I have made mention of Dayton Wright a few times in these pages, if nothing else to afford myself the opportunity to razz my friend Joe who has had my SPA in for repair for over two years now! He has found a second unit for parts in Syracuse, hopefully he will be able to resurrect this to operating condition.
My first experience with these as I mentioned earlier was the leftover pieces at Esoteric Audio when I inherited the store. I picked up another SPS III on ebay last week, from a guy in Buffalo who actually had it sitting on my doorstep the next day! As I said in my feedback for him "he must have strapped rockets to his roller skates!". Turns out he was a member of the Western NY Audio club based in Buffalo years ago.I went to a couple of their swap meets.
I had one of these years ago, and Dayton Wright was/is amazingly good sounding gear. Upon hooking this up I had a familiar "oh,yeah." from years past. A Canadian company, they were purchased by Leigh Instruments in the '80s. Probably best known for their electrostatic speakers, the XG 8 and XG 10. These were unique in that they were helium filled. They never offered a commercially available power amp, just preamps and speakers.They still have a website and it is somewhat spartan. I also have a 535 moving coil stepup that is probably the only active non-transformer based pre-pre that I like. In fact I REALLY like it. They also made an SPL preamp not pictured here that basically was an SPS with a built in 535 (the SPS accommodates MM cartridges only) and a second tape input in a larger chassis. Watson loudspeakers were a division of Dayton Wright, and offered more conventional cone speakers.
As you can see by the pictures these are no frills designs. No tone controls (they did offer a graphic EQ), no wood cabinets, and rather drab cosmetics. But the phono sections-and oh, what phono sections! LP was considered the state of the art source choice back then, so that is where most of the engineering $$$ went. With the exception of the evolution of available parts quality I would put these designs up against anything made today. A word of caution- these have unlimited bandwidth. Meaning if you have a problem with feedback, low frequency noise or warped records it will magnify this and potentially send your woofers into convulsions!
The SPS Mk III preamp
The SPA preamp
The DW 535 Infranoise MC cartridge head amp
The XG 8 Helium filled electrostatic loudspeaker
The power supply/energizer for the XG 8
Don,
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to Mike Wright in the early '80s, and used to see him in Toronto on holiday weekends, and occasionally in Rochester when he flew his airplane over for parts and such. I, too, still use a DW535 head amp that he gave me in 1985. I would never part with it!
I would offer a correction to your comments on the XG-8, though. The fill gas is sulfer hexaflouride (SF6), an inert dielectric gas that prevents arcing in the electrostatic elements. Unlike helium, SF6 is heavier than air and quite resistant to diffusing through the polyethylene speaker envelope.
My recent efforts to contact Mike have not netted a return call. I only hope his health is holding out. The guy is a pioneer in the business, and certainly has an enthusiastic, albeit small, group of owners and afficianados.
I own two Dayton Wright pre-amplifiers, an SPS MKIII, and a larger SPA pre-amplifier. The SPS is in working condition, although it probably needs a good cleaning. I never used the SPS, but it needs to be serviced. I will sell them both if you make me a good offer. Brock bsp@uniserve.com Toronto.
ReplyDeleteHi Brock I'm interested in the two pre SPS MK III and SPA, may I know how much you ask for these pre?
ReplyDeletetks for your answer.
Massimo
delriomassimo@gmail.com
I just picked up a SPS MK111, and it is everything that this article says it is! The phono section is astoundingly good-not sure if there is a difference between phono 1 and 2, they sound different to me, maybe they are loaded differently. The line stage is quite good as well, my digital never sounded better through this Dayton Wright!
ReplyDeleteNo helium!!!! Sulphur hexaflouride I know ... I built them
ReplyDeleteCan you repair my XG 10s? They are 36 years old, the Tweeters are not working (it could be in the electronics. I never cared for the sound of the tweeters). The gas bags may be leaking and need refilled with Sulphur Hex. Don't know if they are worth the time and money to fix them. Let me know 754-366-3652 Thanks Victor.
DeleteLol . I built preamps in richmond hill . Maybe i know you
DeleteI have a pair of WG 8s which were sent back to Mike in 1982 and upgraded to XG 10s. Unfortunatly, it wasn't till 1985 that there was a power amp that could drive them to their fullest, and that was the Mark Levinson No 23 (made by Madrical). My XG 10 need work. Who could do it? What are they worth?
ReplyDeleteGood God.....I just got my SPS Mk III...AMAZING! I put away my Audio Research, as the MKIII is SOOOOO MUCH BETTER!
ReplyDelete