Kent Crack

[palmfish]

OK! How about Monday afternoon? Say 2:00?

[caffeinator]

This may sound like a dumb idea, but have you tried other power outlets at your place, or maybe taken it to a friend's house to see if the problem is still present?  I had a hum problem I couldn't figure at my old place, which mysteriously disappeared when I found a better outlet elsewhere in the house...of course, this was an old, old house, that should have been rededicated as "The Museum of Residential Electrical History" with exhibits ranging from knob & tube to silver romex to catgut and whale blubber, but that's another story...anyway..just a thought.

[palmfish]

Hmmm, that's an idea I hadn't considered. Thanks! I haven't taken it to another home, but I have tried it all over my house. I'll bring it to work with me on Monday (before I head to BHQ) and try it there.

[Paul Birkeland]

OK! How about Monday afternoon? Say 2:00?

Sure, I'll see you then!

-PB

(Unless the outlet or location is the issue)

[palmfish]

Thanks Paul, I've got it on my schedule!

I actually might have made some progress tonight. I was listening to music tonight and when I turned off my source, I noticed the hum was gone. I unplugged my headphones and plugged them back in - and no hum.

So I repeated it like a dozen times and while the hum came back for most, I got no hum a couple more times. Finally, it hummed every time and I gave up.

I brought my Crack to my workbench and resoldered all the TRS connections, but it didn't help. I once again get "hum" every time I plug in headphones.

I don't think it was a fluke though - maybe the jack itself is bad or maybe I need to resolder the wire further upstream from the jack. I'm done tonight but I'll tinker some more tomorrow.

[Paul Birkeland]

I actually might have made some progress tonight. I was listening to music tonight and when I turned off my source, I noticed the hum was gone. I unplugged my headphones and plugged them back in - and no hum.

Do you get hum through your headphones with nothing plugged into the Crack?

[palmfish]

Yes. It makes no difference if something is plugged into the Crack or not. Volume has no effect either. It's the same for all of my headphones - high impedance and low.

[Paul Birkeland]

With your source plugged in, but not powered on, is the hum always absent?

[palmfish]

No. Except for those three times that I didn't get hum, the hum is always there regardless of status of source (plugged in or not, turned on or off).

I've checked a few more times tonight and the hum is constant again.

[palmfish]

In spite of the hum, I had a productive weekend. I stained the base and took some pictures with the new tubes...

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.head-fi.org%2F1%2F15%2F900x900px-LL-15979d17_photo8.jpeg&hash=508fdbd4ea47e1db6064b419e206eee748661fdd)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.head-fi.org%2F3%2F30%2F900x900px-LL-3089da87_photo7.jpeg&hash=90f95759ce7da5381fc71268e964d15fc9b4f3f3)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.head-fi.org%2F4%2F49%2F900x900px-LL-49978788_photo6.jpeg&hash=e396391d47d353ff4a0d90626a0c0318123f3bc3)

[w0lfd0g]

Very nice finish

[palmfish]

Thanks!

[palmfish]

I had a great visit at Bottlehead HQ today. I got to listen to some great music on some terrific speaker systems, and got my humming Crack all fixed up! Turns out one of the capacitor leads wasnt soldered to the terminal. Now the 60 Hz hum is gone and my Crack is silent (except for music, of course).

Thanks to Doc B, Queen, and Caucasian Backplate for your hospitality and expertise!

[adamct]

So jealous! I would love to listen to their system(s). The west coast is soooooooo far away...

[Doc B.]

It was great having you come by yesterday, Bryan. Likewise, Tom and Jeff. We have both systems pretty well dialed these days and I would encourage anyone who desires to, please stop by for a listen. Best bet is to give us a call far enough ahead to allow me to warm up the system and clean up the clutter of busted gear, i mean, super secret prototypes.

BTW, the brewery is closed Mondays and the winery seems to open for just a few hours in the afternoon, so plan an afternoon visit on a different day than monday if you want to do the distillery/winery/brewery tasting trifecta after listening.