Although there's a lot of work in building this new amplifier, it's really all quite straightforward. Most of the work involves assembling the six PC board modules but there's also a fair bit of wiring do be done. Make no mistake – this project will gobble up quite a few man-hours and is no job for the fainthearted.

To make the job as easy as possible, Altronics in Perth will be offering complete kits for this new high-performance amplifier and these are expected to be available by the end of December.

The Altronics kit will come with a professional rack-mounting case that's been custom-made for the job. The case is powder-coated, all the holes are pre-drilled and the front and rear panels are supplied with screened lettering. In short, there's absolutely no metalworking to do.

Note that although our prototype shows rack-mounting flanges and handles, the Altronics metalwork will give you the option of leaving these items off, if that is what you prefer. These parts will still be supplied with the metalwork – it's up to you to decide whether or not to use them.

The detachable front panel really looks the part. The top and bottom edges are curved to improve the appearance and the design is "relieved" by the vertical slots at either end and the slots running horizontally along the bottom. And in case you're wondering how the front panel is secured on the prototype, it's mounted on spacers on the front of the chassis and is fastened at either end by screws that pass through the front of the chassis and into the handles at either end.

This means that no screw heads are visible on the front panel.

Alternatively, if you choose not to use the handles, the front panel can be secured using the attractive Allen Key screws supplied with the kit.