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Heathkit

Isobarik

Isobarik

pfm Member
Anyone built any of their gear?

I remember building a AR-14 tuner/amp many moons ago. I built it whilst working away from home, put it together in my room in the hotel when I finished work for the day.

Had to wait until I got home before testing it out proper, didn't want the hotel to catch fire! 😁

I also built a pair of their Ambassador loudspeakers shortly after, but not in the hotel room!
 
They had a hand-held LED audio RTA, a friend asked me to build one for him.

rta-004r-jpg.425203


It was big and clunky, and the case seemed kind of fragile, a good drop would probably have killed it. Inside it was unnecessarily complex, with stacked circuit boards and a messy tangle of thin wires everywhere. And it was only 20 bands, so only half-octave resolution. The Ivie was more compact, more robust, and had 33 bands, this was a poor substitute.
 
Yank said:
They had a hand-held LED audio RTA, a friend asked me to build one for him.

rta-004r-jpg.425203


It was big and clunky, and the case seemed kind of fragile, a good drop would probably have killed it. Inside it was unnecessarily complex, with stacked circuit boards and a messy tangle of thin wires everywhere. And it was only 20 bands, so only half-octave resolution. The Ivie was more compact, more robust, and had 33 bands, this was a poor substitute.
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And I thought I was the only one who knew about Heathkit?
 
narabdela said:
Very big in UK in the '60s.
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With (one of their?) shop(s) in Tottenham Ct. Rd.. Must've been in about '64/'65 that I bought and built their 12" driver speakers to go with my then Truvox sand amp (later Leak Stereo 30). I used to wake my flatmate up with Wagner; he used to say years later that this was beneficial for his mental health at the time after chucking it in at the F.O.).

Tott. Ct. Rd was a bit of a Mecca for hifi in the '60s; (Lasky's, e.g., where I worked for a short while). Edgware Rd at t'other end of Oxford St. was the Mecca for components. THE emporium for hifi had to be Imhof's in New Oxford St, Those were the days, my friend.........
 
KCT said:
I was showroom manager 1970-72 in heathkit Gloucester 😊selling the hi fi , test equipment and amateur radio. My first job Great days
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About the time I purchased my tuner/amp and loudspeakers. I thought they were an excellent company to deal with.
The instruction manuals were first rate and very easy to follow. All you needed was a soldering iron,solder and a pair of wire strippers!

I bought the AR-14 to allow me to record music off the radio,namely John Peel.
 
Mike Reed said:
Tott. Ct. Rd was a bit of a Mecca for hifi in the '60s; (Lasky's, e.g., where I worked for a short while). Edgware Rd at t'other end of Oxford St. was the Mecca for components. THE emporium for hifi had to be Imhof's in New Oxford St, Those were the days, my friend.........
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They were indeed. I could spend hours browsing the hi-fi stores in Tott. Ct. Road and then round the corner into Imhof's.

Memories! :)
 
narabdela said:
They were indeed. I could spend hours browsing the hi-fi stores in Tott. Ct. Road and then round the corner into Imhof's.

Memories! :)
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Use to go to London to buy my hifi, bought a pair of Ditton 44's and Rogers Ravensbourne.
I remember lugging them from the shop to Euston station. Think I bought them from Lasky's?

I remember one of the salesmen asking me if I had made the right decision buying the Ditton's and I should consider buying the Kefit 3's instead.

I should have taken his advise!

Beautiful times!
 
bob smog said:
Maybe? I recapped it (filters and couplers) about 20 years and lent it to a buddy for a while. Haven’t used it in over a decade.
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I'd be tempted to switch it on and give it a go. There can't be many of them about now. It looks like it could sound pretty good!
 
Isobarik said:
About the time I purchased my tuner/amp and loudspeakers. I thought they were an excellent company to deal with.
The instruction manuals were first rate and very easy to follow. All you needed was a soldering iron,solder and a pair of wire strippers!

I bought the AR-14 to allow me to record music off the radio,namely John Peel.
Click to expand...
Hope it’s served you well. The most popular receiver from memory. I have an ar1500 sat in my office a fabulous beast and still works fine after 50years !
 
KCT said:
Hope it’s served you well. The most popular receiver from memory. I have an ar1500 sat in my office a fabulous beast and still works fine after 50years !
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My first realms into hifi even though the AR14 was mono.

Had it for years and then went down the Leak stereo valve path.
How many amplifiers will still be working after 50 years?

Building the AR 14 was so easy, I thoroughly enjoyed putting the kit together, it taught me the difference between a resistor and a capacitor!😀.
 
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