> What is "SMT?"
>
SMT = surface mount technology. Resistors and capacitors are reduced
to the size of a gnat's ass, and have no legs. The board has no
holes, just tiny pads that the exposed ends of the parts solder to.
ICs have leads that are thousandths of an inch apart instead of
hundredths.
It's very high density packaging, designed for modern production
electronics. The parts are basically too small to be handled by hand,
and must be placed and soldered by precision robotic machines.
Aside from possible audio emasculation from shrunken down circuit
paths, many people on this list love the act of assembly, and are
opposed to SMT on general principles for that reason. You will never
be able to easily repair a module years down the road if it is SMT.
OTOH, Paul will have increasing difficulty as time goes on in
sourcing parts for traditional through-hole design. Many of these
parts are disappearing, and can only be purchased as SMT.
So we kit builders and module hot rodders need to enjoy it for as
long as we can.
Moe