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Thanks to all who replied!

The sites you recommended are very interesting and will likely be of use to me in the future.

Raver (Raul in Italy) emailed me some very clear schematics and parts lists for which I'm highly appreciative. He tells me that Ron Oehlert restored and modded an AA-32 for him that is totally awesome. In doing a search I see that Ron is quite an authority on this amplifier, and Ron I also appreciate your error post. I'm sure I'll be gleaning other info from your past posts via the search engine.

The AA-32 that I'll be working on came to me through eBay from the US a few months ago. The price was $68.00, which I think is OK considering that it is in very good cosmetic condition, except for the usual paint flaking off the cover. I haven't tried it out yet, so could still be looking at a blown transformer, and come to think of it I haven't even checked to see what the brands of tubes are in it, although I can see they're all in there. It would be naive to think that anything nice might be still in there, in view of the savvy eBayers generally have these days about such things.

This project is going to be a real pleasure for me, due to the fact that back in the '60's, while still a teenager (I'm not anymore), I built an AA-32. There was even a Heath Canada division. And IIRC they used Mullards as stock tubes. I can't remember the price but I think it was less than $68. Now, I don't know if it is just nostalgia or what, but I recall that little guy as being one of the most musical amps I've ever heard. The memories of me and that amp are so sweet.

The AA-32 was with me for a couple of years and then I bought my first SS amp and you know what, I can't even remember the name, but it was very nice too. I sold the AA-32 (and the speakers that I built for it) to a friend, who just jumped at the deal. Between me and my friend, that little amp just partied and partied all the time!

Selling the AA-32 was one of those things that I wished I'd never done!

So here I am trying to pick up where the amp and I left off. My memory of the enjoyment we all had with that amp is sort of haunting, in the sense that I say to myself "even after owning and listening to so much different equipment over the years, did that amp sound as good as I think it did?"

When the AA-32 is sufficiently restored and modded (I say sufficiently because one is never done modding), it is going to go up against some tough competition, namely my Audio Note Kit1. They'll both be used with my Audio Note AN-J/Spe speakers, and after having owned the AN-J's for quite a while now, I think they'll be a perfect match with the AA-32. Will the AA-32 beat the Kit1? I highly doubt it, as the Kit1 is an amazing amp, but I'm curious to know just how good the AA-32 really is. I'll keep you posted. (Don't hold your breath though, I'm presently building a preamp kit.)


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