[FunyunBreath]

Ha, ironically enough I got a tube in the mail a few hours ago that might unseat my Amperex as the reigning champion
 
Parts Connexion had a deal on Pearl cryo treated RCA 12au7's and I picked one up.... Holy cow this thing is excellent sounding! Mids galore, clarity, excellent bass and imaging:
 

 

[DDDamian]

Yeah for more mid-centric smooth vocals I enjoy the Tungsram ECC82. But for detail and sparkle those RCA clear-tops are hard to beat at the price. Hope you enjoy! Also, keep an eye out as sometimes bargains come along. Some prices are definitely on the premium side of reasonable, but occasionally a gem passes by.

 

[DDDamian]

  Ha, ironically enough I got a tube in the mail a few hours ago that might unseat my Amperex as the reigning champion
 
Parts Connexion had a deal on Pearl cryo treated RCA 12au7's and I picked one up.... Holy cow this thing is excellent sounding! Mids galore, clarity, excellent bass and imaging:

Spoiler: Pic enclosed

 

 

That's a beaut - nice score.

 

[White Lotus]

Hey Crack owners and enthusiasts - great thread!
 
Quick one for you guys - 
 
I might have an opportunity to buy a pre-built Crack w/speedball for cheap.
 
Should I do it?
 
These are my primary-use cans:
 

1. Audeze LCD 2.2
2. Denon D5000
3. Grado SR80i
    

It looks like none of those are well suited - at least on paper.
 
Any thoughts? 

 

[hdtv00]

Yea either way you can hook me up with one cheap. Define cheap lol

 

[White Lotus]

It's second hand.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

  Hey Crack owners and enthusiasts - great thread!
 
Quick one for you guys - 
 
I might have an opportunity to buy a pre-built Crack w/speedball for cheap.
 
Should I do it?
 
These are my primary-use cans:
 

1. Audeze LCD 2.2
2. Denon D5000
3. Grado SR80i
    

It looks like none of those are well suited - at least on paper.
 
Any thoughts? 

I wouldnt if there are no high impedance cans in your future.  they wouldnt do very well with what you have listed.

 

[hdtv00]

Yea either way like I said. Define cheap, and someone would love to have one cheap. I'm trying to buy one for a wedding present for someone. But there are tons of people I'm sure on here.

 

[rated1975]

Ha, ironically enough I got a tube in the mail a few hours ago that might unseat my Amperex as the reigning champion

Parts Connexion had a deal on Pearl cryo treated RCA 12au7's and I picked one up.... Holy cow this thing is excellent sounding! Mids galore, clarity, excellent bass and imaging:

Great orange peel finish on the metal plate. How did you achieve this?

 

[daltonljj]

Great orange peel finish on the metal plate. How did you achieve this?

I may be wrong to how he got it. But you can try looking for paints that state hammered finish which looks jus like that. My crack was hammered gold finish.Currently rebuild my crack and decided to go with raw aluminium mirror finish  

 

[FunyunBreath]

Great orange peel finish on the metal plate. How did you achieve this?

 
Yup! Hammered finish spraypaint.
 
I used 2 coats of primer on the aluminum plate and bell first, then literally about 12-15 coats of black hammered spray paint. Give it 3 minutes in between coats and you get a nice textured finish without any nasty blotches.

 

[rated1975]

Yup! Hammered finish spraypaint.

I used 2 coats of primer on the aluminum plate and bell first, then literally about 12-15 coats of black hammered spray paint. Give it 3 minutes in between coats and you get a nice textured finish without any nasty blotches.

So just a few coats then
Great work, looks superb. Nice pic also.

 

[Doc B.]

I've sprayed Hammerite on many of our panels over the years. Prep is everything, get the panel really clean with formula 409 or lacquer thinner before spraying. Hammer finish paint is a product that doesn't really require a primer, and I usually spray just a couple of mist coats and then one medium heavy coat a minute or two apart. A bunch of light coats will end up more textured than hammered. It's also very important to give it time to polymerize. I suggest waiting at least a week before mounting any hardware to avoid tearing the finish.

 

[adydula]

I just added the 4 extra resistors in the Crack FAQ on the BH site to allow for more rotation of the volume pot....2- 75K's and 2 - 33K's....works wonderfully!
 
This is a really nice amp.....and I finally finished the 4th coat of Mission Oak Minwax and its really looking nice.....
 
Alex

 

[DDDamian]

  Hey Crack owners and enthusiasts - great thread!
 
Quick one for you guys - 
 
I might have an opportunity to buy a pre-built Crack w/speedball for cheap.
 
Should I do it?
 
These are my primary-use cans:
 

1. Audeze LCD 2.2
2. Denon D5000
3. Grado SR80i
    

It looks like none of those are well suited - at least on paper.
 
Any thoughts? 

Yes. S.E.X.