8 replies to this topic

[thiptoman]

I have a pair of Dynaco A25 loudspeakers that I use with an old Marantz 2230 receiver . Love the mellow sound this combo produces . It's music to my ears . Recently I passed up a pair of Dynaco A25 XL loudspeakers at the pawn shop . Went back to purchase them and they were sold . Now I'm wondering if I let a great pair of speakers pass me by . Has anyone ever done a listening comparison between the two speakers ? Mine has alnico drivers , the XL I believe has ceramic magnets . Is there a difference between the sound of the alnico speakers and the ceramic versions ? Comments appreciated .

[dynaco_dan]

I have a pair of Dynaco A25 loudspeakers that I use with an old Marantz 2230 receiver . Love the mellow sound this combo produces . It's music to my ears . Recently I passed up a pair of Dynaco A25 XL loudspeakers at the pawn shop . Went back to purchase them and they were sold . Now I'm wondering if I let a great pair of speakers pass me by . Has anyone ever done a listening comparison between the two speakers ? Mine has alnico drivers , the XL I believe has ceramic magnets . Is there a difference between the sound of the alnico speakers and the ceramic versions ? Comments appreciated .

Hi there

First hand comparison, I have heard none, but I do have each type A-25 speakers including the Scans version.

Reading over the years, the A-25XL speakers are more efficient, about 3 db, than the earlier A-25 speaker system.

This will make the XL speakers sound brighter and louder on a simple A - B switching setup, with no volume compensation.

The tweeter is 1" versus the A-25's 1 1/2" unit.

The highend is suppose to be more extended, with possibly slightly better dispersion characteristics.

It has a higher crossover point, I believe, which may affect the midrange sound.

I believe that by the time the XL came out, there was other, and newer competitive speaker products.

Dynaco, un-like AR, in that they did not publicly display their engineering findings, if they did any themselves.

If they did it was minimal.

Dynaco posted reviewers findings and graphs in their literature.

Dynaco was a very consumer oriented company.

[Horswispr]

I recently had a pair of A-25XLs pass through here. If the pair I had here was representative, I prefer the sound of regular A-25s. Here's my write-up on the XLs.

http://www.epinions....nt_554942697092

I'll put a link to my review of the originals in the XL write-up if I can.

[craig]

interesting read, i have a rehabbed pair of dynaco A25's that have a bigger then original 5 uf clarity capacitor, he doubled the negative on the drain and replaced the tweeter wires with some kind of thin wire with cotton covers, he says they are much better, but i question weather he changed them too much..... kinda like the dynaco xl ? or do you think what he did overall is better ? it's kinda hard for me to tell because one of them was imaging better then the other side so i'm waiting for them to be repaired again. what do you think do the changed i mentioned ruin the smoothness ? Should i have him return the old tweeter wires and get rid of the double drain ? I read your opinion about the xl, very interesting you seem to know your stuff, i have never heard a pair but i love the A25s so much they seem hard to beat for overall value.

[Horswispr]

I'm not an engineer, but my hunch is that changing wires and using super-high-end capacitors in Dynaco A-25s is overkill. It shouldn't hurt anything, but it's not worth the additional cost. I've read that with very short runs of wire, you don't need really thick or fancy wires to get decent signal through. And I've heard improvements in Dynaco A-25s when I replaced the capacitors with $4 Daytons or $6 Solens (5.1s, usually), but I'm only 100% sure I heard improvements when the original capacitors were getting tired (reduced output or obviously changed crossover frequency). I have one pair of stock A-25s that sounds just as good as another pair I re-capped with Daytons.

The A-25XLs use different drivers. The tweeters look different while the woofers look the same, but are 3db more efficient (in the XL). One some blogs I've read that they're not as smooth as the originals (the woofers, I mean). I've never directly compared the two woofers, but I like the overall sound of A-25s over A-25XLs, though I think the XLs are more extended in the highs. Changing wiring and capacitors will NOT turn the A-25s into A-25XLs.

[craig]

So he replaced mine with clarity cap it's a more expensive bigger cap, i think the caps he replaced he told me were leaking to about 7uf. Anyway i mostly worry he put wrong kind of cap or that the tweeter wire is so thin, he says it's better, dont know what he means by doubling the negative. Originally took them in because one of the drivers stopped working, turned out to be a hair somewhere it didn't belong 40 bucks to get it fixed he then talked me into rehabbing the crossovers. kinda wish i hadn't but they are back at his shop now hopefully he will get the other side to sound as clean as the side i like. I hope overkill doesn't mean a tighter deeper bass will make it overkill. i have yet another pair of of A25s as well, unfortunately i bought the stock pair them when i was 12 yo i somehow thought after we moved they didn't sound as clear so i replaced the capacitor with a 4.9 ohm resistor not knowing what i was doing, they sound ok but seem to be a little bit monotone on the bass, now that i know i did wrong im hoping i can swap it back out with a capacitor, Where do i buy dayton capacitors ? With the pair of A25s i had rehabbed you think overkill is just a waste of money but wouldn't hurt the sound ? just curious If the highs are getting less mids to them is that good or bad ? I guess you answered that, it's hard for me to tell because they don't sound the same. they do close but it seems the bass is a little tighter and less likely to warm up the sound, but powerful when it wants to be. The highs seem more confined less range but much cleaner just not sure what to think.

[Horswispr]

Overkill just means more money spent for no improvement. Nothing is hurt. A resistor in place of a capacitor could mean too much signal to the tweeter at the bottom end of its range (in the midrange) and subdued highs. If the tweeters aren't blown, the speakers should sound fine when you replace those resistors with Dayton 5% 5.1 mfd capacitors. I think both Madisound and Parts Express have them for about $4 each.

[dynaco_dan]

I have a pair of Dynaco A25 loudspeakers that I use with an old Marantz 2230 receiver . Love the mellow sound this combo produces . It's music to my ears . Recently I passed up a pair of Dynaco A25 XL loudspeakers at the pawn shop . Went back to purchase them and they were sold . Now I'm wondering if I let a great pair of speakers pass me by . Has anyone ever done a listening comparison between the two speakers ? Mine has alnico drivers , the XL I believe has ceramic magnets . Is there a difference between the sound of the alnico speakers and the ceramic versions ? Comments appreciated .

Hi there

I recently went to our local Vancouver Public Library and copied a Dynaco A-25XL review.

Next time I am here I will post it and make my comments, which I will have more than just a few.

By the way, I've read several Epinion reviews done by Horsewhispr, nicely done.

[craig]

I'v heard both pairs, I think the A25's run circles around the XL's but it may depend on your preference. The A25s seem to have a better mid range and a better relationship between the highs and lows.