• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

basie+aikido preamp

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Level1 = US$595
Level2 = US$745
Level3 = US$990

Assembled (tested?) = US$1140 ... plus shipping to USA with possible variation = US$109 ... total = US$1240 or so ...

And that certainly should deserve some better pictures, inside and out ...

Duties may apply into Italy or the USA depending on such factors as which port of entry and the state of health of your local tax man ... unassembled electronic parts kits are supposed to be GATT Duty Free World Wide (except for local VAT/VAR/Vigorish/Payolla, etc.) ...

:rolleyes:
 
They use courier - watch those brokerage fees even with zero duty!!!!!! FedEx is the absolute worst for this.

Have then send it "Air, Land and Water" postal service (that's what .cn/.hk post calls it). Good chance it'll match a courier's speed and will be far cheaper shipping wise.
 
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Why not just buy an Aikido board in one of the group buys or see link below and get a nice box from http://www.hifi2000.it/

http://www.tubecad.com/

Link to Aikido boards starting at $24: http://glass-ware.stores.yahoo.net/

I bet you can build it for a bit less, choose your own parts, and have a bit of fun along the way.

Plenty of people would be willing to advise you have further questions..

Merry Christmas!

Edit: Added link
 
duties & taxes

" ... FedEx is the absolute worst for this. ..."

Actually it depends on the Port of Entry. If FedEx packages come into the lower 48 States via Alaska, then the US Customs and FedEx brokerage can often mess thing up and try to extract some extra vigorish ... Into LAX, no problem-o ... I have been in dispute w/FedEx for more than a year for this very thing. UPS = No problems. I'm sure there is a blog somewhere for importers and exporters ... Generally, European imports entering the USA from the East Coast = no problem-o as long as these are clearly marked as "GATT Duty Free Electronic Parts".

As many Canadians already know, imports from the USA or elsewhere should enter through the West, not through Toronto or Quebec = big chance of extra taxes being levied. We ship via DHL or FedEx into eastern Canada = no problem-o ... UPS = :( ... Imports into Canada from the Korea or China (Taiwan, Hong Kong or the mainland) or Singapore, etc. usually don't have any problems, east or west, mostly because these come into BC Port of Entry ... I don't have any reports re: European imports into Canada via East Coast POE's. ...

Depends on the carrier, depends on the Port of Entry, depends on the method of shipment (Standard, Express, Express Overnight, etc.), it may depend on the health or wealth of the carrier's agents or the time of day ... Suprisingly, US Global Mail doesn't seem to have any problems with duties on small shipments ... :confused:

I still want to see pictures of anything I buy worth more than US$100.00 and I would like to see an assembly manual and lots of pictures of anything worth more than US$1000 ... :eek: ... These guys have it close to right: http://glass-ware.stores.yahoo.net/ ... no full kits though ...:rolleyes:
 
When shipping into Italy, we always use DHL, but we have never had a problem shipping by FedEx International Express or UPS International Express to anywhere in Europe as long as the packages are clearly marked as "GATT Duty Free Electronic Parts". If the package is heavy (>> 2 kilos) then there is a likely chance the packages will be inspected for "duties due", but if it is just a big bag of electronic parts, then = no problems. EXCEPTIONS: Whole Goods (assembled and tested, ready for resale) = VAT or sales taxes due.

Any shipment arriving in Mexico City = duty questions = duty questions are resolved by paying the man, no other way. Shipments to other Mexician POE's = usually no problems.

Shipments from North America to South America can almost always have extra duties assessed ... unless it is shipped by US Global Mail and marked as "NAFTA Duty Free Electronic Parts". (I understand that Austrialian shipments into South America usually have no problems as long as marked as "Electronic Parts containing no media".

:confused:
 
DHL, lowest fees, but can't read :D

I ordered tube sockets and panel jacks. I got nailed duty on aluminum tubing and knitted jackets. Sent pictures of what it was and that it's duty free and the dispute has been going on for a year now :rolleyes:

Despite being duty free, they will still nail you with a base brokerage fee and call it a handling fee.

RE: port of entry - yes, bigtime difference! Stuff from Asia comes in through LAX, then YVR then to me. Little problems. YYZ = refused shipment.
 
shipping rates

just a note shipping options:
our Fedex rate is charged at cost and based on our commercial volume. It is cheaper than Speedpost or airmail. And faster. Also includes insurance. And has real tracking. They do their best to move it through customs clearance.
Speedpost (EMS); tracking is not very good as it depends on the destination ountry's post office to respond to tracking inquiries. can vary among countries and even among post offices. Insurance is extra.
Airmail: no tracking, limited insurance posibilities, unpredictable delivery times (5 days to 3 weeks or more).
Surface: no tracking, delivery usually exceeds teh limit of customer's patience (4 to 12 weeks). Limitied insurance and costs extra.
From HK, Fedex has the best service overall, once on their commercial rating system. DHL, UPS, Bax, are all more expensive and/or fall down on service issues. We've tried them all.

Cheers
Brian
 
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