Half a speedball

[elnrik]

Hi all,

I've been listening to my basic Crack for months now.  Love the sound.  As I'd hate for the speed ball to just go unused, I thought I'd prepare myself and just do the upgrade.

So I was reading every last word of the speedball upgrade instructions.  I came across the part at the end of the small board instructions, and saw this "you can resume use of your crack at this time and listen to the benefits of the upgrade, or you can continue and complete the second half of the kit."

Ok, now that stopped me cold.  One of the reasons I've put off the SB upgrade is I don't want to lose this warm and dynamic stock sound.  I'm afraid the SB might make my crack sound more like a clean/sharp solid state amp.  Will only doing half the upgrade give me a nice middle ground?  Has anyone tried only half a speedball upgrade? 

Thanks

[elnrik]

Apparently I'm the only one who has ever been curious about this.  =P

Let me ask then - What does the small board do, and what does the large board do?

[Doc B.]

They are constant current sources that regulate the current through the tube they are attached to. The small one works on the 12AU7 that it is mounted by, the large one works on the 6080 that it is mounted by. They reduce power supply noise by about 60dB to make a more quiet background during quiet passages and they also tend to tighten up the bass.

The thing you are asking about is very subjective. The only way you can really tell for sure if they do what you want (or don't want) is to try them.

[elnrik]

Thanks Doc!