Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Quickie => Topic started by: precd on November 15, 2013, 05:41:36 PM
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Just finished the Quickie and it sounds very nice. Had zero trouble except for a hum caused by a tube. Changed out the pair and that went away. Just a great little preamp. A friend of mine had four 3Q4 tubes so I replaced the stock tubes with those. This is my 1st piece of tube gear. One major difference is the detail that the tube pre delivers that was not being heard from the transistor Sound stage also has improved quite a bit. Ringing from the tubes caused by vibrations from the speakers is something I need to get solved. Did not expect that but I am sure it is an issue that I can get resolved. All in all well worth the money and fun to build.
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I have the same ringing problem when I print something because the Quickie and printer are on the same bench in my office. Looking forward to hearing some thoughts on isolating the vibrations without necessarily having to move the devices.
Precd, how would you describe the 3Q4 tubes' sound compared to the stock?
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Check out this thread: http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,3491.0.html
There are some examples how to damp the ringing (microphonics).
Best and enjoy the Quickie!
Michael
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And this one http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,3611.msg32245.html#msg32245
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I have the same ringing problem when I print something because the Quickie and printer are on the same bench in my office. Looking forward to hearing some thoughts on isolating the vibrations without necessarily having to move the devices.
Precd, how would you describe the 3Q4 tubes' sound compared to the stock?
Really cannot compare them. I isolated that hum quickly, no pun intended, and did not get a chance to listen to the stock tubes critically. Can say they did sound good and so do the 3Q4s.
I think some of my ringing is due to the large cabinet that I have my gear sitting on and two the whole of the preamp bottom is sitting on it. I went the Harris metal box route. Scrounged up some very small sheet metal screws and I am going to drill those through at all 4 edges to see if it helps in isolating the ringing. With the preamp only touching the cabinet at those very small points I cannot help but believe it will help.
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I accomplished stopping the ringing in the tubes in a way that may be uncivilized by some but it worked. The case I have is the Hammond case so I drilled the bottom on all four corners and sunk 4 sheet metal screws in the holes. Between the screw head and the case I installed a little piece of cardboard to separate the case from the screw head. This allowed me to isolate the case from the cabinet I have it sitting on. Now I can pause my CDP and hear no ringing when the music is silenced. My Quickie has added another dimension to my audio system. I can now see the next step is a tube amp from Bottlehead.
I wonder if the PJCCS upgrade will fit in the Hammond 1" deep case?