saan nga ulit yung pagawaan ng chassis? i used to buy aluminum plates 4 x 8 ft from sulimco and have them delivered to Pio's sheet metal shop across the street to have them cut and bent, now he has tig welding..... 
sa soler st. behind arranque market, may 2 metal shops - tip top at chun ying? you're rite, we have to buy the metal sheets the have it processed by those shops.
oweidah...o yan baka naman sakali pag napadaan ka eh maibili mo ko niyan...yang philips 12AT7 na yan...maski isang pares lang 
cge pag nagawi ako spin, tho rite this very minute its raining cats & dogs here in manila
at least, because of this thread many got aware as to how much those tubes were pag bumaha na ng cleartops, 12at7, sylvania, etc sa buy and sell section.
pre-emptive stroke?
bro new age...baka lagyan ng disclaimer: "tubes not bought at spin electronics"... swerte lang talaga at na-discover yang spin...mataas naman talaga ang price especially pag NOS...
now we go into the economics of the tube (nos) industry. being the newbie here, akala ko nos tubes prices @spin electronics ay regular/normal lang. nagulat ako nang makita sa e-bay etc ang pricing ng nos tubes. so if you do the math, 1+1, kaya pala latak na lang ang inabutan at napacquiao na.
sa pa-diy naman, parang namamalengke, basta alam mo ang bibilhan ng mga rekado (parts) medyo makakatipid at makaka-buo ka, (in my case) tube preamp using premium parts and simple chassis. hindi japorms pero ok tumunog. ang solusyon ko ay
ambilyts , mas nakaka-concentrate sa pakikinig ng good muzika kesa hangaan ang audio gear.
tgif & peace to all
