So, did you build any audio kits back in the 60-70's?

My first serious audio kits were a Dynaco PAT 4 preamp and ST 120 amp. Stepped up from those 2 years later and built a PAT 5 Bi FET pre amp and ST416 amp with C 100 cap bank.

My buddy then liked what he heard so he had me build him an ST 150 amp, another Pat 5 pre, and an FM 5 tuner as well as some speakers using Speaker Lab drivers, he also opted for the Empire 698 like I have.

My ST 416 is still in use to this day (as is his system). Looks like this:

 

Also built a Dynaco PAT4. There was a HiFi store on LI, NY that would check it out for you before you plugged it in and I went that route.

 

Built loads of Heathkits...the 14 watt and 25 mono tube amps (used this as a bass guitar amp!) An AM and a FM tuner and the early 20 watt transistor stereo amp, an AA 22 maybe? A few speaker cabs too, using mostly Jensen drivers. Happy daze!

 

My first electronics project was a set of Knight Kit walkie talkies. I did it while in Boy Scouts. Maybe I was 11 or 12.

I later built a Heathkit multi meter and a Knight Kit shortwave radio. I needed the multi meter to troubleshoot my problems with the shortwave. It worked well but was hopelessly inaccurate in reading the frequency received on the analog dial. I'm sure it was my poor soldering.

My last project was a Dynaco 400 power amp, later modified with extra caps to make it a 410. I loved that amp and never should have sold it.

 

I soldered up more kits in the seventies than I can remember. The main reason was that I was very dissatisfied with the sound of the equipment I could afford.
Those were the days when audio WAS a hobby.

 

Absolutely. My dad was big into Heathkit, and our house was full of the stuff. W5M amplifier, we even had a Heathkit TV. Like father, like son, I could solder by the time I was in first grade. (Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls, But Violet Gave WIllingly.) I built a shortwave radio, and a few Heathkit stereos for friends. They weren't bad, either.

 

At seventeen, it was a Dynaco ST-120 amp, Dynaco FM-5 and a Japanese Kencraft (model # ?) pre-amp that was the start of my audio obsession. I had read in a Canadian audio magazine that the Dynaco PAT-4 did not sound to good. So I went for about the only alternative I could find. Can't remember if Heathkit had a pre-amp around that time (1973) but I must have had some reason not to go that way. I had chosen to build a pair of transmission line speakers TL-90's from Audionics, a US company but got lucky when the store offered to sell me their factory built pair for the cost of the kit. Saved me a lot of work!

 

Built a lot of Heathkits, Dynakits, and Eico kits. For myself and others. Built some ScottKits and Fisher Stratakits.

 

When i was in Junior HS(mid-70's), I was fortunate to have one of the only two Heathkit stores in the state of NJ in my town. I used to love hanging out there.
I had a blast building the kits pictured below.

 

Heathkit was one of the nicest memories of my childhood. I built the GR-64 shortwave when I was 12 or so and loved it. When I was in the Navy I ordered the AR-1500 ($349.00 kit) and built it right in the barracks while in ET school. The built version was $689.00 in 1971. I still remember its sound when I first powered her on. I never heard anything so beautiful.

I still have it here and plan a full re-cap when I get some time...
It powers on but the caps take forever to stabilize. Not a big job at all I just need to get started.

 

Great story RonW. That must have been a nice kit to build. I had to google image it to see what it looked like again...still looks good today!

 

Of course. I also built a Heathkit TV.

Mainly I built things not from kits. I built a lot of electronic devices from articles and learned how they worked and how to modify them to better suit my purposes. I had hoped to learn a lot from the Heathkits, but mainly I learned how to solder well and follow instructions.

That said, I did study and learn the basics of electronics from books I got at Heathkit. Electronics 1-7 is still on my bookshelf and I still go back to it from time to time. Things that didn't make sense to me when I read it originally come into sharp focus when I go back with my more advanced perspective.

Building projects from articles in magazines seemed to be a much better way for me to learn. I could see the effect the various components had on the circuits and try to figure out the how's and why's of the design. Many of the articles had errors in them and discovering them was always a hoot.

