[kirch]

The ball and chain is off work this week and decided to tackle cleaning out the basement!  Today she found a couple old pieces of equipment I forgot I had - an Eico HFT-90 tube FM Tuner and a Dynaco PAT-4 that I found in an old garage last year (free).  I cleaned them up today and everything works fine.  The Tuner was modified somehow to allow for a different connection to the amp - but works great.  I'm sure I'm going to use the Dynaco for anything, and while the Tuner is certainly nothing to look at after all these years, it sure sounds warm as hell, smooth as a baby's ass on my tube system here down in the office ~ and it's got the original Mullards!

I'm amazed at how well it picks up stations!  I get WSIE here, in my BASEMENT, with NO problem!  I can't pick that station up anywhere worth a crap!  Plus it even picks up a couple of the local college stations, of course, they're right down the street - at WU and Fontbonne - but they're probably only 50 or 100 watts so their signal is woefully weak, but I get 'em as good as 100,000 watter!  Finally, a Jazz station AND new music like only a college rock station can do it!!!

Just hope the tubes hold out . . .

Come to think of it, if any of you GASSERS want the Dynaco Preamp - it's all yours.  Here's a picture of it: www.vo-pro.com/dynaco.htm.  Just drop me a note.

[Scott F.]

Very cool! The old tube tuners work better than 95% of the new SS versions. My HH Scott 330 is the same as yours. I can't pick up squat, even with an antenna on my Arcam receiver but my old HH Scott without an antenna beams the wonders of frequency modulation into my basement.

No worries about the Mullards (usually). They last for decades and when they go bad, you know it right away (they whistle and whine, or at least mine did).

[kirch]

I wonder what the hell it is that these old battleaxes have antennae-wise that the new ones don't?

Good to hear those tubes will last.  Can't tell you how nice it sounds!

[Scott F.]

Hey Brian,

You may want to hang onto that Dynaco. Weren't you looking to find out how a tubed pre sounded with your SS system?.......open the Dynaco up   

[Scott F.]

oops, my bad  I read your post too quick. I thought you typed PAS rather than PAT....


in the immortal words of Rosanne, Rosanna Danna.......Never Mind 

[kirch]

Yeah, solid state . . .but it's clean as a whistle inside, and pretty darn nice outside considering the age - ('65 or so?).  I'd rate it a 7.

[jcrane]

cool looking pre amp, wish I had room for it somewhere. But I am already on super secret probation when it comes to stuff in my room!

Jamie