Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Quickie => Topic started by: corndog71 on February 23, 2012, 06:04:21 AM
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A couple of nights ago I swapped the output caps of my Quickie to Clarity Cap MR Series 2.2uF caps. There was a noticeable improvement in soundstage width and depth and overall focus. Right away they were a step up over the ESA Series caps by Clarity Cap that I had in there prior. (not to mention BIGGER!)
Last night I had about 10 hours of playing time on them and when I sat down to listen I was not prepared for what I heard. It's been a long time since a part change made my jaw drop but it happened last night. Focus, clarity, dynamics, whatever you want to call it these caps just let everything through. I could hear so much more detail and the differences between recordings became much more prominant. Forward sounding vocals were in my face and more laid back recordings were behind my speakers. At a certain point I picked up my jaw, stopped being analytical, and just got lost into the music! So much fun!
It may seem silly to put $110 worth of caps into a $135 preamp but holy crap it made such a huge improvement! Not that the quickie was bad before because it wasn't. Now it sounds better than pretty much every preamp I've heard under $2K! I can't even tell you what kind of tubes I have in it.
I can't recommend these caps enough if you want to hear what the Quickie can really do! It really does sound better than it has any right to at this price and makes a mockery of most preamps out there.
My stereo:
Rega P25 with Shure V15VxMR into a Cambridge Audio 640P phono preamp with Pangea P100 upgraded power supply.
Ipod Touch on a Pure i-20 dock with coax digital out going to a Musical Fidelity VDAC MkII powered by a 12V rechargeable battery.
Bottlehead Quickie with PJCCS
Homemade and highly modified Dynaco ST35.
AV123 X-Statik open baffle speakers.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FBottlehead%2520Quickie%2F102d2791.jpg&hash=b98b0e4ec5b8dd316c425e3be18b98edcc1090f5)
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FBottlehead%2520Quickie%2F6d2b00d6.jpg&hash=749e79f088cf85c298eb555eae39ac0da2a90fa0)
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Did you happen to burn-in the caps before you installed them?
If not, I bet its going to get a little bit sweeter every time you listen to it.
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I didn't.
I have just over 13 hours on them at this point. I was just shocked at how much they changed in just 10 hours. I have the teflon V-Caps in my Sex Amp and those took hundreds of hours to sound their best. As good as the V-caps are I think I'm going to replace them with the MR caps. Just gotta save up for them.
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Nice job!!! Can you tell us your source for the caps I have not seen them in my area and would like to try them.
Cheers
Mike
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I've found that in addition to the output capacitors, dropping in low-ESR electrolytics for the cathode bypass caps results in better sound as well (cleaner and more balanced), though the effect is smaller than that of the output capacitor upgrade. I think I used Panasonic FM series capacitors, though I hear Elna Slimic II's are even better.
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Nice job!!! Can you tell us your source for the caps I have not seen them in my area and would like to try them.
Cheers
Mike
I know 2 places that sell them.
www.partsconnexion.com (http://www.partsconnexion.com) (Canada)
www.madisound.com (http://www.madisound.com)
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I didn't.
I have just over 13 hours on them at this point. I was just shocked at how much they changed in just 10 hours. I have the teflon V-Caps in my Sex Amp and those took hundreds of hours to sound their best. As good as the V-caps are I think I'm going to replace them with the MR caps. Just gotta save up for them.
Hey Rob - Interesting that you have tried the teflon V-Caps. That is one cap that I have so far not had the guts to spend the coin on. Also cool that the Clarity MR's sounded so good in comparison. Curious if you have tried the Mundorf silver/oils? They are my current favorite, but trying to stay open minded.
Cheers - Eric
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Heh, I know what you mean. I got a pair of 0.47uF V-Caps which are as big as those 2.2uF MR caps! And yeah, I think I paid around $250 for them. Crazy! They did improve the resolution of the sex amp a lot. Now I'm thinking those ESA caps have to be replaced.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FBottlehead%2520Sex%2520Amp%2Fe21d80c3.jpg&hash=32d4c75e088d203c5b9e9eb5b27069ae9b4cca67)
But I too am always open to trying new things and since I'm in this hobby until my hearing goes I figure it's all an investment in my own pleasure. Guys spend waaay more for other hobbies like photography, boats, cars, etc. So the costs don't really bother me too much if I think it might be worth it. I still try to do things on the cheap if I can help it.
