Crack builds that suck - learn good building by looking at bad building

[Paul Birkeland]

No, I haven't powder coated any screws.  Rather than doing that, I stock black, brass, and zinc variants of what I generally use. 

[Tuco]

You can put the retainer on the bottom side of the chassis

Hmm… this is one of those situations where you are used to seeing the tube base proud of the plate and now you’re left wondering if you’ll get used to it being recessed and like it better then…

[Thermioniclife]

Roger that.

[Tuco]

Finished and tested the Crack last night.  Haven’t plugged it into the main system with the better streamer and DAC yet, but sounded great on the inexpensive streamer and DAC that I tested it with.  I’d never listened to music on a decent set of headphones and headphone amp before, so this is all new and a lot of fun.  I’ll listen to it for a while then install the Speedball.  Here are the completed Crack photos…

[Mucker]

Nicely done!

[Thermioniclife]

When you install the small board of the speedball listen to that for a couple of weeks before installing the large board. I found I liked the sound with the small board and when I installed the large board I felt the charm was gone. I have a C2A and a Mainline so the crack is not used so much , so I think I'll remove the large board at some point in the future. YMMV.

[Tuco]

When you install the small board of the speedball listen to that for a couple of weeks before installing the large board. I found I liked the sound with the small board and when I installed the large board I felt the charm was gone. I have a C2A and a Mainline so the crack is not used so much , so I think I'll remove the large board at some point in the future. YMMV.

Thank you for the suggestion!  I am going to try that.

Plugged the Crack into my Moreplay which has a much better source.  The Crack with HD600s sounds super smooth, the bass is surprisingly good, and the highs are sweet - maybe a little rolled off.  But that midrange, the midrange is superb.  Old, crappy recordings sound the best I’ve ever heard them -  Lightnin' Hopkins and old Jerry Jeff Walker never has sounded so good.

I have excellent loud speakers and a good neutral Class D power amp.  And with the Crack and HD600s, I don’t hear the resolution, attack, and instrument decay that I hear with my loudspeaker speakers. Does Speedball really help with all that?  One more question… with the Crack and HD600s, I don’t hear the 3D, holographic sound stage that I do with my speakers - it sounds like the music is being played in my head.  Do you not get sound stage with headphones?

[Karl5150]

The finished product is quite nice.
I built a crack and felt it was the 'tubby-ist' of the BH products that I have heard. Part of the charm, but undoubtedly different from that presented by solid-state gear.
I have the same observation about the way the music is experienced through headphones, and tend to prefer nearfield speaker systems for personal listening. There is an old thread for a reasonably simple circuit that mixes the channels and helps give the illusion of the music floating in front of the listener.
Karl

[Tuco]

The finished product is quite nice.
I built a crack and felt it was the 'tubby-ist' of the BH products that I have heard. Part of the charm, but undoubtedly different from that presented by solid-state gear.
I have the same observation about the way the music is experienced through headphones, and tend to prefer nearfield speaker systems for personal listening. There is an old thread for a reasonably simple circuit that mixes the channels and helps give the illusion of the music floating in front of the listener.
Karl

Thanks. 

Regarding the preference for near field listening, I’ve found myself in that camp too and have decided to build open baffle speakers and servo subs designed by GR Research.  They will probably be my end game speakers.

What fraction of your listening time do you listen with headphones?

[Karl5150]

Jay,
I'd say less than 5%, probably the reason I didn't have any real grief parting with the Crack.  My office system is on 8-9 hours daily, M-F and I generally have to move around the shop too much for headphones. The SEX amps, especially the one at home, allow me to scratch that infrequent itch.
Good luck with the OB build.
Karl

[Tuco]

I am not complaining… but, I find it odd somehow that the last few sets of tubes given to me or purchased by me have been handed over in a cigar box.  This happened to you?