To speedball or not to speedball?

[handrewmoore]

I've had my stock Crack up and running for a few months now. I have it paired with an hd800 and I absolutely love it. I've acquired a few different tubes other than the stock 6080, an RCA 6as7g, a 5998, Bendix 6080wb and they all have their strengths. I like rolling them depending on what I'm listening to at the moment. I haven't tried rolling the driver tube yet, I've read it has a much less impact on the sound. I may do that soon.

I'm wondering if I should give the speedball a try. I have read the sticky on the speedball and wonder if it would be a good match with the hd800. I can see how it would improve things with say the hd650, especially in the bass. With the hd800, I already find the background to be completely black except for the last 20% of the volume knob, and the bass is already pretty damn tight. Especially if I run the Bendix or 5998. As I'll never get near that high on the volume knob and I'll even swap out tubes to get a bit more bloom in the lower end for some genres, would the speedball make any improvement?

I'm more concerned that it'll lessen the impact of tube rolling and take away that slight euphonic quality. On the other hand, I haven't heard one negative of adding the speedball. I'm completely happy with the stock Crack but wonder what I might be missing. Anybody with the hd800 have experience with stock vs speedball?

[Strikkflypilot]

Read thru the forum. Plenty of comparisons.
Here's my 2 cents. Reverting to stock takes less than 20 minutes:)
IMHO You can't go much wrong getting the Speedball. It sounds terrific with the HD800.

[Nathan]

I have HD600's so my experience isn't directly comparable. I found the speedball results in a cleaner and slightly sharper sound. The bass is no deeper but it is somewhat tighter. I could see how with some cans a non speedball could be preferred.

After putting in my speedball I wound up buying a Mullard CV4003 which is a nice choice. I have an RCA clear top which I liked pre speedball but now I'm not thrilled with it and the speedball

Of course ymmv depending on source components

Overall I'm pleased with the speedball but note my crack is far from stock at this point

[Paul Birkeland]

The Speedball reduces the distortion of the Crack without using feedback, which allows for a more resolved presentation.

On HD-800's, it's significantly better.

-PB

[handrewmoore]

Well, I decided to go ahead and get the speedball. Then I saw the deal running for the $20 speedball with Crack. Ordered that instead, now I'll be able to A/B the two and eventually pass along a hell of an amp to my brother... or maybe just have a new bedside rig. 

[Strikkflypilot]

Coolest choice IMHO!

[handrewmoore]

I do have a quick question or two. I have a bunch of teflon 22awg wire, would it be ok to use this gauge throughout the build? Or should i just keep it for the signal path and use the stock 20awg in the power path? I don't know if the drop in gauge makes a difference and I don't want to throw anything off spec.

Also, I was wondering what alternatives you guys might suggest for a headphone jack? I don't care for a locking jack, it seems more trouble than it's worth, but it's about the only variation I've seen people using in their builds.

[adydula]

I had the same concerns and I listen with beyerdynamics T90's and absolutely like what I hear and don't want to muck that up. But I just took out the plate resistors and the 3k ohmers and hope to get the upgrade in the mil tomorrow.... fingers crossed.

Alex

[adydula]

Hello, Just completed the speedball upgrade and it works ok the first time...all voltages ok.

Would I do it again....YES!

Its really another simple improvement and sounds wonderful...with Beyer Dynamics T90's it cant possibly get any better.

Very quiet, soundtage is off the charts.

Bass....omg...tight, taunt and accurate...

My old Chicago stuff that is a real test for sibilance etc...play perfectly...kick drums...WOW!

If I had only amp this could be it and I have many others to compare with.

For the money there really isnt anything to me that sounds any better.

Alex

Smillin here a lot!!

Problem is now I want to listen for a looooooonnnnnnggggggg time!!

[Paul Birkeland]

I have a bunch of teflon 22awg wire, would it be ok to use this gauge throughout the build?

If it's not stranded wire, you may be able to use it.  I would use what we provide for the twisted pair of wires feeding B7/B8 from the power transformer, however, as those wires carry some serious current. 

[handrewmoore]

well, I actually ended up buying some of the VH Audio 21awg airlock wire. I went by his site to get a better deal on some rca jacks and ended up getting the wire too, total impulse buy. I'm going to save the 22awg for another project. I figure I'll use the stock wire for the power and heater and the VH Audio for the signal wire.

[pingping]

I had the same concerns and I listen with beyerdynamics T90's and absolutely like what I hear and don't want to muck that up. But I just took out the plate resistors and the 3k ohmers and hope to get the upgrade in the mil tomorrow.... fingers crossed.

Alex

Love the T90's

I just Speedball'd mine after 6 months or so of having it stock with T90's, and then T1's.

My initial observations (from another forum - someone asked me to mark the improvement from stock being 7/10);


Hmm marks out of 10 - tricky...

My Crack kit was stock aside from some spare 100nf polypropylene caps that I'd been using to bypass the stock electrolytic output caps (wondered if I'd hear a difference - I did, but unless I switch back I've no idea if it was 'better'), and on the last of the PS caps.

I really liked how it sounded, with no complaints about any particular parts of the sound. Headphones are amazing for hearing details anyway, but overall I would say that it was running much closer to the overall sound of my main system (same Akurate DS1 source, Exotik, 2250, 212's) with my Beyer T1's than I could have hoped for the price.

The change with the Speedball was funny. At first I was a bit 'meh', sounds nice, but I'm not sure what the fuss is about. I came back to it about 45 min later having left some music playing just to give it time to do whatever things do when they settle in, and it was no longer a small change!

The most noticeable thing was a sense of power and weight - if you've ever taken a Linn system from passive to aktiv you'll have an idea of the change. There is more of pretty much everything cliche wise. Much richer sounds, more low level information, and far better imaging too.

I ended up listening to about 6 hours of Choral music as I tried a The Sixteen track, and then went through Kazoo hunting for all my other bits of a similar ilk. The 24 bit Tallis Schollars Live album was real hairs on the back of the neck stuff. With the Speedball the sense of the room was stunning, and the ability to hear the voices as individual sources was what kept me trying to find more recordings to listen to - it is that classic 'hear thing you've never heard before' thing.

I need to take out the bypass caps and see whether I'm holding it back with them (I'm not far off ordering some M-Caps for it anyway, so I'll test it before I strip the stock ones out), but I am very impressed with it. Put it this way; I was up early to listen before going to work, despite being very late to bed last night/this morning due to not being able to take my headphones off until I'd just tried...etc.

I guess my babbling on suggests 10/10 - but then I'm sure there is room for improvement based on valves/caps/wiring/PS upgrades/etc/etc, so I'm not sure what 10 is!

What have you done with yours to date?

I've ordered a couple of tubes to play with, have a blue Alps that I'm thinking of fitting, and hopefully my CX-7 choke will be here tomorrow


To summarise though, it sounds amazing with the Beyer T1's, so it should be amazing with the T90's

(To be honest, it makes the amplifier perform better, so it shouldn't matter what yo use it with really...)

[adydula]

We have been upgraded now for about 2 weeks and its really been a great listening experience....I added the grounds to the headphone jack that were floating....nothing for sound but its a mod that from somehow was "missed" a long time ago.

I also shortened up one of the ground wires that another person pointed out that was kind of "wierd" the way it was run..again no real sonic difference but it looked like to me help prevent a ground loop.

Besides that I have several new or rather NOS signal tubes the latest being an Amperex Bugle Boy and it really sings very very well....absolutely my subjective favorite now!

Alex

[denti alligator]

I have HD600s, but I mainly use the Crackphones with the Crack. Anyone experience these with the Speedball upgrade?