My first was a bottlehead foreplay 2 that had been my preamp at home for a long time, over 10 years. The big win, however, is that once youve finished your build, youll have a fantastic sounding amp for your high impedance headphones. Apr 11, 2015 last night i had an email from bottlehead announcing a sale on the speedball upgrade. Background noise is lessened, while clarity and dynamics improve. Choke seemed to bring a little more blackness to background and took resolution from about 3. It could cover in a warm bath the weird tones and rich colours of bill frisells version of.
Since the power button, volume buttons and the battery state indicator led all cycle through colors to indicate level, it would have been nice to include these visual graphics on the other side, rather than repeating the same. Apr 23, 2012 the stock crack build, with stock tubes and components already have one of the lowest noise, the blackest background ive heard on any amps. I was eating breakfast this morning and listening to the opera carmen on the radio through my bottlehead amp. Amateur, big lips, black woman, blowjob, cum in mouth, cum on clothes, deepthroat, gonzo, mature, short hair. Nov 19, 20 ive built two bottlehead kits and will receive my third in a few days. I have the bottlehead crack otl headphone amp, its amazing, i also have the speedball upgrade, by far the best headphone amp ive heard.
I have enjoyed many hours listening to music with this amazing kit. Unfortunately for those not having the time or knowledge to build it themselves. Crack is our version of classic otl headphone amp designs of several years. Oct 03, 2015 this may have also been my wiring, soldering, etc. When i ordered my bottlehead crack kit, i also ordered the speedball upgrade right away. Bottlehead chassis, wood bases and speaker cabinets, transformers, pc boards and even that nifty little bottlehead badge are all made to order in the usa. I should plug this in at my house and see if it has a hum. Problem for me is, april 15th ill be forking over a lot more than the price of the crack to uncle sam. For sale is a bottlehead crack otl headphone amp with speedball upgrade professionally assembled. I bought the crack and its speedball upgrade after i got my hands on a pair of massdrop x sennheiser hd 6xx headphones. It can also be used as a stereo preamplifier for other amplifiers and active speakers. The next step in the bottlehead range is called the single ended experimenter kit or s. The stock crack build, with stock tubes and components already have one of the lowest noise, the blackest background ive heard on any amps.
I bought my bottlehead crack with speedball preassembled off of ebay. Since the power button, volume buttons and the battery state indicator led all cycle through colors to indicate level, it would have been nice to include these visual graphics on the other side, rather than repeating the same frequency guide information on. The crackatwoa is an upgraded model of bottleheads popular diy crack otl headphone amplifier with a larger power transformer, shuntregulated power supply, multiple inputs, and optional addition of a bottleheads twoquiet stepped attenuator. Bottlehead crack, electronics by ramicio on sunday, august 12, 2012, at 11. I think it started when i installed the speed ball 1. Bottlehead offers an excellent upgrade to the crack called the speedball.
You basically receive a bunch of parts and wires, along with four pieces of wood, a aluminium chassis and a couple of tubes. Ive read posts about modified crack s that contain a lot of parts and install pics, but not much about why they changed the config, and what that actually does for the sound or circuitry of the amplifier itself. Suddenly one of the characters who had been lurking in the background moved to the front and surprised the woman singing which scared the crap out of me. The bottlehead crack is a superb introduction into the world of diy audio. This, in theory, should make the background darker, that is, with lower floor noise. I have a recently built bottlehead crack with speedball. The crackatwoa is an upgraded model of bottlehead s popular diy crack otl headphone amplifier with a larger power transformer, shuntregulated power supply, multiple inputs, and optional addition of a bottlehead s twoquiet stepped attenuator. Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a3. However, i can hear a slight humming noise coming out of the.
Resources bottlehead web site and crack product page. First offered in 1995, theyve built up a solid following and are wellknown both as an excellent introduction to diyaudio with the venerable crack headphone amplifier being perhaps the most common selfassembled tube amplifier ever and often recommenced as a perfect first kit. For those of you who arent familiar with record players, a phono preamp is necessary to bring the output of a moving magnet or moving coil cartridge up. The speedball tightens up the bass, the crack feels faster, more details and clarity and the background noise drops even lower with the speedball installed. Amplifier hum a problem solved audiogon discussion forum. Review and measurements of topping dx7s dac and headphone. Upgrading the bottlehead crack headphone amplifier. I can still hear a tiny amount of background noise, but only when i turn up the volume to 90100%. The valhalla is way more neutral than the crack, it has that tubey sound but its not as warm, sluggish and yeah, tubey, as the crack. X with extended foreplay, the stereomour 2a345 stereo amp, the paramount 300b2a3 monoblocs, the quickie batterypowered preamp and the eros and seduction phono preamp kits.
