[stvnharr]

Has anyone built the Basie?  And what do you think?
Seems like a great value.   Be good to hear something.

[Kevin P]

You might want to try on the DIYHIFISupply forum.   Many more people there who have built the unit.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/DIYHiFi/bbs.html

[zachslc]

I love mine.  I think it is a good all-around preamp--very simple and elegant circuit, warmish-neutral sound.  It took me a while to get the grounding scheme right.  The stock tubes in the kit suck, but that is easily rectified for not too much $$$.  It was easy to build and easy to tweak.  Bryan at DIYhifi supply is a fantastic guy to deal with.  I recommend it.

[Grover]

I built the Basie almost a year ago.  It was my first kit and I enjoyed the build process, and the instructions were good.  Note that I have the earlier version of the Basie without the 4th tube for the phono stage.

I did not build the Basie stock, so can't tell you about its stock sound.  But the upgrades I put in weren't all that expensive.  I went for the Vampire solid core wire, Kiwame resistors, Jupiter Beeswax and Sonicap capacitors.  The sound is VERY dynamic, warm, great integration from top to bottom.  The preamp just plain makes wonderful music.

I had some problems with hum after my build.  I reheated all my solder joints and rerouted some wiring and all was better.

The Basie handily defeats my other tube preamp which was about three times the cost.  There is good support over on the board that Kevin pointed you towards.

[stvnharr]

thanks for the replies.