Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Mainline => Topic started by: adydula on February 06, 2018, 09:00:17 AM
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Ok....Doc you made it easier for me in my amp selection.....was down to your Mainline or Woo Audio WA6SE...my liking to build and your sale broke the tie...
I am looking forward to building and using the Mainline....
Now just dont tell me your coming out with a new top of the line amp in the next few months!!!
All the best
Alex
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Thanks, Alex!
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Alex,
You could always go for the Neothoriator. But I think The Mainline will sound great at a lot less money. I don't know about you, but I'm jonesing waiting for this kit. I really enjoy building stereo gear. I think I like the build almost as much as listening. I bet you can't wait either. Probably be talking with you during the build. Have fun.
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Just wathced the videos....OMG its a "pretty" amp....real old school with the lastest "magic" from the "boys" at "crack-ville!!"...
Only $10K....I will start playing the lottery!!
LOL!
Alex
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My thinking is along your lines Alex. I built the Sex and a new model came out. I built the Stereomour and a new model came out. I want to jump on this sale. Hey Doc, you have a new head ampamp in the works?
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I have found myself to be in the same boat...a product comes out, some of us on budgets (retirement here)...wait for a sale, jump on it and then a few weeks later a new upgraded/updated product comes out!!.
I had this experience in November with a DAC from another vendor and they were really nice to exchange the dac for the new updated one for hipping costs....it was within a 30 day window. Great customer service.
That said...I look at BH products like the Crack that has been out for many years and its still really a good OTL amp as it was on day one pretty much. BH could have stopped selling the Crack and just go ahead with the crack-a-two etc...but they have not an I think thats a great thing, because folks that want to start out still can DIY a good prodcut at a decent price.
So if another upgraded head amp comes out the Mainline still will be as good of an amp as it was when first sold IMO.
Its quite a jump from $1199 to $10K for most of us its unobtanium, but I am so glad to see BH do this kind of stuff...and sometimes its trickles down to the lower end but good stuff....Ha! Would'nt be neat to have those Neon tower tubes in the mainline!!! LOL!
In one of Doc's videos he states BH is the new " dynaco, dynakit " etc....I built so many of those and Hafler stuff brings back good memories..Its great to have a BH that is doing this old school DIY kits for us ooompa lumpa's...
all the best
Alex
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No plans for a new headphone amp at the moment. We are working on other products and I am personally working on a few other non-kit things as well. Thanks for all the kind words. I try to develop a product with at least a ten year lifespan. We don't always get there. That said, we don't have any plans to update or retire the Mainline any time soon.
I was listening to some pro setups while in the Bay Area this past week (along with playing with Goggle earth on an Oculus rig - WOW!). Tubes vs. SS, analog vs. digital, horns/panels/dynamics, and speakers vs. headphones for that matter, are from a certain perspective not as relevant as the simple idea that some listeners want a fuller more mellow sound and some want a more resolving and detailed sound. Interestingly both camps want smooth treble, punchy bass, and coherent imaging. I think there is a lot of that going on in the differences between our various headphone amps. Crack is in the warm and mellow camp, Mainline is in the resolving and neutral camp (as is the Neo), S.E.X. falls perhaps in the middle.
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I would also mention that the SEX was altered mostly to use a tube with a different base since 6DN7s were getting a little hard to find. Since doing that, the availability of 6DN7s has increased, so it's actually beneficial for the 6DN7 SEX owners :)
The Stereomour alterations were mostly a response to customer requests for upgrades like DC filaments, better attenuators, and a driver stage that more resembled the discontinued Paramount 2A3 amps.
When I look at the Mainline, I still don't see any room for improvement.
-PB
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How nice to get such good feedback on an early Sunday morning. Im in the same boat as I suspect a lot of bottlehead folks are. Older and poorer and on a pension. I upgraded the sex when I built it, and Ive been so delighted with it, Ive never found a need to change. But I have a serious case of the Bottleheaditis and need to build something. I think Ill sell the Crack an the Sex and buy the Mainline. Oh boy, more Bottleitis!!
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One last question. I am severely hearing disabled. I use Mr Speakers Ether
flow C Headphone. Most recording the gain knob is about 1/4 turn. Some(very few) however can be full half turn. The Mainline has less power then the sex. Am I going to have a problem or will running balanced take care of it?
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The Mailine has 3dB less gain than the SEX amp. This does not have any relationship to the power each amp makes.
Using the 4 pin XLR jack does not change the power delivered to the headphones.
-PB
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What would using the 4pin xlr jack by me?
My T1's do not have have a balanced cable, just the good ole se 1/4" jack. I can buy a $150 balanced cable from Beyer...would this be a sifnificant improvement??
Besides the usual SE vs Balanced arguements, I did read that there is a potentialimprovement electrically (ground) by going to a 4pin ?
Ideas, thought?
Alex
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Alex,Just chop off the 1/4plug and solder on a balanced plug
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Alex if you decide to chop off the end and do it yourself the smart thing to do is make the cut 5 or 6 inches back from the jack that way for the cost of a a nice male and female neutrix xlr connector you will also have made your self a handy xlr to trs adapter out of the short off cut off piece.
Their are a couple of how to tutorials online for this mod that's how I did mine you end up with a short adapter like in the pic
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I've always preferred using balanced in my S.E.X. and DIY amps, but i honestly couldn't explain why.
I did the same mod as Jamie on my HD800 cable. ...you just have to summon a bit of courage to make the cut.
