I hope when you recommend a Hafler, you disclose to our viewers Hafler's kit origins instead of gushing unqualified praise.

How do you tell? Is there a "K" designation or some sort of obvious "hey, lookit me!" label? I remember wanting a Hafler kit back in the day. I wish they still sold and made them. That'd be fun.

i would, except that when talking about used gear i dont see any point in doing so.

dunno, if i remember to do it, i'll check my DH-101 and see.

gushing unqualified praise?????????? I will re-read it again and look for that

The kit ones I have seen said assembled by so and so. On a label in the back.

Unqualified praise about David Hafler is an oxymoron. He is due any praise he gets. He tried to make it affordable to have nice equipment. Even if you had to build it yourself.

Ho hum, the usual, has your tech square waved one? Wouldn't matter anyway, it is just your opinion.

Jim

I think in all fairness we need to quantify the suspect issues with Haflers a bit more.


The kits- first we must figure out- what's included?

First- Are the boards all populated already with the caps, transistors and such?

Second- What needs to be assembled? A few boards screwed down? A few wires soldered? A few bolts inserted or nuts tightened? Or whole boards populated with caps, transistors and such?

That's the first thing. Is it major surgery, or minor?



Follow that with a couple of assumptions-

Most folk buying a kit need at least a modicum of knowledge putting electronics together.


From this, we can surmise, after spending the money, most kit builders are going to want to do the best job they can.


Which brings us to the builders. Many I know were techs that worked for repair facilities and such. So, quality control is going to be very good, unless the tech is a hack.

Then there are hobbyists.

Many are going to painstakingly go over every joint, every assembly step with care worthy of a doting parent and a newborn.

Others, however, are going to be a bit sloppy, and markedly amateur in assembly.




What's my point?



If the kits are simple enough, most kit forms should be equal to, and perhaps better than factory assembled.

There will be some badly assembled kits though.


If the kits were complicated, this will increase the chance of some poorly built examples.




So yes, there's a bit of a chance you'll get a bum model. But also a chance you'll get one assembled with love and care and a level of detail that bests any factory build.




Check out the unit, inspect the solder joints and assembly, and if it looks good, I feel the odds are you'll be fine.

On the extremes, you'll end up better on some, worse on others.



Use any kit built model as leverage on pricing.

http://www.hafler.com/techsupport/pdf/DH-500_amp_man.pdf
http://www.hafler.com/techsupport/pdf/DH-200_amp_man.pdf

Since these where offered as kits, as where Dynaco's, the original Amzilla and others, the added benefit is that the manual can double as a sort of Service manual, there is much more information than you would get in a normal manual on the amplifier.

Jim

A tech friend of mine owns a DH500 and thinks highly of it. I think the pre-amps have an interesting legacy behind them- especially the 101.


I'd be okay with finding a kit version as long as it didn't look hacked together.


I have seen some excellent repair work by techs, but also seen some horrific repairs jury rigged. Both were obvious at first glance.

The 101 is a great little pre.