Thanks to all the folks at Bottlehead! This was a super fun project, and won’t be my last … Crack is certainly addictive.
The kit, Crack + Speedball, arrived in November, well packaged and in fine shape.
I completed the basic Crack build mid-December, albeit with a few modest modifications. It sounded amazing! The only source I used with the basic Crack is a Denfrips Aries II fed by a WIIM Mini (bit perfect mode) receiving an Airplay from an iPhone streaming Apple Music.
Per Doc’s recommendation, I listened to the basic Crack for a couple of months before adding the Speedball. The difference to my ears, which sadly aren’t audiophile quality, was subtle. If forced to try to describe it, with Speedball it sounds sharper (increased definition, clarity, high-frequency extension?), but perhaps a bit less of warmth the I had grown used to. With the Speedball in place I also added a second source, a U-turn Orbit Theory turntable with an Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge initially using a Schiit Mani phono preamp.
While to my non-audiophile hearing, the two sources sound essentially identical, there must be something different, because I find myself getting antsy listening to digital, whereas I relax into the analog and just end up listening longer. I can’t put my finger on why, but it’s real.
The bottom line, I love my Crack and had a blast with this build, and now I’m on to the next, an Eros II.