Apr 06, 2019 from my experience, this is unquestionably a worthwhile upgrade. There is absolutely zero background noisehumhiss when i connect to my phone, even when i max out the volume when not playing music. Bottlehead crack headphone amplifier tube mazetube maze. However, when i connect my crack to my laptop, there is a very audible noise hisshum once the potentiometer is about 25% of the way, and gets progressively louder. This is a quick build log of bottlehead crack otl tube amplifier with some pictures and little stories.
Ive read posts about modified cracks that contain a lot of parts and install pics, but not much about why they changed the config, and what that actually does for the sound or circuitry of the amplifier itself. Im mainly getting the rubbing sound feedback every now and then and i havent been able to fix it. Upgrade circuit can ensure lower background noise, more powerful bass and more brilliant treble. However, when i connect my crack to my laptop, there is a very audible noisehisshum once the potentiometer is about 25% of the way, and gets progressively louder. Last night i had an email from bottlehead announcing a sale on the speedball upgrade. Jriver or tidal regen musette torpedo iii, crackatwoa hd 800 modded, hd 650 modded, ma 900 modded. The background noise was dead silent my ears are 62years old so you can take that for what its worth and i found myself listening to cd after cd as if hearing them for the first time.
From my experience, this is unquestionably a worthwhile upgrade. Clarityresolution is a notch above, with blacker background. We ordered a couple of cracks right before the price increase was announced more on that later. While the initial frustration regarding the ordering almost made us gave up, by the moment i received the package i really couldnt wait to start the build and to finally hear what the crack is all about. After thoroughly enjoying the crack for over a year, i decided it was time to enjoy the next step up in the bottlehead range for both a challenge and a new step towards audio nirvana. Anyone own a bottlehead crack modified besides speedball. The sample rate frequency guide is printed on both sides of the slipin box.
There is absolutely zero background noise humhiss when i connect to my phone, even when i max out the volume when not playing music. The diodes helped clear up noise, its not a huge difference but considering the. The parts quality is very good, the documentation is truly excellent, the bottlehead forums provide fantastic peertopeer assistance, and construction is very easy. Sep 18, 2012 the bottlehead crack is a superb introduction into the world of diy audio. To get the background for this discussion we have to go way back to the year 2008.
After a rather enjoyable bottlehead crack build, i decided to press forward with another of bottleheads relatively inexpensive kits, the bottlehead seduction. I also have the bottlehead badge, which has not yet been applied to the amp, as i. The bottlehead crack is a diy kit sold by bottlehead in america. Im going though phases of getting different types of tube amp pp, set, hybrid, otl and comparing them to one anoher. One of those things i have read about often is that the stock pot often does not track well at the lower settings of the volume control. Nov, 2019 the sample rate frequency guide is printed on both sides of the slipin box. Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a345.
Im having a bit of difficulty troubleshooting my crack build and im looking for advice on how to fix my issue. All files are available in both wav and mp3 formats. I waited until black friday to grab it from their website for 15% off. After doing another round of voltage checks on the bottlehead crack and speedball upgrade, the new and improved crack was fired up. The crack is an output transformerless otl design which will only work effectively with high impedance headphones. It reminded me how good the dac1k 701 combo sounded when i. Soldered throughout with cardas quad eutectic making a nice, virtually spatterfree job. Its very interesting to me, building audio equipment.
Paul joppa, of bottlehead, said, the output audio current flows through the power supply, mostly the last capacitor, as well as through the output coupling cap and the output triode. But the static and chuckle really annoying, what it may be. Bottlehead official thread headphonedacdapamp brands. Beyerdynamics flagship t1 a landmark headphone if ever there was one. I think it depends on what you want, the more tubey amp is the crack and if you like it then go for it. My friend drew who bought the crack together with me and l also bought the speedball, so id wait until his build is finished then ill do a comparison between the nonspeedball to the speedball equipped.
