AudioFred Messages: 377 Registered: May 2009 Location: Houston
Illuminati (1st Degree)
Reading that interview reminded me of at time most people living today are too young to have experienced. When I was still in my teens the only way a poor boy could afford a good sound system was to build it himself. Companies like Heathkit and Knight Kits offered EL84 amp kits, and for a summer vacation's lawn mowing earnings you could buy and build one. That's what I did.
Since then I've built a few more tube amplifier kits, but none costing less than $1,000. Then along come the odd guys from OddWatt with a kit for less than $600, which is quite a bargain considering the quality of the iron and other parts that are included. I need another tube amp like an arab shaikh needs another wife, but I'm tempted.
I used to BEG my dad to buy me Heathkit or Dynaco stuff for Christmas presents. Once in a while it worked. I heard that heath will start offering kits again, that would be really fun. Speaking of which, a couple years ago I bought a Heathkit AA-151 that needed some upgrades to parts, and cleaning. Since Heath used ultra cheap parts, what I did was completely disassemble the thing down to every last nut and bolt, then (using an assembly manual I bought) rebuilt it using new parts (mostly). It was a blast and I ended up with a nice amp that later when to a buddy in Columbus when I moved.
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I heard that heath will start offering kits again, that would be really fun. Speaking of which, a couple years ago I bought a Heathkit AA-151 that needed some upgrades to parts, and cleaning. Since Heath used ultra cheap parts, what I did was completely disassemble the thing down to every last nut and bolt, then (using an assembly manual I bought) rebuilt it using new parts (mostly). It was a blast and I ended up with a nice amp that later when to a buddy in Columbus when I moved. 
