! Not only do they sound very good on my higher wattage receivers (Pioneer SX-950 and Marantz 2270) but they just sing on lower wattage ones. Pioneer SX-450, SX-434, SX-737, Marantz 2215(b) and 2015 all pair extremely well with the Dynacos in my opinion. Warm, laid back, non fatiguing: the musical equivalent of a warm bath (with a cigar and a whiskey). They replaced my Wharfedale Lintons 80th Anni. which I was perfectly happy with (and which are better in some ways) but... The A25s just have this very inviting, lush sound that I can listen to for hours on end. They now permanently reside in my medium sized living room, positioned fairly close to the back wall, on a thick shelve that is about 50cm of the floor. I gave the exterior some TLC and replaced the caps for good measure. For variety I sometimes swap amps but my fav is the 434 (go figure). On a side note: I noticed that the A25s get a lot of flak on some forums and that some of their perceived weaknesses don't apply at all in my setup. F.i: they are supposed to not play very deep, but in my case they dip well below 30Hz, I can't perceive the gap in the mids that many claim these speakers display (I measured several times), I do not find them lacking when it comes to highs like many do, I find them to be plenty loud and easy to drive, and lastly; imaging and sound stage are indeed not as good as on some other speakers that I own, but this is fully made up for by the fact that I just hear sweet, sweet music: the speakers completely disappear!
@@gattigail and thank you, your video (and some of the comments on it) ultimately made me pull the trigger on them. If anyone is on the fence about these: buy a pair! Restoring the finish is easy: simply rub a (peeled) walnut over any possible gauges and scratches to fill them, follow up with Howard Restor-A-Finish (dark walnut) and finish with Howard Feed-N-Wax (or any other good bees- or carnauba wax based wood polish). They will look like new (I put some new speaker cloth on mine as well... black because it pleases me). And, last but not least: recap them! After 50 odd years the original electrolytic caps that are in them will have drifted out of spec (5.0 μF). The original Wicon caps in my pair were way out of spec: 5.9 and 4.4 μF respectively. I used Dayton Audio PMPC-5.1 | 5,1 μF | 1% | 250V caps to replace them. Less than 10 bucks for the pair and it makes a big difference in both sound and reliability!
I picked up a pair of A25's at a local Goodwill about 10 years ago for $10.00. Replaced the caps, grills and oiled the cabinets. I have them set up in a smaller room powered by an Eico HF-81 tube amp. Sound wonderful!
OK...if anyone doubts the sound and build quality of this speaker, I just cosmetially restored a pair I got for $200. The drivers were in perfect condition! I did the ultimate sound test and stacked them on top of my MINT Acoustic Research AR 3As driven by my NAD 388 150 watt amp (great unit). I listened to some classial music on the 25s and then quickly switched the apeakers to the ARs. OMG. What a surprise. The 25s held their own and in some way even outperformed the ARs. Great balanced and smooth sound all around NOW....make certain you connect the Positive side of the speaker wire coming out of your power source to the RED (+) terminal on the back and the BLACK to the Negative (-) terminal! DO NOT switch. The sound will be HORRID. Enjoy. Lou
I’ve been wanting to see what a remake of this would be like but with a AE TD10M and SB Acoustics Ring Raditor tweeter. I care more about soundstage and dynamics than just about anything else.
Those look great with the new front grills. Do you know anything about the KLH model 24? I found some at a thrift store and they look comparable to these and are from the same time period.
My brother has a nice pair of the KLH.....yes same time period. He uses the KLH with a vintage Fisher tube receiver. Sounds comparable to the Dynaco A-25s. I prefer the Dynacos'. I like the bigger box bookshelf speakers of the 1970s compared to todays small bookshelf speakers.
I bought mine in June of 1972; everything is still original. For the last 25 years they were in my house not being used, 4 years in climate controlled storage. I still have the original invoice somewhere & I still have the two boxes they were shipped in, but 1 needs to be taped back together. I was thinking of dispensing with my vintage audio setup not having used it for so long. I have two of these, have to Bose 901 IV with equalizer, a big Scott receiver, Akai Studio cassette deck, and a Technics turntable. Are you saying I can get $300 for original quality untouched Dynaco A25s?
In 1970's Boston, George Washington's Birthday holiday weekend was when all the big audio chains: Tech HiFi, Music City, Tweeter ect., and many others would hold their largest yearly blowout sales. Lines would start forming the night before as the best items were always limited in number. I had been suffering with a cheap, discount store stereo and had been saving hard for this event. When the doors opened, I pushed and shoved with everybody else and scored my dream system: a Marantz 35W/side receiver, Technics turntable with a Shure cartridge and a pair of Dynaco A-25s. Had to pay a taxi the outrageous sum of $5 to take me and all these boxes to my basement apartment in Allston. I set it all up, tuned to WBCN and the first song to come up was Yes, "Roundabout"; the perfect break in number. A week later, I got a note from my upstairs neighbor, a very sweet 90 year old, very politely asking me to turn it down a bit. the bass was making his pacemaker jump. I've had a lot of very expensive speaker systems since that time but none have ever been as satisfying as those A-25s.
