You have my deepest sympathies. This reminds me of some of the items
that have crossed my bench for repair where the owner has a
sentimental reason or some such that makes even the most irrational
approach feasible. One such case, I actually took the few useable
parts out of the item (one output transformer, a choke, front panel
and knobs, cleaned them up and installed them into an entirely
different working chassis (saving the parts from that one, of course),
and returned it to my friend... he thought I had 'worked a miracle'.
He had left the room for a few hours just as his Eico 70 was
experiencing an output tube melt-down... Fortunately the panel breaker
blew before the real-estate was threatened.

To this day some 18 years later, he still believes that he has his
original unit, only this time he pays attention to the bias and tube
behavior. I don't charge people to indulge in my hobby, but I warned
him that next time I would.

I admire your perseverance, many would have returned the kluge to the
customer and wished them the best of luck. And it does seem to be one
helluvalot of money to spend for a badly conceived kit.

Out of curiosity, do you think such kits are at all feasible in the
real world? Do you think that:

a) better instructions
b) better parts-finishing
c) better diagrams

or some permutation/combination of the above could make such a kit
workable for the average Jill or Joe? You mention that you had to
design-build your own crossovers... They are not complicated, but do
you think this should be "Factory" or at least the bits included?

It seems to me from many thousands of miles away that the entire kit
is an afterthought made from factory sweepings...

But, thank you again for your painstaking description and tale. A
significant example of "doing" over "blathering".

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA