Advice for a fellow thinking about going 'tube'ing

[Eric B]

So, I'm walking through the local thrift store, and at the bottom of a pile of *really* ugly furniture is a coffin type stereo. I can't really tell what it is, but it does have a sticker on the back saying to use genuine 'some brand' tubes. Are these units worth the $40 they want for it, meaning is it a good place to start by getting one of these and taking it apart? These units were produced way before my time. I don't know a darn thing about them. I know I read a post in here about someone stripping one down for the amp, but I need a little advice about what I'm looking for... I'm sure like most things there are good and bad ones... thanks

[jtnfoley]

There are some fairly extrordinary amps in the higher-end Stromberg Carlson consoles (ASR 333, ASR 433) and SOMETIMES you hear stories of home made consoles that have McIntosh or other highly desirable amps within (this is called 'winning the lottery' [] )

That said, there's probably a 99/100 chance that the thing is a totally commodity model that, while providing a start in tube amps or DIY restoration fodder, is not worth much. It should also be said that tubes run at unsafe voltages (think 300 - 400 volts in some circuits) and a very old amp in poor shape would be unsave when not wrapped in a big wooden box.