Replace RCA jacks for Crack?

[Aeolus Kratos]

Hi everyone,

I've been a fan of Bottlehead Crack for several years now, and last night I decided to upgrade/replace the RCA jacks of my Crack.

I bought a pair of Furutech FP-903. But when I removed the old stock RCA jacks, I found out the "holes" which were already "perforated" on the faceplate of the Crack were too small for the FP-903 to fit in. Fortunately enough, I brought the FP-903 jacks back to the shop and got refunded.

I really would like to know how large the diameter of a RCA hole on the Crack's faceplate is and what are the appropriate decent RCA jacks for the Crack (without having to enlarge the RCA holes)?

My budget for a pair of RCA jacks would be around $70.

Thanks in advance,
Kratos.

[ALL212]

You just need a step drill set and go get what you took back for RCA's.  The plate is aluminum and fairly easy to drill.  The stepping bits allow you to move up one size and try the hole.  If it's not big enough you just move up to the next "step" on the bit.  Go slow - you move up one small step and test.

I had to do this on my Stereomour with the Cardas RCA's I used.  Got mine from amazon and for less than $15.

http://www.amazon.com/ABN-3-Piece-Titanium-Drill-Steel/dp/B00GCF9DZ0/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1435117141&sr=1-4

I've also used the Vampire CM1FCB's - exact fit.

[grausch]

I got the Neutrik / REAN ones that Bottlehead is now including in their kits and even with those I needed to slightly enlarge the holes. For the price, the stepped drill-bits ALL212 linked to seem very decent. Not sure if you need a drill press for optimum results as I never used these. Hopefully someone can chime in on this.

To enlarge my holes, I got three metal files - one for the RCA Jacks, one for the attentuator pilot hole and one for the tube sockets. Total cost is about the same as for the drill bits so you can decide which ones works better for you. One piece of advice if you do go the filing route - file from the top of the plate to the bottom. It will make for a cleaner build as there always seems to be some "aluminium residue" from the filing that sticks to the plate. Easy to remove from the bottom (if you filed from the top), but could scratch the top plate if you're not careful.

[Nathan]

I had replaced the stock RCA jacks with Cardas jacks that requires no enlargement of the top plate holes.

FWIW, as the top plate is aluminum, it's easy to work with. I enlarged my headphone jack hole by just using an appropriately sized drill bit and I drilled a few more holes in order to install standoffs for the installation of a power supply choke.

[borism]

I used Vampire RCA connectors without having to enlarge the holes. There are 2 sizes of RCAs available and the smaller ones (CM 1) fit precisely.

[Paul Birkeland]

Older Cracks without the Neutrik jacks have a pair of 3/8" holes.
Newer Cracks with the Neutrik jacks have a pair of 10mm holes.

Enlarging the 3/8" hole to 10mm could probably be done by hand with a 10mm reamer.

-PB

[Aeolus Kratos]

You just need a step drill set and go get what you took back for RCA's.  The plate is aluminum and fairly easy to drill.  The stepping bits allow you to move up one size and try the hole.  If it's not big enough you just move up to the next "step" on the bit.  Go slow - you move up one small step and test.

I had to do this on my Stereomour with the Cardas RCA's I used.  Got mine from amazon and for less than $15.

I've also used the Vampire CM1FCB's - exact fit.

Thanks ALL212, perhaps I'll take a look at the Vampire CM1FCB!

About enlarging the RCA holes, I really can't do it easily as my Crack already had a big Teflon bypass capacitor at the RCA jack area, so I just plan to replace/upgrade the RCA jacks with a direct replacement. I just can remove the old RCA jacks, put in the new one and solder a bit. I don't want to accidentally harm/damage the capacitors underneath.

Below is the pic of my Crack:
(https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11536072_993214980690317_5511809601708340029_n.jpg?oh=8abbbd5e92d7bcbc161ea88ecaf6bcb7&oe=55EB1C9A)

Thanks guys!