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Where did you get the two adapters? I am not afrdi to cut vs $150 for another cable...ok with the solderig etc...
and thanks for this info!
Alex
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They are Neutrik 4-pin male and female XLR connectors..
http://www.neutrik.us/en-us/xlr/xx-series/nc4mxx-b (http://www.neutrik.us/en-us/xlr/xx-series/nc4mxx-b)
http://www.neutrik.us/en-us/xlr/xx-series/nc4fxx-b (http://www.neutrik.us/en-us/xlr/xx-series/nc4fxx-b)
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I doubt there is any real advantage to adapting a common cold leg for right and left type of TRS cable to a 4 pin XLR. The idea behind the 4 pin XLR is that you can use separate hot and cold legs for each channel, i.e., a four wire cable all the way back to the drivers.
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The HD800 cable is a four wire cable with the two cold legs joined at the TRS plug. Cant speak for the T1's as i never owned them.
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Cool, so in that case replacing the TRS plug with a 4 pin XLR plug will indeed change the cable to separate cold legs. But making an adapter with an inline TRS jack and 4 pin XLR plug will not change anything.
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Cool, so in that case replacing the TRS plug with a 4 pin XLR plug will indeed change the cable to separate cold legs. But making an adapter with an inline TRS jack and 4 pin XLR plug will not change anything.
It means you can plug said headphones into a Crack :)
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TRS jack, 4 pin plug will not plug in to Crack. The opposite gender adapter would.
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I think your getting confused here, the connector in the middle of the cable is a male/female 4 pin XLR mated together. Its essentially only a straight through connector. Take the end off you have a male four pin XLR. Put it back on you have a regular TRS Plug.
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I had my HD800s repaired by Sennheiser (the little "clicky" ball fell out of the headband) I kept all accessories as requested.
I got a free OEM TRS cable in return. I'd be willing to play "let's make a deal" on it...
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Yes, sorry, I did not see that the cable was modded to XLR before the adapter was made for it.
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Aww, man. I missed the sale :(
I wonder how long it'll be until the Mainline goes on sale again...
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Its what... $200? The mainline is worth it either way. The Mainline doesn't roll tubes (much) so you'll save a lot more not going through that in the elusive tube search. If it goes on sale, it's just stars aligning really.
OTOH, $200 keeps companies like BH alive. I have no qualms separating my cash to these folk. Honestly, I can't think of money better spent.
Well, maybe feeding starving orphans... :P Maybe.
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It's been five weeks since my order on 2/6/18 and I check everyday for a shipping notice.
I'm anxious and excited to get started on this new amp.
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It's been five weeks since my order on 2/6/18 and I check everyday for a shipping notice.
I'm anxious and excited to get started on this new amp.
Part of the fun is clearing out the bench space, looking at the manual, clearing out a space where it's go when done. Quite a different experience from ordering same day from Amazon!
James
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Yahoo!!
Just got the ship email!
Will be here next week, Tuesday the 20th....
Soldering Iron is warming up!!
lol
Alex
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I got the kit today and took inventory and started the mechanical part....am short one of those #6 fiber shoulder washers that are used to mount the smaller transformers to the mounting plate and 2 49.9 ohm resistors, got 49k instead.... :>)
no biggie, sent a note to the parts email and got a fast reply from Josh! Thanks for the fast reply...I am continuing on the build and when the washer and resistors arrive it will be a simple install....
Going to paint the main power xfmr top housing a gloss black and tung oil the base. I found some clear Gorilla glue for wood etc that worked well for gluing the sides together.
Cant wait to hear how this amp compares to my Crack!
Alex
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Could you post a photo of the 49K resistors? 49K is not a value we stock, but once every 5 to 10 years, the wrong resistor gets ordered or the supplier packs the wrong resistor, so it would be good to see what you have on hand.
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Here ya go....
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Josh is aware of the issue. We did get the wrong value and the correct one is on the way.
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Just saw Doc's post....I also need one of those small #6 fiber shoulder washers to complete the mounting of the second OT3 smaller xfmr...
Thanks!
Alex
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So it took me 3 months to get around to building the Mainline. All checked out and worked beautifully first time firing it up!
Of course there were a few miswires along the way, but I caught them by carefully checking over the circuit at each step.
So far the sonic quality is as advertised- quite neutral and extended with absolutely silent background and huge amounts of detail. Great for listening deep into the mix on complex pieces of music.
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Congrats on your build. It is really a very nice amp....and builing it yourself is a great experience!
Enjoy!
Alex
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So it took me 3 months to get around to building the Mainline. All checked out and worked beautifully first time firing it up!
Of course there were a few miswires along the way, but I caught them by carefully checking over the circuit at each step.
So far the sonic quality is as advertised- quite neutral and extended with absolutely silent background and huge amounts of detail. Great for listening deep into the mix on complex pieces of music.
Well done, I hope mine goes as smoothly, ordered yesterday :) (this is my first post here!)
Reports like yours made it easier to pull the trigger.
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Just take your time, really pay attention to where what parts need to go on the circuit boards.....check once, check twice!
Good Luck!
Alex
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Doc, can the wooden body be supplied in yellowish oak?
If so how much $ pain will it cause me.
Thanks
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We supply the kits with alder bases as shown on our web site. Talk to John Rutter at Harmonic Design Works for a custom base from other material. He mills the bases we use.
http://www.harmonicdesignworks.com (http://www.harmonicdesignworks.com)
Or just by some oak colored stain.
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Great, thank you.