Heathkit 1214-AM (1973–1974)
The model number "1214-AM" doesn't show up much in the surviving record on its own. Period Heathkit advertising makes the identification clear enough, though: this is the AR-1214, an AM/FM stereo receiver sold as a build-it-yourself kit. The earliest ad in the Archive's collection, in Audio (April 1973, p.11), listed the kit at $169.95. It made Heathkit's usual pitch - because you assembled it yourself, the company could put more into design, engineering, and components than a factory-built receiver at the same price could get.
Later Heathkit ad copy in High Fidelity (September 1973, p.109) and HiFI-Stereo (September 1973, p.113) was just as enthusiastic. It promised "everything you ever wanted in a quality stereo receiver...including a low price." Those same ads claimed 0.5% harmonic distortion, 0.5% intermodulation distortion, 65 dB hum and noise, 70 dB spurious rejection, and a phase-lock multiplex demodulator with 40 dB typical channel separation in stereo. These are the manufacturer's own advertising claims. No independent bench-test review of the AR-1214 has turned up in the Archive's period collection.
Beyond that advertising run, little is documented about the 1214-AM. Known details from the period record:
- AM/FM stereo receiver, kit form
- $169.95 (April 1973 ad)
- 0.5% harmonic distortion (claimed)
- 0.5% intermodulation distortion (claimed)
- 65 dB hum and noise (claimed)
- 40 dB typical stereo separation via phase-lock multiplex demodulator (claimed)
If you have a build manual, a period review, or memories of soldering one of these together, the Archive would welcome the record.
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