[HBR] Function Versus Form?

[stan mcintosh]

The HBR projects that I have seen scream a faithful adherence to the
original look, as well as function.  After forays into a BC-348 and a
seriously dysfunctional Tektronix 310.  The Tek 310 was one of those famous
'worked last time I plugged it in,' even though there is *no* way the power
supply, vertical amplifiers, input network (including one carbonized and
opened resistor), and HV circuitry all happened to fail between the previous
owner's last plug-in and my first.  I really enjoyed getting the BC-348
going, but I still wanted a receiver that I built with my own hands.
Anyway, back to the point and the topic of the newsgroup.

1)  6V6/6AQ5 final audio.  Are these really used that often?  I tend to use
headphones almost exclusively, so I'm tempted to leave a beefier,
speaker-ready amplifier as an outboard project.  Thoughts?

2)  Keeping it all in one box?  One problem I have is that I just don't have
a suitable box to house the full receiver.  I have two that are way too big
and a few that are smaller.  I'm tempted to keep the lower IF and headphone
audio in one box, the higher IF, VFO, and input in another box, and an
umph-y audio with speaker in another.  Although this would consume metal,
the modules should have improved isolation, right?

3)  AM detector.  How may of you use yours?  I have no AM gear, and have
felt more of a pull to stick with CW than to branch out.  Maybe an HBR-8 or
HBR-11 style would be better.

Thanks.
stan