You can build one. Like Adamct, I am also a lawyer and had neither built any electronics nor soldered before. In fact, I'd never even seen anyone solder before. I first built the foreplay III, then a couple years later a crack, and I just finished a stereomour a few months ago. If you're intimidated by putting together a stereomour, I would highly recommend building a crack - its a great intro to all the basics needed for the other kits.