This, more specifically, is the camille cascode constant current source upgrade. Ordered a bottlehead crack headphone amp last night. This is an issue when there are strong interference sources near the amp. Teardown, top plate design, and capacitor brackets. Other diy kits in the bottlehead stable include the singleended experimenters headphone and speaker amp, the s. Talking good sound, but low microphonics, background noise, that sort of thing. I can still hear a tiny amount of background noise only when i turn up the volume to 90100%. Doc and queen have been in the business of selling tubebased kits for quite some time and have earned an excellent reputation for providing easily accessible and excellent sounding kits.
The overall performance is cleaner and more present. First offered in 1995, theyve built up a solid following and are wellknown both as an excellent introduction to diyaudio with the venerable crack headphone amplifier being perhaps the most common selfassembled tube amplifier ever and often recommenced as a. No mods, and original tubes, which i believe is an rca cleartop 12au7 one of the preferred preamp tubes and a jan phillips i think. But i dont necessarily mean that in the way you think i mean it allow me to explain. This is a 10step color chart ranging from 44 to 768 and dsd. I havent decided if i am going to get another top plate laser cut or just modify this one.
Mar 09, 2010 the speedball tightens up the bass, the crack feels faster, more details and clarity and the background noise drops even lower with the speedball installed. I had it professionally assembled so it is well put together. Otl addiction i think im far more excited about the crack than lieven is. So the final power supply cap should, in theory, be as important as the output coupling cap with regard to the sound of the amp.
Went from about a 2 or 3 depending on the day to a 510 in noise with pot under 9930. A bottlehead forum threads on suitable tubes for rolling and output cap upgrades. Bottlehead forums are a spectacular resource, go to the crack subforum for questions and assistance building this amp. The marvelously addictive bottlehead crack page 2 innerfidelity. The bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier bottlehead has been known to me many years before i purchased my first kit from them. Ive also built the decware se84diy and zsp1, as kits go the bottlehead kits are not overly expensive, they are complete, well designed and come with exceptional directions. When i used this at my old house it had no issues but the transformer would hum when i brought it into work. I was bored and felt like soldering the leds and ground wire to the center post i made. Ordered a bottlehead crack headphone amp last night, steve. The marvelously addictive bottlehead crack innerfidelity. White noise 2 u31 all nodvd revolt white noise 2 complete u46 all nodvd revolt.
The most immediate thing you will notice is a better sense of clarity. Discussion in sound city started by ryanr1987, aug 26, 2015. The bottlehead crack is an outstanding first project for the novice audio diyer. Bottlehead are veteran makers of a wide variety of extremely well regarded tubebased audio kits. Hi guys, i recently bought a bottlehead crack and i paired it with modi dac. The bottlehead could capture the ethereal gossamer touch of jeanefflam bavouzets piano on debussys reverie but also his highoctane rendition of the suite bergamesque.
White noise 2 all nodvd revolt more white noise 2 fixes. Bottlehead crack, electronics by ramicio on wednesday, august 08, 2012, at 11. I have a bottlehead crack with the speedball ccs mod and it works. Alps blue velvet 100k pot fixed channel imbalance except at extremely low levels, minimal to no change in sound. Bottlehead crackatwoa otl tube headphone amplifier build. Things get tighter and quicker, bass and midrange get cleaner and more dynamic. After a rather enjoyable bottlehead crack build, i decided to press forward with another of bottlehead s relatively inexpensive kits, the bottlehead seduction. The tubes still have great life in them but you may want to go with fresh ones after your purchase. Bottlehead crack with speedball no mods for sale canuck. The foreplay finally gave up the ghost this year so i ordered a beepre preamp to replace it. You have to combine the parts and solder them to get a working amplifier made and you also have to sand and paintapply varnish to the wood. The bottlehead crack is a tube amplifier in kit form.
Feedback through headphones, looking for advice resolved. However, i can hear a slight humming noise coming out of the headphones tried with my hd700 and ue900. Crack sounds free sound effects crack sound clips sound. I cant say i noticed a huge audible difference after adding a choke, but it was already pretty darn quiet after adding the speedball and i dont have a scope to measure it. However, due to the design of this module, the speedball also works as a highfrequency antenna. Dec 06, 2012 the bottlehead crack is a diy kit sold by bottlehead in america. Some say the speedball also affects the low end and soundstage. It typically takes four weeks to get the parts made for your kit. The bottlehead crack headphone amplifier is a diy classic.
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