I'm not sure what you are reacting to? The battery power or the price. Regarding the battery power, numerous tube radios/amplifiers were designed using batteries. The Second World War couldn't have been fought in the same manner without batteries powering all the radios used by all sides. Regarding the price, I believe Mr. Bernanke was addressing that issue this morning.

Shipping is 1/4 of the price, that puts it over my budget

And 30 y/o Chinese tubes? WTH

It's small, and in a cheap plastic shell. Seems kinda fun, but, I imagine it would be disappointing if you were expecting more than something akin to an AM radio. I'm still smarting over the whale tooth I got from Bazooka Joe and the X-Ray Spex from Johnson Smith when I was a boy. I can only imagine how I would've felt if I scrimped and saved for the helicopter or submarine in the comic ads.

I'll have to admit to not knowing my battery history with sufficient depth to state whether there were "C" cell batteries during WWII. Something says not. When transistors made things smaller, batteries had to get smaller too. One of the emerging technologies in this world over the last sixty years has been smaller batteries with longer life and greater power. But you miss my point. Tubes are capable of battery operation and 6VDC is 6VDC whether it comes from a battery small enough to fit in your palm or one the size of a Volkswagen minibus.

I'm not at all certain why this amplifier should be dismissed as a "toy". The battery power eliminates the need for a robust power supply that would be required in any AC operated component. So what if it only produces 2 watts? With the right speakers paired to this unit, two watts can be sufficiently loud in many applications. A shop I worked in used to drive Klipschorns with a four watt Advent 400 table radio to prove how little power was needed with a highly efficient speaker. And I suspect anyone using a two watt SET would object to the characterization of low power being the equivalent of a "toy". The small, plastic encased Sonic Impact T-amp with only six watts to its name established an entire subdivision of the high end a market just a short while ago. I wouldn't write off any amplifier just because of its looks as I've heard plenty of nice looking amplifiers I wouldn't want in my home.

To look at a picture of an amplifier and deem it a "toy" seems the equivalent of looking at a picture of a Krell mono-block and remarking that it must sound good. Neither is based in anything more than preconceptions that can be proven wrong.

I have no desire to buy one of these amplifiers since I already have more channels of amplification sitting in my closet than I will ever need. But until I hear an amplifier, I'm not inclined to write off its potential.

They tended to be stacked 50 volt (intrnally stacked to get to 50VDC )and then 100v packs for the portable radio units. Not exactly as I'm saying, but you get the idea.