I was in doubt if anyone would be interested in my experience but decided to finally share my impressions on Crack and say my thanks.
It was my second DIY audio project and took me a while to build, especially finishing the the base, as I had no prior experience working with wood. I had to sand it down and start from scratch a couple of times till I finally got a good looking amp.
My home setup looks like this now:
Crack + speedball, Bottlehead power cord,
Mullard CV4003. This one removed the hiss and made a big difference in SQ.
100K PEC pot. Fried original one when installing -10db pre-attenuator :-/
mundorf caps
+
HD650 recabled using Supra 1.6 speaker cable, just for fun
HRT music streamer II+
Other two systems I'm listening to are
at work: grubdac, minimax with 12fm6 tubes, ultrasone 900pro with w3106 cable and J$ pads.
FIIO E17 and fischer audio DBA-02 mkII IEMs, when I'm on the go.
Comparing such different setups is unscientific and highly subjective but that's
what I do every day. I don't consider myself to be an audiophile so don't expect
professional descriptions.
Surprisingly I find DBA-02 to be the most detailed ones. Very honest and a bit warm but that's
about it, after all they're in completely different league when compared to big headphones.
Well, at least they don't annoy me with crappy sound :)
ultrasones are very engaging, with lots of excellent bass. I almost returned them at first as it was over
the top, but then I adjusted (or was it a burn-in ?) and now I find them very involving, detailed
and fun to listen to. They are very comfortable with leather pads too. Still, I get fatigued from
their sound after several hours.
crack and hd650.. veil? what veil?
Throw in some good jazz and that's what makes me smile and relax in the end of the
day. Natural or life-like, if I had to pick just one word to describe it. I don't want to pay attention to
music rendition, highs and lows, soundstage and so on, I simply listen to the music.
So thanks Doc for the worderful amp, I think it's responsible for at least 1/2 of this effect.
