AR-15 price

[Jack Crenshaw]

Doug, the AR-15 is one of the real sleepers of hi-fi audio, these days.
Because it's not a tube amp,
it doesn't get the attention that, say, a W-5M would.  You can get some real
bargains.  I have several
AR-15's and their amp-only equivalent -- AA-15?  I didn't pay more than $80
for any of them, on eBay.

FWIW, in 1968 I had just built an AR-15 when I had to go to the hospital.
Left the newly finished amp on
my test bench.  While I was gone, the dogs got tangled up in the speaker
wires and pulled the amp off onto
the floor. The impact was enough to bend the chassis.  My wife called over a
friend, a macho gyrene, to see if
he could fix it.  He wailed on the chassis with a hammer and dolly <!>.

Afterwards, my wife got nervous that the electronics had somehow been
compromised.  McIntosh was running a
hi-fi clinic then, where you could take your amps and get them tested for
free.  The general idea, of course, was to
show you how much better a Mac was.  Though the clinic was free, the plan
was to get you to upgrade.

Well, when the tech did the tests on the AR-15, he did a double-take, and
asked, "What _IS_ this thing?"  My wife
said, "A Heathkit. My husband built it."

The tech says, "He _BUILT_ it?"

She said, "Yes. Why, is there something wrong?"

He said, "No, it's just that this is the only amplifier I've seen that
outperforms our McIntosh."

He sent home the strip charts, which clearly showed the distortion levels to
be below the Mac standards, over all
frequencies and power levels, up to rated power.

In short, the AR-15 is a gem, and a cheap one at that.

Jack

----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Aab <Douglas931 at AOL.COM>
To: <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 3:32 AM
Subject: AR-15 price


> Hello;
>
> I'll be looking at an AR-15 (stereo receiver, I believe) with manual that
is
> for sale; any suggestions on a reasonable price depending on condition?
>
> Thanks
> Doug
>
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