The Dynaco A25 - my first high quality speaker and its 21st Century successor, the SEAS A26

Not only do I have fond memories of my Dynaco A25, which my later father bought for me over forty years ago, but I still use them. For their time, they were revolutionary in bringing high quality sound to a wide audience and this model sold around one million units.

I found out about the Dynaco A25 in a Consumer Reports issue that reviewed speakers (and actually had a negative review of the Bose 901 that led to a Supreme Court case) that was in my high school library. While not top rated, they were check rated and a best buy. I actually was looking at other speakers when they were demonstrated for me against a brighter sounding ADC (known for its phono cartridges) at a now defunct Lafayette Electronics store. The salesman said they were excellent on voice and I thought they were the best sounding speakers there; this was in the early 1970s.

J. Gordon Holt of Stereophile wrote a balanced and fair review here, I'll quote an excerpt. Before subwoofers, the A25s provided decent output down to a usable 30HZ, but not at room shaking volumes. I complained about the Elac B6; to me, the Dynaco, although not having a smaller one inch dome tweeter, presents a more detailed and realistic depiction of the human voice, a depiction with all the power and emotion of the performers. Yes, of course, if you have heard an IRS V (which I haven't) I trust that's an altogether different experience. But my point is that enjoyable and quality sound was available at a then affordable price.

From Holt's review:

Sound Quality

We compared the A-25s with two systems of comparable price—the Acoustic Research AR-4x ($57 each) and the KLH Model Seventeen ($70 each)—and some top-rated higher-priced systems—Janszen Z-600s, Acoustic Research AR-5as, and a single pair of KLH Model Nine panels. Readers of previous Stereophile reports will recall that we have faulted many an otherwise-excellent loudspeaker system for coloring the critical musical range, because we feel that if a speaker distorts instrumental timbres, no amount of dispersion or bass or treble range can make it any more accurate a reproducer of music.

The speakers we put up against the A-25s were all outstandingly good in this respect, so we were most curious to see which, if any, the A-25s could match. Would you believe, the A-25s beat out all of them!

This is one of the very few speaker systems we have ever heard that seemed to have virtually no sound of its own. Brasses, strings, woodwinds and most percussion instruments were reproduced equally naturally and with nary a trace of hollowness or nasality or steeliness, and it was just not possible to characterize the sound as Row-A or Row-G or Row-M. In these respects, it was slightly better than the best of the other systems we compared it with.

Dynaco has the center position of the balance switch indicated as the Flat position, so we started our tests with the balance set accordingly. We found no reason to change this, in the three rather acoustically different rooms we listened in, so the following comments apply to the systems with that balance setting.

Treble dispersion was excellent: estimated at about 100°, and without any significant interference effects between drivers. As a result, stereo imaging was excellent, and good stereo spread was obtained even when sitting to the left of the left-hand speaker (and vice versa).

Efficiency was typically low for a compact system—around 1%—but power-handling ability was considerable. These speakers were able to put out rather more clean sound than some slightly-higher-efficiency systems, including the Janszen Z-600s, which tended to get a bit muddy at equivalent levels. Dynaco's literature makes a strong point about the smoothness of the A-25's impedance curve, explaining that solid-state amplifiers are less tolerant of load impedance variations than were tubed amplifiers. This is true, but we did not think the problem was quite as acute as the A-25 proved it to be. By actual comparisons, the AR-5a is only slightly less efficient than the A-25. But we were able to get almost 4dB more clean signal from the A-25s than from the AR5s, which do have rather more variable impedance.

At the high end, the A-25s were good but not really outstanding. Generally, the impression was one of considerable smoothness but with a very subtle roughness up around 10kHz and a mildly soft quality which we found much more agreeable than the hardness which passes for hif-fi in a lot of other small systems. We judged the A-25s about equal to the AR-4xes at the top and somewhat smoother than the KLH Seventeens. At the low end, though, it was a different story.

Unlike most small systems, which need all the low-end augmentation they can get, the A-25s tend to put out too much bottom in most rooms when placed on the floor or in the room corners. Best results were obtained in most instances with the speakers a couple of feet above floor level, which is convenient in view of the fact that these are, after all, supposed to be bookshelf systems.

Both the AR-4x and the Seventeen have a noticeable amount of the mid-bass heaviness that seems almost to be an innate characteristic of ultra-compact systems, so whatever output they may have in the extreme low-bass range is rather effectively masked by the upper-range weight.

By contrast, the A-25s seemed at first to be deficient through the entire low end, at least until some really deep stuff came along. When it did, what came out of the A-25s simply defied belief, for they went deeper even than two of our "standard" systems, the Z-600s and the KLH Nines.

We knew that a single pair of Nines, with the panels separated, start to roll off below about 50Hz, and that the Z-600s in most rooms start to dwindle below 40Hz. But we were certainly not prepared to find these piddling little Dyna systems going flat down to 55Hz and rattling windows at a hair below 50Hz! And this with a degree of detail and tightness that rivaled the Nine's and ran circles around the Z-600's.

I also want to share this review from The Audiogon forum by Tasos posted on May 2018:

Dynaco A25 -Hard to Believe

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I just had one of those special listening sessions that seem to occur all too rarely, and it's kind of surprising as you will see.  I'm moving later in the summer, so I boxed up my large, heavy and excellent Alta Audio speakers over the weekend.  In their place went a very old pair of Dynaco A25's that I had in my very first stereo system back in the 70's (I did recap these ten or so years ago).  I wasn't expecting much, but I love music and so what if they paled in comparison to my usual speakers.  They could play music and probably only cost a few hundred bucks, although I don't remember as they were a gift.

