Western Electric amplifier 16608L1

The WE amplifier is so rare and expansive than I have never dare to dream of finding or owning a pair.

During my trip back to Singapore, I was fortunate to have met up with Ace who has told me that there is one pair at a junk(old) hifi shop near Sungei road in Singapore.

It was raining very heavily that day and it took me a long time to find the shop. Unfortunaley, the shop was closed as the owner Mr.Lim was out. I have waited for more than one hour and the owner still has not returned. Without much choice, I have decided to go back to try my luck after dinner.

After dinner with my family, I have decided to go back to the junk hifi shop to try my luck. This time, the owner was in. Initially, the owner was reluctant to bring the set out as it was "buried" deep in his shop as his shop was packed with old hifi & speakers. After much persuasion, he has finally agreed to bring it out. I was so eager that I have helped him to bring it out and by this time, he was more willing to show them to me and even decided to let me audition the set.

Both the set were in working condition and I was so delighted that I quickly went to the ATM machine to draw cash and paid him immediately. My next task is to bring them back to Hong Kong for cleaning and tidying the interior wiring system.

Sometimes, when you are least expected, some nice thing appear! The Western Electric amplifier is now sitting nicely at the shelf. It was a real pleasant surprise. Morover, the set was using the 6L6 tubes similar to my Mcintosh MC240. I believe the sound will be even better when it is being played with my Fisher 400CX pre-amplifier (as during testing it was played direct without any pre-amplifer) : )

I have wanted to learn more about the amplifiers that i own. Thus, I have started a Western Electric KS 16608 forum hoping to get more information on the amp. In fact, I get more then what I have asked. Some "audiophiles" were so critical that they started criticising the amplifiers just because it was not the famous WE 89 or 91 models....

How sad! Just because it is not the most sought after WE amplifiers will be branded as not a good amplifiers? For me, I like the amp alot as after so many years (from 1960s) it is still singing beautifully was a USP itself. Moreover, it is found in Singapore, my home town. According to the seller, he has owned the amplifiers for more than 15 years..which is a long time, in my opinion.

Perhaps, the world will be more peaceful if one can be more tolerance and appreciates things from a different angles and a bigger heart to accept differences in taste and preference.. instead of wanting to win all the times and imposing views and opinion onto others...

: )