If you build First Watt amps yourself its usually well under $1k. I built mine from the parts pre-drilled and pre-cut from the diy.com store. Chassis, circuit boards, jacks, binding posts, risers, they have it all. I built 2 F5's and a Burning Amp BA-3 (which is basically an F4 with a gain stage in front of it). I haven't heard the F6, but I do know the First Watt sound and it's the only SS amp (as a die-hard tube lover) that I could live with long term. Well, that's not "quite" true - Odyssey, TAD, and Esoteric all make nice sounding amps, to my ears.