I haven't tried the Mundorfs yet but I've read a ton about them. Maybe someday I'll try them out.
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Nice pics by the way ..... Looks like you are into photography as well! The thing about photography is I can be quite happy forever with good glass, and the camera only needs to be replaced every few years. Audio is a bit different for me.
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Thanks. I just use an inexpensive canon point and shoot. I like to document all of my upgrades and projects for reference. I'd love to get a nice digital SLR one of these days but it always gets held up for yet another audio purchase. It never ends.
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Update: I have just over 40 hours on the new caps. I'm completely addicted to listening to my stereo! The transparency is just astounding. Even at low levels I can hear almost every detail. I really want to try rolling some more tubes that I recently picked up but at the same time I don't want to mess with it. It sounds so damn good I can't imagine it getting much better! I even made the mistake of firing it up this morning as I was getting ready to go to work. Next thing you know I was running about 20 minutes late! Nothing like a little Quickie to start one's day! :)
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The foam base is a great idea for microphonic tubes. I can't imagine vibrations getting in. Cool idea.
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The foam base is a great idea for microphonic tubes. I can't imagine vibrations getting in. Cool idea.
Thanks. I started using foam for my turntable a couple of years ago as recommended by a fellow audiophile. It really does help cut down on vibration to the supported componant. When I first got the Quickie I was going to use my original Foreplay II base and did so for a bit. But I kinda wanted to keep that base with the FPII and come up with something different for the Quickie. I was a bit surprised at how sensitive to vibration the 3S4 tubes are. I still had a bunch of leftover shipping foam I had picked up from a dumpster at work. It easy enough to cut the foam to what I need and it worked perfectly. I needed to double up for these new caps as they hung a bit lower than I anticipated. Herbies Tube Dampers also help a little bit in reducing the ringing. They really only get microphonic when you touch them or any cables attached to them.
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how much of an improvement would you say the quickie is for the ipod?
I was looking at doing something for a headphone amplifier but I have decided that I would much rather have a preamp since I am looking for a turntable and I am always listening to my ipod as I clean house and just want to listen to music and not do anything else.
quickie seems like the best option for the first one because of the price and once I do step up to something like the foreplay I can still use it in my car or give it to my father in law.
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how much of an improvement would you say the quickie is for the ipod?
I was looking at doing something for a headphone amplifier but I have decided that I would much rather have a preamp since I am looking for a turntable and I am always listening to my ipod as I clean house and just want to listen to music and not do anything else.
quickie seems like the best option for the first one because of the price and once I do step up to something like the foreplay I can still use it in my car or give it to my father in law.
What amp would you be mating it to?
A few nights ago I swapped my ST35 for my ClassDaudio SDS-258 for something different. 250 watts per channel brings a certain level of control that 18 watts can't match. Last night I was happy to hear scary good dynamics and very good separation of instruments and voices. There was just a hint of dryness to the sound but it didn't prevent me from enjoying it. The ST35 lacks the ease more power brings but makes up for it with a bit of the old tube magic.
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I am actually going to be piping it through my yamaha rx-v863 but ill but putting it in pure direct mode so that it acts just as an amp it will in effect be doing about 105watts per channel.
that is if I understood the "pure direct" mode correctly...
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I don't think it'll bypass the preamp section of the integrated in pure-direct mode... probably just not do the additional processing / upmixing and leave it as 2-channel... kind of misleading. I have used the quickie with an onkyo integrated before and found it to be a worthwhile improvement to the integrated alone. (with ipod/laptop as my source)
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"It may seem silly to put $110 worth of caps into a $135 preamp", understandable what you are saying, but think of the Quickie as actually at least a $700 or more DHT OTL pre (from a manufactured company), and your $110 caps become the wise and prudent investment that they are.... :)
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Looking over your receiver specs I have to agree with Matt. You can't bypass the preamp section of the receiver. You need a separate amp with the Quickie.
