Greetings from upstate NY - have owned the same Dual 500 the past 4 decades...

Yeah....I believe Joe knew exactly what he was doing when he threw his considerable engineering skills into the driver boards and backplane boards. I had a Spec 2 for 35 years, the minute I had my first WOPL finished, the Spec was retired. I've had a multitude of amps in the mancave to put up against it and they all came up short. I'm talkin a Bryston 4B, POA 2400. SAE 2400, Carver PT 2400, Mac 2105 and a bunch I';ve forgotten about. The WOPL is just more natural sounding...
 
The Powerful Difference said:
Greetings Lazarus,

Glad to make your acquaintance! (Insert virtual old-school handshake here) Your location reminds me of my misspent youth, some of which included occasional pilgrimages to the old Independence Audio store. (Back then weren't they working out of an older house? Just now I didn't recognize anything on today's website.) I do remember that even though my champagne taste/tap water budget status clung to me like an unfashionable funk, the good folks there were very cool and had no problem allowing me to window shop & listen about. Man, that's a memory I haven't accessed in years.

As for Kemper arena, I didn't realize that it has been renamed. But I do remember that back in '79 the roof collapsed during an extra-heavy rainstorm, and during the post-mortem failure analysis the following was reported: "The structural engineer from California who came out to survey the rubble and identify the culprit found that the collapse was caused by the failure of the hanger bolts, which bound the roof’s steel trusses to its hangers. Specifically, he found one large bolt fatigued as the structure moved in the wind, leading to its failure and the eventual collapse."

I'm not so sure. 99% of me accepts this theory at face value. But my inner Art Bell was pondering how much (if any) those under-spec hanger bolts were working overtime during the concert where I experienced my introduction to High Fidelity as a full-contact sport. You just can't make this stuff up.

Thanks for the opportunity to walk down memory lane.

Cheers --View attachment 56927
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Yes, I visited Independence Audio a time or two when it was in the basement of a house, and have visited the new location, on 23rd street near highway 291, several times. I live several blocks south of it. Be aware that every other audio store in the KC metro from those days, has closed down. No matter for me, as I acquire (not "buy") my gear by other means. I don't think I have any gear I bought new for MSRP pricing. BTW, thanks for mentioning the Kemper collapse - I think the Hyatt Regency collapse wiped the other from the minds of most folks here.
 
SEE S SEE
The Powerful Difference said:
Hello WS, your comment reminded me of a daily ritual the last couple of years of high school that went like so:

1) Shut off the alarm.
2) Roll out of bed.
3) Put on my Stanton Dynaphase 60 headphones
4) Fire up the Dual 1019 & listen to this catchy ZZTop ditty:

Best 3:50 of the day. I reckon this delayed the start of my coffee habit by a couple of years -- no further stimulant was necessary!

Lotta nice girls... :0)
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Absolutely LaGrange would do it...
 
Welcome Dave.......they really are one of the best amps out there when WOPL'd. I had built a special 400 for a friend in Phoenix, Az. He had am amp-off with some buds, except he rotated amps behind a curtain and let them score as he went, the list of amps he ran through was impressive, some Mac's, Rowlands, Lux, Marantz, literally a dozen or so. When he revealed what they preferred, although they had heard it with their own ears they still did not believe it. He had to actually hook it up with them watching to convince them...and these were some serious audiophools in the Phoenix area...some outright snobs and some just very cool folks....
 
Welcome to a great place to make new friends. We may have lots to talk about. Lots of developments in building 500’s since that thread was written Look forward to talking someday.
 
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The Powerful Difference said:
Greetings mr_rye89, ain't it funny how small the world can be?

You know, few things in life give more they get, and in my humble opinion a 1019 is one of those items. I remember the first time I pulled the (~7 lb) platter & being impressed by the sheer heft - obviously for the flywheel effect. But when I then saw all the holes drilled around the periphery, and 2 of them (on mine anyway) had small amounts of solder in them for fine balancing, I was blown away. Back in the '60s those germans had serious attention to detail. (!) NOTE: This photo is just something I grabbed off the interwebs...after roughly a dozen moves over the years my 1019 is nowhere near camera-ready.

As for your ST-70, according to this article your, mine, and ~299,998 other ST-70s were produced over the years. It is rightfully considered one of the 10 Most Important Amplifiers of All Time. Interestingly, PL 700 also makes this list...and the article written was by The Absolute Sound!

Nice to make your acquaintance!

Cheers --
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Yeah my 1019 is installed in a 1960s RCA color TV console (by me) but it has a mind of its own right now…….my main record spinner is that rek o kut in the gallery on the home page.

On the ST-70, well she’s singing tonight. The new EL34s got here…….
 

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