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My interest in audio began in the early 1980's. I managed to put
together a Hitachi 25 wpc receiver, a set of Infinity Efficiency Standard
speakers, and ADC Sound Shaper 110IC equalizer, a Hitachi Linear tracking
turntable and a Technics cassette deck with dbx encoding. I loved that
system!
Later, when I went into the Air Force, I put together my first
"real" system. It consisted of all Carver equipment. A
m1.5t power amp, a C1 preamp, and a DTL-200MKII CD Player. I kept that
system in boxes until I acquired the speakers I had set my sights on a few years
before. Infinity Reference Standard IIb's. During a few system
upgrades, I sold the 1.5 and replaced it with two M-4.0t's. I also replaced
the C1 with a CT-17. This system was part of my life from about 1987
through 2001.
During the end of 2001, I made a radical move and sold my complete system on
Ebay. I replaced it with a Carver C-1000a Home Theater Receiver, a Sunfire
True Subwoofer MKII, and B&W 603 front speakers with 600 series for the
center. This is my current system, and I have to say, I'm very happy with
it. If you haven't heard one, the Sunfire Subwoofer is absolutely
everything you've read. I couldn't live without it. 
 
As you can see, I've been involved in high power solid state gear for quite
some time. It took nearly a year of reading and thinking and reading and
thinking before I jumped in and committed to a low powered SET tube amplifier by
Decware. The Zen Triode SE84C. This baby kicks out an amazing 1.5
wpc.
Following this experience, I could see that tubes were for me. I
purchased a vintage McIntosh amplifier, and was blown away by how
"unveiled" it sounded compared to nearly everything else I had
heard. The MC-60 had much of the finesse and presence of the Zen, but the
additional power allowed me to take that quality sound to an acceptable
level. That did it for me. Tubes were definitely something I wanted
to know more about.
Following the inevitable sale of the McIntosh, I rolled the profit into the
acquisition of the parts necessary to build my first homebrew tube
amplifier. It's a 300b based dual-mono design housed in a single chassis
(at least conceptually). As I write this, I'm laying out the physical
circuit, and I should begin wiring the amp this week (5-13-03).
Tonight (5-20-03), I rough sanded the baseplate down to about 220 grit.
I don't know if I'm going to coat it or keep going and polish it.
Painting complete and sockets and iron mounted 5-23-03. Should start
wiring this weekend.
And a shot with my helper.
6-22-03
Almost done. All I have to do is decide what color stain for the oak
base. The amplifier sounds incredible and has surpassed my expectations.
7-3-03 Finished!
3-19-04. My friend Rick wove some Cat6 cable for speaker wires.
He was kind enough to let me have several feet. I made some interconnects,
and I'm going to terminate the remainder for speaker wire. Listening
session planned for this weekend.
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