Reply #2 on: January 11, 2015, 12:06:29 PM
I've found my wire stripper has a hard time with Teflon wire- it is an automatic sizing and grabbing tool so I used a razor blade on this build. The stripper worked great for the initial build
So as of today, this is my Crack-
Tung Sol 5998 and Mullard 12au7 nos tubes (very good mod)
Cardas input jacks (can't tell the difference)
Padded down volume (was essential)
Russian teflon bypass caps on audio caps (very good mod)
Last power supply cap bypassed with a Mundorf film cap (hard to tell)
Speedball (initial impression is positive)
I'm also using a DIY power cord consisting of Belden 19364 cable, Wattgate male plug, Shurter right angle iec and techflex (A very quiet cable). Likely Volex 17604 would also yield similar results and that's even cheaper.
At this point I am possibly considering an Alps Blue Velvet or other suitable volume pot (not really interested in a stepped volume control) but I wonder if I should bother as the padded down volume also means that I don't use the stock pot where it tends to be non-linear between channels.
I listen through HD600's with Cardas cabling.
No wonder headphone listening is such a joy!
« Last Edit: January 11, 2015, 03:15:01 PM by Nathan »
Crack/Speedball, SEX 2.1/C4S, Bryston BHA-1
Sennheiser HD600/Cardas cable, Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen, Hifimam HE560/Hifiman balanced cable