[Amps] Best Alpha amp

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: 
On Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:06:33 -0600, John wrote:

>I'm looking to buy a used manual tune amp. RF Concepts is selling 89s at 
>a reasonable price. What do you think of this model? Tube replacement is 
>always a question with cost and availability in the future difficult to 
>predict. I'd prefer to stay with a more recent model and something that 
>fits the desktop. I've also compared it to the (about the same price) 
>new AL82, which is obviously not in the same league.

REPLY: 
I've had three Alpha's: A 91b, a 9500 and an 89. The 89 was good but developed
two problems. A small cap in the LV power supply shorted (which I repaired
myself) and the vernier drive mechanism started slipping. It would have cost a
small fortune to have Alpha do the repair so I sold it as is. 

Performance-wise, it was excellent. Couldn't ask for better. 

On the other hand, you can homebrew an amplifier (as I did) which is far more
rugged, powerful and reliable than anything on the commercial market, if you are
willing to invest the time and effort. Most people are not willing, and I don't
fault them. It's a LOT of work. Just something to consider. 

My homebrew is dead simple - no fancy protection circuits except for three
fuses, and the best quality components I could find. I didn't scrimp on
anything. It sits on my desk, just purring happily away after many hundreds of
hours of full power RTTY operation. 

73, Bill W6WRT