st35 versus st70, sound quality

[nyazzip]

whats the word on the street? i would love to assemble an st70 kit, but $700 can be spent elsewhere....tempting, but not that tempting, yet.
presumably the st70 can drive larger speakers than the 35 can, which will result in clearer and deeper lows; but, at moderate listening levels, which device is more enjoyable, or better yet, a more accurate sound reproducer, for music?
if i hear too many raves about the st70, i might have to assemble one next fall. i certainly have the speakers, finally.
having said all that, i am pleased as punch with my diytube st35- freaking awesome upgrade over my old stuff. i'm constantly discovering nuances in familiar recordings that were previously undetectable; some credit for sure goes to the new speakers but i'm afraid the amp is the major factor...
sorry about busting heavy on the Doobies in a different post. they're just one of my peeves; a Hootie and the Blowfish of old if you will
cheers

[SDS-PAGE]

....presumably the st70 can drive larger speakers than the 35 can, which will result in clearer and deeper lows; but, at moderate listening levels, which device is more enjoyable, or better yet, a more accurate sound reproducer, for music?

They are both good for accuracy of music, even though you might find the ST-35 a bit more musical. Larger speakers don't necessary mean that they need more power to drive. In fact, larger speakers often (not always) have drivers that are more efficient, requiring less wattage to drive. You will find this to be true in some of older Klipsch speakers like Cornwall, Heresy, Forte, and La Scala.

[WA4SWJ]

nyazzip,

I have an ST-35 and an ST-70 both of which I built from new parts using Shannon's boards and Triode Electronics iron. I also have an original ST-70 into which I installed one of Shannon's driver boards and a power supply board. Both the ST-35 and the ST-70 amps are great amps. The ST-70's are of course more powerful by a small amount (in db capability) and to my ears sound punchier with more powerful bass. Not to take anything away from the ST-35 though. It's also a great amp.

However, I will say that it took me a while to find driver tubes that I liked in the ST-35. It sounded thin to me with the original JJ drivers I had in it and I put it on the shelf for a while. I finally got it out and started rolling driver tubes. Perhaps I just had a couple of bad tubes although they were new. Finally I settled on a NOS 5751 VA and a NOS 12BH7 phase inverter and the amplifier just was tremendously better. It was clearly audible. Now I play the ST-35 all the time. I've written about this before in other posts here.

I would say that the ST-70 would be worth it. Of course you have to examine your budget constraints if any. I'm fortunate enough to not have that problem (single with no kids) so spending money on amps is not limited by much. But again, to me the ST-70 is a great amp and Shannon's driver is just awesome.

I'm listening to my original old ST-70 with Shannon's driver right now and it's rocking the place. You might consider buying an old one and fixing it up. It might be a hundred bucks or so less expensive. To be honest I can't hear any difference between the old Dynaco iron and the new Triode Electronics iron. I do not have a dynakitparts.com amps so I don't know how they sound.

I don't know if this helps or not. Sound is very subjective but I am more than happy with all the amps I have. I've got a bunch of them and will have more if Shannon comes out with an upgraded eiclone board. To me the ST-70 is slightly better since it seems punchier and more solid. I don't know any audiophool terms to use to describe it further.

(BTW - I like the Doobie Brothers - to each his own)

Regards,

[Slartibartfast]

whats the word on the street? i would love to assemble an st70 kit, but $700 can be spent elsewhere....tempting, but not that tempting, yet.
presumably the st70 can drive larger speakers than the 35 can, which will result in clearer and deeper lows; but, at moderate listening levels, which device is more enjoyable, or better yet, a more accurate sound reproducer, for music?

I love my ST-70. I am running with the original driver circuit on a new board for now. I am using SS rectification, so it is definitely punchy. It is driving a pair of B&O S75 4 way speakers.

I think I prefer my JE 2A3 driving the Klipsch LaScala speakers. I guess that is because of the speakers, and the fact that I built the 2A3 amp.

Regarding the Doobie Bros:Interesting. Please explain. How are the Doobie's insincere?

You are correct. The world is bigger than Rock. It is called JAZZ. Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_11

[Ty_Bower]

Before I begin, I'll make my disclaimers. I don't own a ST70, and my Mk.III amps aren't finished yet. I have listened to two different DIY ST35 amps, using three different sets of transformers and multiple different input tubes (12AX7/5751/7025 and 12AU7/12BH7).

I like the ST35 a lot. I think the primary motivation to try the ST70 would be for more power. If that is the case, I'd consider trying to put my hands on a set of Mk.III monoblocks. Either buy the iron used (i.e., old beat-up Mk.III from eBay or Craigslist) or just buy the clones new from Triode. Restore the stock driver board, or better yet built out a set of Shannon's Poseidon boards.

The ST70 is about twice the power of the ST35. The Mk.III is about twice the power of the ST70. You'll probably end up spending about $450 for the Mk.III transformers. It'll take another $100 or so for the Poseidon boards and passive components. A set of four KT88 output tubes will be around $120~$200, or you could run a set of the fat bottle 6CA7 tubes for about $60 (less power, though). Add in the cost of the chassis, driver tubes, and miscellaneous parts, and the whole project shouldn't cost more than a hundred bucks over what you were planning to spend on a ST70 kit.

It's just a thought. Maybe someone who has a running set of Mk.III can add their two cents.

[WA4SWJ]

Well, I also have 3 Mark III's built from new components including poseidon drivers and Triode iron. One of them is pictured at left in the Avatar. I played them a while this afternoon into the same speakers I was playing the old ST-70 into. I can't tell any difference frankly between them and the ST-70. I use the Mark III's in my home theater as L-C-R amps and they do a great job. I use them and two of my 3 eiclones for the home theater and they're wonderful. As for music, as I mentioned, I can't hear any difference between them and the old ST-70.

With Shannon's drivers these are all wide range amps and they use decent quality iron so they are all pretty good amps. I'll be honest though, I've never heard truly "high end" tube amps. I don't know if there is much difference. I'd love to find out sometime. I'm happy with what I have and don't feel the need tp spend megabucks on something that might not be much better.

BTW - the G*S*G is also a great amp within its power limits. It's all good - enjoy it!

Regards,

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My experience with the ST-70 and MKIII is very similar to Ed's. I restored a pair of MKIIIs based on the original schematic and refurbished an old ST-70 using Shannon's board. I really don't notice a whole of difference the two, in terms of sound quality and volume. I built a DIYTUBE ST-35 too, and I did notice that it was a little bass shy compared to the ST-70 and MKIII. Other than that, I honestly don't hear much of difference. I definitely CAN hear the difference between these amps and my SE DHT and SET amps. Which flock I prefer is a whole new topic entirely.