These appear to have been refoamed. I bought a refoam kit last year to refurb' a pair and it was the best $22 spent in years!. The original foam was a brittle mess. After, they had solid sound, rich bass with a crisp tweeter/horn speaker. Real vintage audiophile. Get a set if you can!
Hi....Thanks....The Dynaco A25 used rubber surrounds. They were not refoamed. This is my 3rd set of A25s. First set was purchased new around 1970. Second pair I bought A25XL new at Crazy Eddies in 1978. All designed with rubber surround. Thanks!!
Seas. It's a Norwegian company. Radionette radio factory was the main reason why Seas was created. Scandinavian electroakustik aktiesellskap. There where many sister factory's who made drivers. Because of demand.
@ Joel...Cool...I had a pair of the original Large Advents many years ago in the 80s. Man..those were heavy bookshelf speakers! They were excellent sounding! I thought they had excellent bass but were inefficient. They were better sounding than the A25s...in my opinion. Large Advent...excellent speaker...but when the foam surrounds disintegrated I sold them as-is.
This is a reply to an old post. I have both A-25 and Advents in stacked sets. The Advents have marginally more bass and volume, but the Dynaco's are slightly more refined -- it's a real toss up for me. Both sound fabulous although a true, clean 100 w.p.c. is the absolute minimum for the great sound. Yes, all the cones on the Advents have been repaired, as have the woofers on the Dahlquist DQ-20s, a small price to pay.
Why? What happened? I occasionally see A25 woofers on ebay. You can also perhaps try Parts Express and try one of their Dayton woofers. I'm not sure if the Daytons sound better or worse then the original SEAS woofers that Dynaco used. You can always call Parts Express and speak to a live tech for advise.
@tricks and tips Before replacing, you can check the voice coils. I had an A50 driver (same/similar as A25 I believe), I disassembled the driver and found that the voice coil had developed a small bubble in its paper backing which was rubbing inside the magnet. I was able to shave the bubble off with an X-acto knife and reassemble the driver. Solved the problem, very simple fix.
Hi. I love my A25 but need to replace the woofer too. I found the SEAS A26RE4 H1411-08 Woofer but the diameter of the frame is slighty bigger. The old one 250mm, the new one 269mm. Mounting holes are the same: 256mm. So, I would need to cut the frame circa 5mm both sides + small gap at the top to get around the tweeter. Did anybody do that? Do you think, the new Seas is a right replacement?
I got some mint for $100 Canadian ten years ago. Might seem a lot but they came with stands. And a lovely Pioneer receiver. And a Dual belt drive turntable. I feel like a thief now.
I’ve owned a pair of A-25 and there’s no way they can handle 150 watts much less 180. You might have had them hooked up to a 150 watt per channel amp but you didn’t have 150 watts going into them. 150 watts would mean 34.6VAC(@8ohm) going into them. I had mine hooked up to my Pioneer SX-850 that’s rated at 65wpcrms and had them playing loud with no distortion and I could start smelling the voicecoils so I had to turn it down. The Dynaco A-25 sound very good but they just can’t play as loud as I like. Also with only a single cap on the tweeter for a crossover and a low crossover point puts the tweeter at risk of blowing. If you want speakers to listen to at a low to moderate level then the A-25 are great. But if you like to blast music at 90dB to over 100dB like I do then either use two pairs or more or get some bigger speakers. Needless to say I ended up selling them.
I believe they were made in America originally, Canton, Massachusetts. I believe what you got are pre Dynaco speaker. Yours were made in Denmark in the 1960's. I think. What happened was a disagreement between Dynaco and Scan speaker co. and they came to America. Again I may be off a little bit it's close to the story
@@gattigail lots of company's use letters to identify decades. Like Acuttron watches - M is 60s, N is 70s (think I got that right) Jjst a guess but seems likely.
luv them i have them in my computer den . i bought them from value village for $14.99 they did not have the front decal on the grill .haha their lose lol . oh yeah i had a 30% off coupon for them too .at the same time i bought from there a pair of epi 100v for $8.99 it was a good day they were both in tip top shape and both sound amazing :)
Hi and thank you for the helpful information about SEAS. SEAS makes a great speaker for the Dynaco! Lasting 50 years and still like new and sounds terrific !!! And Greetings to you too from the USA !!!
The Seas A26 kit will blow any vintage A25 into DUST. Madisound has sold em for over a decade. BTW the tweeter is NOT 1 inch its 35mm! Getting that out of the way. These were and in the kit form are one of the best most musical & affordable hifi loudspeakers made. The crossover was as brilliant as it was simple. Using the high inductance woofer for an early roll off to the 35 mm tweeter with just a cap & resistor. No inductor on the tweeter made the crossover more phase coherent (+ to + connected instead of the usual inversion. The sacrifice was the top end A 35 can only go so high. But everything else sounded so damn good nobody cared. That & the boston USA 70's audio scene ( epicure epi etc) were some of the very few. That pulled off successfully and musically such simple crossover networks. A REAL WORLD iconic speaker.
I owned a pair and they’re pretty good speakers but like most vintage speakers have gotten way overpriced. I wouldn’t pay more than $200 if they were in absolute pristine condition. If anyone thinks these are the best speakers ever then you obviously haven’t owned many good speakers.
