Price Paid:  $349.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I picked up a pair of these to run a set of Magneplanar IIa's.

All I can say is WOW. If you find one of these, go ahead and buy it, you can't go wrong for the ridiculously low price you can pick one of these up for.

I compared my set up to a new set of Magneplanar 3.6's being driven by Audio Research VT100MKII amp, Audio Research Reference 2 and a Wadia CD player.

I could hear a difference, but NOT $40,000 dollars worth.

I'm running Ah Tjoeb 99 CD, Technics SL-1300 turn table with an old Shure VN35HE, into a Sonic Frontier SFL-1 via a Rane MX22 into the Dynaco amps. All cables are Belden with Switchcraft XLR's and the RCA's from Radio Shack.

This stereo set up cost me a little over $2000 dollars and my wife and I are finding we are spending more time in the garage than in the family room with the HT set up.

We still watch DVD's and TV but when it comes to listening to music, we go out to the garage and enjoy a truly unique stereo sound.

You can spend a lot more money on an amp, but the audio bang for the buck is really not there

Strengths:
Runs cool, switch between high current and normal current

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Sunfire

Summary:
I bought the Dynaco Stereo 400 Series II for more than one year. At the beginning it sounds a bit harsh. After the burn in period of several months, the sound quality has improved quite a bit. Then I brought in the Musical
Fidelity X-series including the tube pre-amp, the DAC, the X-10, the power supply, the sound improvement is significant. It has all the goodies of the
hi-end sound in treble, bass and mid-range. The sound stage is deep and vivid. It has the warmth of the tube and the crispness of the transistor.

The Dynaco seems to be a very reliable machine and generates little heat. Its
button to choose high current provides the power to drive the less sensitive speakers.

The sound quality improvement in my system is probably contributed by the X-series, but I'm quite impressed with the Dynaco to deliver the power.

Summary:
I'll try to make this one short and sweet. For the most part, Dynaco is known for making nice sounding tube amps. With the St 400 MkII, they've expanded into solid state components, and I can call their experimentation a smashing success. While this amp might not win any beauty contests (plain black faceplats with two switches), it packs a clean, burly sound that belies its thin, fairly small package. Its a 205wpc into 8 Ohms stero amp with a thin profile and solid construction.
I recently came into a pair of Infinity Kappa 8.1 Series II speakers. I knew that this was the last speaker that Artie Nudell (sp?) designed for them before he got fed up and left, so I figured they'd be worth the money. Once I got them, however, I realized that my Harman/Kardon AVR25mkII receiver was woefully inadequate to drive these power hungry monsters. I found a great deal on the Dynaco, and I've never had a moment's regret!

The amp has a nice feature that deserves mention here, as it helps with the difficult Infinities. There is a High Current/Normal Current selector switch on the front. When enabled, it drops the power a little but shoots some higher current through, to help with those tough loads. A nice touch if you have needy speakers.

Now for the sound. I don't have too much experience with amps in general, but I find the Dynaco's sound clean, powerful, and potent when compared to my Harman/Kardon. I listen to a lot of rap and electronic music, so a weighty and accurate low end is incredibly imporant to me. The Dynaco brings the bass though is grand fashion: the volume doesn't need to be jacked up for the bass to come through clean, solid, and precise. No muddiness or booming whatsoever.

About the pricetag. I got my Dynaco new for 450 via a special with my local dealer. The retail price is around 1000 or so, and while this may be a little high, you will get your money's worth in performance, strength, and peace of mind. For 450, its one of the best purchases I've ever made. I just plugged it in and forgot about it. If you're looking for a solid stereo amp and can find a good deal on a Dynaco St400mkII, I couldn't recommend it highly enough. However, I'm giving it 4 because the retail price seems just a tad high. This solid state amp is just that: solid.