About 6 months in- zero regrets

[Nathan]

I've had my Crack (no speedball) for about 6 months now. Kit went together without any notable issues. Base came out great and along the way I've done the following-

1) Padded down the volume using various film resistors

2) NOS Tung Sol 5998  (plus a spare GE 6as7g)

3) NOS Mullard 12AU7  ( plus a spare RCA clear top)

4) Russian Teflon audio bypass caps

5) Mundorf Sumpreme M-cap bypass for 3rd power supply cap

6) Cardas RCA input jacks (added after post listed below)

All soldered with Cardas solder which I find very easy to work with

Using HD600's with Cardas headphone cable

In a word-  GREAT!

A buddy has a $1000 pair of Grados that he plugs into his Mac preamp. I'll take my set up 10 times out of 10.

If anyone reading this is sitting on the fence about buying a Crack and if you have suitable headphones, stop looking elsewhere, buy the Crack and grin ear to ear. This has to be among the most satisfying audio purchases I've made in the 37 years I've been buying audio gear. (Ok- the best Audio purchase of my life is my Zerostat bought 29 years back.)

[i luvmusic 2]

What is the cap value did you used for PS cap and is there a difference in terms of sound?THANK YOU!

[Nathan]

2.2 uf for the power supply bypass cap.

I am certain the audio bypass caps made a difference. I think that the power supply bypass cap's overall contribution to what I feel is cleaner more extended sound is more subtle.

[i luvmusic 2]

THANK YOU!

[Hornet900]

me too nathan ..I Love my crack and hd600s  Its love 
My amps has the speedball upgrade  mcaps 100uf and cardas rca plugs . I did try a new volume pot called a comos which is meant to be really good but  prefer the bottlehead one me ...The comos had softer sound sort of trying to be more detailed and spacious but it took away that interment fun sound I love with the crack .... sorry I can't  explain hifi sound 

When I first installed the speedball I weren't too sure I liked the sound at 1st but when I installed the 5998 I loved it    I have 3  now  Funny though I didn't really like the 5998  without the speedball installed   Have you tried the speedball yet nathan?  I did really love the stock crack as well

I tried the volume pot 3 times even yesterday I installed it as I was going to buy a new pot so  comos again and hated it ... swapping them around and every time I liked the bottlehead one more .... Its some kind of magic happening with the bottlehead volume control for me....It makes me laugh when looking at them side by side .... So I'm not  changing now .....not even those expensive ones    I am thinking of trying new caps tho  

I also brought the hd800 but prefer my hd600 with the crack       I use this crack and hd600 all day listening to radio stations mp3s and playing music on youtube   sounds great

peace

[Nathan]

I've not purchased the Speedball. I like my Crack I really don't feel like adding any solid state componentry to it.

Did you find adding the Cardas RCAs to yield any benefit?

[Grainger49]

Nathan,

The solid state components replace the plate resistors for the driver and the cathode resistors for the output.  They are considered part of the power supply.

[Hornet900]

i don't no I  fitted them when i first built the amp nathan

[Nathan]

i don't no I  fitted them when i first built the amp nathan

Can you advise which Cardas jacks you used? Thanks-

[Hornet900]

I used these ones http://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/cardas-ctfa-socket-pair-p-9629.html 
 they go  straight in no  cutting the top plate 

[Grainger49]

Those look a lot like the RCA jacks that Bottlehead uses.  I'm sure they are not, but look much the same.

[Hornet900]

yeah they look the same just a bit different and heavier... I think I cooked the bottlehead ones when soldereing first  building the amp ...they came lose I think
 so I stopped and ordered these... I think it was you grainger who recommend them to me     someone did  Thanks 
Talking about rca     I'm thinking about changing my interconnect cables for the  bottlehead DIY ones 
I only use my crack amp with a computer soundcard though (creative zxr)     Do you think its worth a try? or its better for the with the high end stuff.
At the moment I use pair 15 year old!" cables called cabletalk  and also have some silver ones which I bought from a guy on ebay a diy maker....I think I payed £60 for the cabletalk  andI prefer the cabletalk ones most

I never see many bottlehead crack  guys talk about interconnect cables 



 

[Grainger49]

Austin, thanks for the credit but it goes somewhere else.  I'm not even a lurker at hificollective.  I am a fan of Cardas.

[Nathan]

I use a home made cable to my Crack- it uses Klotz La Grange cable, terminated in WBT locking RCA's, covered in Techflex. The Klotz LaGarange is the same cable as Rega used for their original Couple interconnect.  I've also used the same cable with Neutrick Profi RCA's and then it's a real Rega clone

[John EH]

I like these posts of successful building and enjoyment.  I've been building Bottlehead kits since Foreplay 2 and find the experience fantastic. Seems the forum is full of technical build questions, smoke, and fire but devoid of the many, many people who build them and they just work perfectly right out of the chute.

Congrats on a great build!

I'm looking forward to building my 3rd Crack here real soon.  A friend of mine (who actually turned me on to Bottlehead gear many years back) bought a Crack a long time ago and never built it. I agreed to build it for him and he just tossed it in the mail for me.  Even though it's not mine I can't wait to get my hands on it.  Love building this stuff!