But it arrived in perfect shape, and the first pleasant surprise came as I opended the box. It was double boxed in sturdy cardboard boxes, and the amp was cradled inside a foam packing frame that softens any bumps and keeps it a couple of inches away from the sides of the box, just as an expensive high end amp would be packaged.

The second surprise was that a pair of interconnects, a pair of speaker cables, and a power cord were included, and the manual, though brief, is perfectly readable.

The third surprise was when I removed the tranformer cover and the bottom panel and discovered a fairly big toroidal power transformer above the chassis. Below the chassis I spotted Multicap coupling caps, a choke in the power supply, and a big paper-in-oil smoothing cap.

Oh and it sounds good too. Especially when you consider the $299 price. I notice the Ebay seller has raised the price to $399, but it's still a bargain at that price. To find it go to Ebay, Consumer Electronics, Home Audio, Amplifiers, and search using the term "KT88"

• Sound Creative SET Amp