 |
| Frank Fossheim's Kit4 Experience |
It all started with my curiosity for tube/valve amplifiers. I wanted to hear how a good quality valve amp would sound in my system. However I didn’t want to pay the price necessary to achieve high enough sound quality. Based on this I started looking into the DIY market, and after some time found the kits from Audio Note (AN). AN is renowned for making high quality and good sounding equipment, so after a few e-mails to Brian at AN-kits I decided to order the "starter kit", Kit4.
Building the Kit4
When the kit arrived I unpacked everything and made sure that no parts were missing. This was made easy by using a reference list that follows the kit. In this list all parts are posted. After doing this I lined everything up to take some pictures, as you can see below.
As you can see all the parts is sorted in tagged bags. This was a big advantage when building started. I started by reading the building manual, and then I read it again. I followed the manual step-by-step, and this was no problem. The manual has good drawings and is easy to use, even for someone like me who don’t have English as my native language. The components are numbered and the print board have the same numbers were the component is supposed to be placed. I worked my way through one chapter of the manual at the time. Thus I didn’t get tired or fed up, and avoided mistakes.
I have some basic knowledge in electronics and I have tried the soldering iron many years ago, and this was useful. The soldering is not that difficult, but I would recommend that you ally yourself whit someone that has done something like this before if you don’t have any experience. Soldering is easy to learn if you have someone to guide you in the beginning.
The finished result is shown in the picture below.
All-in-all I have to say that the building of the Kit4 was very entertaining. The only negative thing I can say about it is that the job was over to fast.
The sound of the Kit4
I have now used the Kit4 for about a month, and I’m very satisfied. The sound is more than I’d hoped for. Its capability to reproduce details and the essence in the music is beyond anything I’ve ever heard in this price range. I could write much more about the sound, using all the fancy "Stereo magazine" words, but it would all just end up in the following sentence: It sounds great, and the value for money is very high with this kit.
Frank Fossheim, Norway