[snapple10]

unplanned Grado combo wins in fun factor
1980's Rock on deck

 

[networkn]

I opted for a BiFrost Gen 1 with USB, because I could get it locally, because I could get it today, for a reasonable price and because it reviews well. 

 

[Aeolus Kratos]

   
unplanned Grado combo wins in fun factor
1980's Rock on deck

Have you heard Tungsol 5998s, GEC 6AS7G Brown Base or Bendix 6080WB? If you have, how would you compare these tubes?
 
I've always been curious and wanted to try the WE 421A someday, although I'm having all the power tubes mentioned above.

 

[Loquah]

   
I personally feel that different DAC's have less of an impact with the Crack.  I think that the Crack imparts so much of it's own flavor that the DAC ends up playing a small part.  I've had great experience with Audio-GD and my NFB-12.1 with the Crack.  If it were me, I would go for something like the NFB-15 (of their current stuff) and save the money/get music.  The nice thing about that is that you also get a pretty decent solid state option.  Just my 2 cents.

 
I would have said the same until I upgraded my Audio-gd NFB-5.2 for the Matrix X-Sabre. The difference was significant, even with a stock Speedballed Crack.

 

[Mahdi8]

Yes I agree changing DAC makes a big difference to crack. For me crack with the Svetlana power tube and rca clear top is really transparent and easily shows difference between different DACs

 

[mordicai]

My change from Fiio Dacs to an Emotiva was a significant change in SQ. Speedball ,Dacs ,tubes, resistor changes all impacted the Crack sound.

 

[olegausany]

+1 on X-Sabre which easily could be end game DAC

 

[Deterministic NL]

Nice 421A in the posts just above.   Just got mine yesterday after years of trying to score one. 
 
It's great.  A step up for sure.
 

 

 

 

 

 

[kozmos]

  Finished building my Crack last week, it was a real challenge but I had a lot of fun. Spent way to much time on the finishing work.
 
I hope you like it
 

 
 
man what a masterpiece, i have some hard wax i used for my rims, i think im gonna try it on my crack, i don't know if wax is the right word to use because im a swede but you get my point

 

[kothganesh]

Just got my Crack+Speedball done yesterday. Compared to the picture above, mine looks pedestrian. First thing to do on Monday is to look for some cedar finish paint!
I replaced the stock tubes with the Tungsol 5998 and the RCA 12AU7. The HD 650 has really opened up. It's the 800's turn today

 

[punit]

Just got my Crack+Speedball done yesterday. Compared to the picture above, mine looks pedestrian. First thing to do on Monday is to look for some cedar finish paint!
I replaced the stock tubes with the Tungsol 5998 and the RCA 12AU7. The HD 650 has really opened up. It's the 800's turn today

Ganesh, As your tubes & amp are new give them at least 50 hrs of burn in. Sound will open up even more. You can take the wood base to a carpeneter  & get a nice shade of varnish / polish done dirt cheap. Some of the benefits of living in India.

 
 
As you also have the Zana D, please can you do a comparison between the two after you have gotten familiar with the Crack.

 

[punit]

Also if you feel your wallet is a bit heavy, you will find some nice rolling options in this thread to lighten the load.

 

[kothganesh]

  Also if you feel your wallet is a bit heavy, you will find some nice rolling options in this thread to lighten the load.

You're plain bad man ! 

. I have been listening to the HD 800. The volume dial is just south of 9 and the soundstage and detail, wooh !

 

[kothganesh]

 
Ganesh, As your tubes & amp are new give them at least 50 hrs of burn in. Sound will open up even more. You can take the wood base to a carpeneter  & get a nice shade of varnish / polish done dirt cheap. Some of the benefits of living in India.

 
 
As you also have the Zana D, please can you do a comparison between the two after you have got familiar with the Crack.

Very very initial impressions between the Crack and the ZD on the 800. The ZD goes deeper on the bottom end. But this is not fair. I've had the ZD for months now and the Crack is literally 1 hour old !

 

[punit]

I would be surprised if the ZD doesn't outperform the Crack (like my WA22). But  what surprised me is that how an amp 1/3 the cost of  WA22 (& ZD) can get you upto 85 - 90 % (IMHO) of that performance (for high impd HP's).