In 1974 I even designed and built my own 12x2 mixer for doing live recordings. My roommate and bandmate at the time,, Lou Shrinkle, helped with the design. It was fairly primitive but an amazing learning experience. I learned quite a bit from Lou, who went on to become a pioneering hard drive designer, and also worked on the iPod. In fact, I've learned something from just about everybody I had contact with.

I used to think that they made slight errors on purpose as a learning exercise. I also experienced this when I learned how to program computers. I bought my first book on Basic and started typing some of the programs into my compiler. They never ran as written, and once again I think this may have been a ploy to get the reader to investigate why they didn't run and thus gain a much better understanding.

That's how it worked for me.

 

My dad built a number of hi-fi components: Dynakit PAM and PAS-2 preamps, MK II and ST-70 amps, and a Heathkit AM tuner. He also built a pair of Georgian corner horn speakers using plans sold by Electro Voice (Klipsch licensed folded horns), and a single bass reflex speaker. One of my older brothers has the Dyna ST-70, and the PAM/PAS preamps; I have the MK II, and the tuner and speakers are at my mom's.

I've built a rumble filter (kit from a Colorado company), numerous speakers and speaker rebuilds, and have rebuilt a pair of Dynakit MK IV mono blocks. I also upgraded the caps and resistors in my Musical Fidelity x-10D tubed buffer stage. When time/funds permit, I have a pair of PAS preamps, ST-70 amp, the MK II, and FM-3 tuner that are waiting for tune-ups.

 

Thanks...

It is a very simple looking receiver almost elegant in its design. The construction was entirely modular with all circuit circuit boards mounted on hinged connectors for easy service. One harness connecting them all. The FM signal strength meter had a test mode and a pair of test leads inside the unit for checking the circuits before power up. Pretty amazing I thought.
Anyways, I need to get that bad boy back in shape again. I might cover it here when I do.

 

Cool stories here folks, thanks for posting them!

 

Yes, a Dynaco SCA-35.

 

By the time I was old enough to buy one, Heathkit was into the computer era, but I did find a dead Heath sine square wave generator at a hamfest some mutant built with acid core solder and tore it down, made a new PCB using a friend's dad's darkroom/board lab and rebuilt it to the Arny Kruger Audio Amateur article.

Since then a couple of Heathkits that were partially built or broken have crossed my path and I've fixed them. But I never bought one new and built it. I have built several power amps and various guitar boxes from scratch, as well as a darkroom enlarger controller, several bits of test fixturing, and a couple of shortwave receivers. Building from scratch takes a little more time and more mechanical skills, but is far more educational.

 

Harmon Kardon Citation I, II, and IIIX that are all still in service today (with newly rebuilt filter caps of course)....

 

Dynaco PAT 4 in college, powered up perfect first time and continued to run for the next 15 years, although it was modded several times by van Alstine.

In high school I found plans for a headphone spatial enhancer which was pretty cool. It called for some esoteric coils and luckily "Pops" was a Collins guy and could get the good stuff.

More recently SOHA headphone amp, Hagerman Bugle phone preamp then his Cornet2, swapped out some opamps in sacd players and whatnot. I finally got a decent soldering station when I built the Cornet2. Next is a power supply for my turntable, hopefully get started now that all parts finally here.

 

I never built kits or worked on tube audio until the mid 90s, when I bought an SCA-35 for $100 and learned how to upgrade the coupling caps, etc., and simplify the front end circuits (I bypassed all the tone, etc., stuff and put in a new Alps blue volume pot). I connected all the tubes as triodes (altho that too is probably a no-no for really knowledgeable tube guys ...). Maybe not as 'functional' as the original design but sure sounded a heck of a lot better. Then in 2006 I buit a pair of Bottlehead Paramounts, then later upgraded the coupling and 'Parafeed' caps. Very nice sounding units!

 

All this talk about kits has made me want to built a nice tube amp.

 

My friend built a Hafler DH-100 for me. It kept blowing fuses.
Sent it to the factory to have things set right.

The service receipt from Hafler said "Pot seed found in amplifier could have blown fuses".