Bottlehead crack with speedball

Bottlehead considers this a level 2 kit, meaning it is intended for someone who has some experience and already completed a kit like the crack. It was then finished by hand with special oil with increasing grits of sandpaper between coats to get an ultra smooth finish. Crackatwoa is a premium version of the direct coupled crack circuit with the c4s active loads of the speedball incorporated, and also shunt voltage regulation in the form of two 6aq5 tubes along with a bigger power transformer. Getting this kind of sound for such a low price is simply amazing and an absolute bargain. You basically receive a bunch of parts and wires, along with four pieces of wood, a aluminium. For those who crave even more than crack speedball. When i ordered my bottlehead crack kit, i also ordered the speedball upgrade right away. Our kits pair great with akg, beyer dynamic, sennheiser and more. Speedball is our camille cascode constant current source upgrade for the crack headphone amplifier.

The highest quality audiophile tube amplifier kits for headphones since 1995. The circuit is so simple you can build it in an evening or two. Just want to give a shoutout to bottlehead s customer service. Bottlehead speedball camille cascode constant current source c4s tube rolling. The bottlehead crack is a tube amplifier in kit form. Unless you plan to assemble several diy kits, i cannot understand why anyone would sell their bottlehead creation. A great amount of detail was put into this bottlehead crack headphone amplifier. There are three pairs of rca input jacks and a volume and balance control. A quick tour of the web shows that the crack s basic metal plate design lends itself well to wannabe woodworkers. The bottlehead crack is a diy kit sold by bottlehead in america. I am sure the dac pairing question has been answered numerous times but i currently have two dacs that i could use and i am wondering if anyone has experience with either combo with the crack. So ive been looking forward to stepping my game up, and after a month of research, i found that the 650s are exactly what i want.

I love the vali but in comparison, the crack is way above anything the vali can put out. The input is is upgraded as well with 3 inputs and an added balance control, something needed with potentiometers because of channel imbalance. The place to start your upgrade journey is with bottleheads own speedball kit. The 6sl7 is absolutely not at all acceptable for use in the crack. As it happens, builders rarely part with their amps. A simple circuit also means a low parts count, which keeps the price low, too. The big win, however, is that once youve finished your build, youll have a fantastic sounding amp. Its a highly customized one from an uk headfier, which went from hd650 to t1. Volume potentiometers attenuators other modifications not recommended by doc b speedball upgrade. Bottlehead offers an excellent upgrade to the crack called the speedball. The process of stuffing and soldering a circuit board isnt difficult, but it is smaller scale and fussier than the crack assembly.

It typically takes four weeks to get the parts made for your kit. Get the latest info on special deals and new products. A forum for discussing kit assembly by bottlehead s factory authorized technician, paul birkeland. Otl addiction i think im far more excited about the crack than lieven is. Both fed from the pavane, speedball crack from a jensen xlr to rca box. I cant really recall every modification he made internally, although we can mention the carbon top, but its an exceptionnal crack. This is a quick build log of bottlehead crack otl tube amplifier with some pictures and little stories. Theyre good people with a sense of humor about the names for the gear. It is amazing how different it sounds from the other amp i have in house at the moment, the susy dynalo. The other one is a typical upgraded crack, choke, 100uf film for output and last psu, sic diodes. The company was created by the president for life dan doc b schmalle in the mid1990s, and primarily offers diy tube audio kits for both headphones and home stereos.

If i had to pick one, itd be the dynalo, but i dont and wont. The speedball is a camille cascode constant current source that deepens the bass, lowers the noise floor and overall intensifies the already awesome crack performance. I dont have a clue what i am doing in terms of the diy aspect but looking forward to the challenge. The chassis, transformer, and screws were painted with metallic paint. The bottlehead crack diy tube headphone amp kit youtube. Here you will find vacuum tube based amplifier, preamplifier and headphone amplifier kits, speaker kits, finished high end tube audio products, reel to reel tape machine upgrades, parts, and one of the finest support communities on the web. Things get tighter and quicker, bass and midrange get cleaner and more dynamic sounding, and the background. The most immediate thing you will notice is a better sense of clarity.

Bottlehead has a tradition of naming their gear after sex and drugs and rock and roll. The basic circuit is the same but also includes ccs loads and high voltage shunt regulation of the power supply. 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. Originally announced in 2010, the crack is an affordable tubebased headphone amplifier kit offered by the bottlehead corporation located in poulsbo, washington state, usa. With the speedball, it is completely silent at that position. I knew the hd650 truly scaled but i thought it was exaggerated, now im a believer. This, more specifically, is the camille cascode constant current source upgrade. Depending on your patience, you may want to wait until the next big sale. The bottlehead crack is a superb introduction into the world of diy audio.

My new bottlehead crack speedball steve hoffman music. This product has a universal power transformer and can be used worldwide by following. The pc board for the loads on the 6080 tube has very ample heat sinks to assure high reliability. Crack, mainline, seduction, quickie, submissive, eros, reproduction, s. Upgrading the bottlehead crack headphone amplifier. Normal topic hot topic more than 15 replies very hot topic more than 100 replies locked topic sticky topic.

Although if you go there to audition gear youll hear more jazz than rock and roll. I waited until black friday to grab it from their website for 15% off. The bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier diy audio. Bottlehead crack coppermine edition im going to guess that the crack is bottlehead s all time most popular kit. He wants to know i dont have the audiophile vocabulary what the tonal differences are between the regular otl and the speedball. Crack owners display pride of craftsmanship and ownership. The big win, however, is that once youve finished your build, youll have a fantastic sounding amp for your high impedance headphones. The bottlehead crack is an outstanding first project for the novice audio diyer. A great little tube headphone amplifier at a pricepoint nearly anyone can afford that sounds very good for the money, its really hard to go wrong here. 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. Bottlehead speedball camille cascode constant current source c4s.

The parts quality is very good, the documentation is truly excellent, the bottlehead forums provide fantastic peertopeer assistance, and construction is very easy. You can learn more about the speedball upgrade for this kit at this link. Savvy shoppers know that paying full price can almost always be avoided, which is why weve collected discounts, deals and coupon codes for your favorite stores and eretailers all in one place. I can still hear a tiny amount of background noise only when i turn up the volume to 90100%. Bottlehead actually offers a premium version of the crack called the crack atwo. The vr102 tube cant be used in any way with the stock crack transformer so the ecc32 is the closest sound wise. Bottlehead crack with speedball upgrade the speedball upgrades transforms the crack to a whole other and very different beast. Im looking forward to getting to ab it with an original crack speedball. The crack 2 is a fantastic change of pace amp and makes for a super relaxing pairing with the hd650s. Bottlehead crackatwoa otl tube headphone amplifier build. I bought the crack and its speedball upgrade after i got my hands on a pair of massdrop x sennheiser hd 6xx headphones. Selling bottlehead crack with speedball installed, comes with power cord and some extra tubes 3 x 6080, 3 x 12au7emt preferred, if paypal add 3%.