I have not yet boxed up my components, so the Dynacos were set up on some Sound Anchor stands and treated to pretty good Conrad Johnson tubed separates and the current reference Marantz CD player, in addition to Shunyata power conditioning and cables.

I didn't put on an audiophile recording or one that I particularly even like, but my daughter wanted me to listen to a few songs on Taylor Swift's latest album "Reputation".  OK I can do that, I thought, as I like sharing music with her, and she does with me occasionally as well.

An hour later I ran to my computer wanting to share my experience on Agon.  I'm absolutely stunned by how much I enjoyed listening to the Dynacos.  They just sounded really good, far better than I anticipated, and made listening to that album enjoyable (I listened to the whole damn album actually and there are some really catchy songs on it).

I won't compare the Dynacos directly to anything else, but I will say they "brought" the music home in an eminently satisfying way, with surprisingly deep bass, and large images defined in space with warm, realistic tone.  Honestly, I've had several other more modern and expensive monitor speakers in my room over the past several years that just didn't make listening to music fun, be it for a bright (or dull) top end, or weak, wimpy bass.

I remember many years ago a local Linn dealer telling me that you can't fix a crummy source, that the loudspeaker was the least important component in a system.  He'd demo a great Epos loudspeaker on a crappy receiver and turntable and then compare that to the cheapest Epos running on top of the line Linn/Exposure/Naim gear .  No contest, the latter combo always won out.  By a lot.  Perhaps that's what is going on here - the Dynacos should sound great on thousands of dollars worth of electronics.

Or perhaps the Dynacos are just really damn good and can hold their own as music making devices.  After all, they sold thousands of these speakers, and it must have been for some reason.  I guess I'm just stunned that a 40+ year old component still sounds great even in comparison with some far more expensive modern stuff.  I know they don't image as well, the cabinet probably vibrates too much and the large tweeter rounds off the highs, but damn they brought that album to life and isn't that what great components are supposed to do?

Dynaco loudspeakers are discussed by knowledgeable people who often do restorations on the Classic Speaker Pages too.

For those who are handy (I think all that you need to build one is an electric drill if you buy the complete kit) SEAS, which makes drivers for many top rated high end speakers and got their break making most of the Dynaco A25 drivers (others were ScanSpeak and the American firm USS), has this SEAS A26 iteration, sold in America by Madisound. I've never heard them and while I'm aware that the 1.50 inch dome won't disperse as well as a 1 inch dome tweeter, to me that isn't an issue; the quality of the sound matters.

Here's a picture; the execution is similar but the drivers are superior to the original:

Again, I haven't listened to a SEAS A26 but here's a review and excerpt on the sound; the builder didn't buy the cabinets, it seems he built his own:

Listening Results

There is a great sense of musicality to these speakers. Treble is extended, with great clarity and air. I literally rediscovered some recordings that I thought I knew. Cymbals, snares and all sorts of other percussion sound snappy and precise. The T35C002 is the première driver on the A26, and it shows.

The bass response of the woofer is as good as my Klipsch Sub 8 was, and sits in well with the rest of the music. It is tight, deep and much more well-behaved and rounded than the Sub 8. Playing guitar virtuoso Steve Vai’s bellowing Warm Regards shows off the deep, round bass that this woofer is capable of.

The soundstage is much wider than the speakers are apart physically. This really shows in a good drum stereo mix, such as the opening to the 30-minute Stranger In Your Soul epic by progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic. The height is fairly level, as expected of monitors.

These speakers have a sweet spot for blues, country and jazz. Candy Dulfer’s saxophone sounds sweet and soothing. Eric Clapton’s “Chronicles”, B.B. King’s “Deuces Wild” and Willie Nelson’s “Milk Cow Blues” sound full and captivating. That is another characteristic of these speakers: a complete lack of listening fatigue.

The A26’s do need high quality recordings. The “Three Tenors in Concert” recording, capturing Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti iconic open air opera performance in Rome, sounds distant and thin, as if it was captured by a mobile phone in the audience. This is not the fault of the A26’s, but a unforgivingly precise reproduction of a mediocre recording.

Conclusion

This speaker project turned out as a great success. The A26’s sure are the best speakers that I have ever owned. Compared to my dad’s SAMPAN’s, they sound tighter and more accurate, though not as majestic. These are high-end monitors, musical and spacious, hi-fi every way you look at it.

As definitive proof, even my wife admits to enjoy their musicality. And who would have thought: she even likes their looks without a grille. I dare say that I will never buy speakers again. DIY is here to stay!

And a review posted by a buyer on Madisound.

I own several pairs of original Dynaco A25s. This new kit is as close to the originals than any other clone I have evaluated. They have a much better high frequency extension than the Dynacos however. Because of the this the clarity is better with better imaging while still maintaining the mid-range warmth. Do not go cheap on the capacitor or resistor. I recommend the Mundorf silver/oil as it is the best bang for the buck in this kit. The enclosures provided by Madisound are gorgeous. I absolutely love the original A25s but the Seas A26 takes them to an entire new level.

I must say I have purchased replacement drivers from Madisound; they've been in business for decades and come with my highest recommendation for quality and customer service.

Let me know what you think, Dynaco fans.