Yeah, those old 50s amps tickle my fancy from both a (potential) sound and visual angle too..and those heathkits seem to be top audio (I'm just finding out about tubes in audio,but,have seen some sites detailing them). They seem to occur on UK ebay quite a lot,luckilly there are still a few people who aren't wise to the hefty weight of guitar type valve amps and sell them in collectibles/radios sections. I've seen nice spec amps go for £30-50. When i've done "the knowledge" I'm thinking about modding an old Supro/Valco/Gretsch (etc),although more popular on the other side of the pond.

We do get a few old W.E.M. Westminsters and sim'lar for reasonable money here- but, i just cant quite pull the trigger..