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Thanks guys. I'll be ordering a quickie this afternoon most likely even tho I can't take full advantage of it in the way I am going to use it.... I just need a new project and I'll just build amps next to take full advantage of it
I am planing to build some speakers and amps as well....specifically for music....amps for movies come later.....thinking a Pass X5 clone for movies or one from classDaudio.com and a stereomour or F5 for music
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Bottlehead is great for low powered tube amps but if you need more power and want to build it yourself then I would suggest these:
http://classdaudio.com/amplifier-kits-1/complete-amplifiers-kits.html (http://classdaudio.com/amplifier-kits-1/complete-amplifiers-kits.html)
I have the SDS-258 and for the money it's a steal.
edit: oops, I forgot you already mentioned you were considering them.
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Bottlehead is great for low powered tube amps but if you need more power and want to build it yourself then I would suggest these:
http://classdaudio.com/amplifier-kits-1/complete-amplifiers-kits.html (http://classdaudio.com/amplifier-kits-1/complete-amplifiers-kits.html)
I have the SDS-258 and for the money it's a steal.
edit: oops, I forgot you already mentioned you were considering them.
How do you like them sonically? my main problem with them is that when i do a search for reviews I get class d amps from all different manufacturers....
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How do you like them sonically? my main problem with them is that when i do a search for reviews I get class d amps from all different manufacturers....
The company I linked to is the one I recommend. I have no experience with other class d amps. I tweaked the power supply of mine a little. There's a really long thread on audiocircle.com that shows numerous builds and tweaks. It's under cheap and cheerful. Mine is in there too.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2Fclassdaudio%2520amp%2Fb711d1b1.jpg&hash=2754fb42b7007ad8f2cf910705f78191e9ba84b5)
As for the sound, I've been consistently impressed with it. It runs just a bit on the warmer side of neutral but doesn't spare detail or dynamics. It's very easy to listen to for hours with no fatigue. And it mates really well with my Quickie.
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Hey Rob - Nice job with the Class D amp build! I was real tempted to buy from them but I ended up with the Emotiva. I have read good things about the Class D Audio amps. I built a high power (200wpc) class t amp from 41hz, but it was a bit too complex with surface mounts and all. It didnt end up working.
I was pleased with how good the stock Quickie sounds when I subbed it back into my system today. I was working on my modded one at the time. The sound was very good just not as refined as with boutique parts. I think the logic of why one would spend $150 on caps and expensive resistors etc. on a $99 preamp is that you get more bang for the buck the farther up the audio chain you go. A preamp is pretty far up there. Fun stuff! Thinking about bypassing my Elna electrolytics. Any thoughts on that?
Eric
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I like the Class D you show. The funny thing about the classdaudio.com stuff and class D in general is that I have read that when mounted in a wood case it sounds better....not sure why but i have run accross it in a few places.
I think the ClassDaudio.com amps though are perfect for home theater use as I honestly dont understand the need for AB or A for those purposes....for music yes...HT...not so much.
I think the ClassDaudio.com amps will be my next project. Like I said I have been looking at them for a long time now and amps were one of the next things on my list. either the speakers or the amps.....
My goal, since I can only have one system....is to have two seperate loops connected to the same speakers. have a TT and Cd player/DAC connected to quickie going to Pass F5 or Bottlehead amps to speakers for music....split it somehow to get the subs in there as well....
Then for HT have a processor to amps to same speakers....
I plan to handle the subs by getting to sound best with the quickie and then simply adjust in the processor or receiver to accomodate for the gain I have to put on the subs in my other line.....
P.s. sorry i kind of hijacked your thread. I liked that you had such good results with the quickie and it all went downhill with questions and comments by myself
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My goal, since I can only have one system....is to have two seperate loops connected to the same speakers. have a TT and Cd player/DAC connected to quickie going to Pass F5 or Bottlehead amps to speakers for music....split it somehow to get the subs in there as well....
Then for HT have a processor to amps to same speakers....
I plan to handle the subs by getting to sound best with the quickie and then simply adjust in the processor or receiver to accomodate for the gain I have to put on the subs in my other line.....
P.s. sorry i kind of hijacked your thread. I liked that you had such good results with the quickie and it all went downhill with questions and comments by myself
Good luck with having 2 systems share speakers. Sounds ambitious. I keep my 2-channel tube system separate from my HT. And they're both in the same room!
No worries about the threadjack. Sharing ideas keeps this hobby interesting and there's always more to learn.
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Unfortunately I don't have another choice. No room in my living room or office for a second system. I'm sure that if I had floors tandems it wouldn't be an issue..... But I dont