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Well you do get what you pay for but you can see the attraction of building, say, the kit sgmypod has built against buying something like a Victoria 5F1. It might not have the right tweed, chrome plated chassis or cabinet i.e. visual vibe, but presuming (and I have no reason to believe otherwise) that Aston supply well speced Transformers etc the cost difference is massive. You could make a flat-packed solid pine cabinet, put in a Celestion Blue and still have £400 change.
The upcharge for such things as carbon comp resistors and orange drop caps would be minimal.
Assuming the Aston kit is based on the 5F1, would they actually sound much different?
Or would the aston sound better because of the bigger cabinet and better speaker?
I'm not saying kits are answer for everybody, but if you can solder, and are not to fussy about aesthetics and want a simple circuit vintage design, then they look excellent value. Plus you get something out of building the thing....
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Absolutely. You can save a lot of money by making your own cabs etc, however I expect many people don't have the tools/ space or expertise to do this. The main pain for me when building an amp is punching the chassis. The novelty of making nice round holes using a chassis punch soon wares off! Also having a proper panel gives the amp a nice pro finish.
I can't really comment on the quality of the transformers used in the Aston Electronics kits as I haven't seen them. What I will say is that there are many factors that add significantly to the cost of manufacturing a transformer that aren't always apparent in the final product. Regardless their kits look very good value.
The Aston Electronics 5W amp has tone controls and uses an EL84 output valve, so won't sound like a Tweed Champ, although I'm sure you could build a Tweed Champ by modifying the kit.
