[ProfFalkin]

Antics - that's the first time in my recollection that someone has used that descriptor. Somehow we have been getting away with these antics for 22 years. Looking at it that way, I feel pretty lucky.

It takes a very self-entitled point of view to think those are antics.

On another note Doc... I've been trying to hit different parts of your forum all day, and have been getting hosting 504 errors. Thought you should be aware of that.

 

[Paladin79]

I must have missed the antics and high jinx classes in my business training.

 

[Doc B.]

Yes, sorry about the site. We have been getting slammed with attacks the past few weeks. That combined with a big uptick in traffic since we released our new speaker kit has the site bogging down for a short time here and there. My IT guy is fine tuning every day to try to keep a balance between fending off the bot attacks and letting legit traffic thru. Speaking of which, we have had to beef up our firewall and block some countries from which most of the attacks were originating. If you get a 504 (timeout) or 502 (bad gateway) that's not us blocking, it's just heavy traffic from bot requests. In that case just try again in a few minutes. If you get a notice from our firewall that your country is blocked, PM me and I can help you with accessing the site.

 

[Renato Fury]

Antics - that's the first time in my recollection that someone has used that descriptor. Somehow we have been getting away with these antics for 22 years. Looking at it that way, I feel pretty lucky.

And that I use google translator, it ends up saying words that I did not write, but I'm happy that your business is prosperous and profitable, and that it continues for another 22 years, but why the hell do not you offer the possibility to sell your already built amplifiers since people like me and many others can not build one ?

 

[Doc B.]

I am sorry that you cannot build a kit. There are a quite a few manufacturers who I am sure would be happy to offer a good sounding assembled product to you. We decided many years ago to specialize in offering kit products to those who wish to enjoy the building process and the knowledge gained by doing so. That's why the hell we do not offer the possibility to purchase already built amplifiers. We do recommend a couple of independent technicians who are very experienced at assembling our kits for those individuals who have no interest in building their own. I would be willing to put you in contact with them.

 

[Renato Fury]

Thank you sir tube head, but since I do not live in the United States I could not hire the services of a builder, who knows someday I'll be able to buy on Ebay.

 

[Paladin79]

PayPal offers the ability to make payments anywhere in the world.

Has anyone got any suggestions for some silver feet to go on the bottom of a Crack amp? I have seen small speaker spikes and I prefer something modern looking as opposed to ornate feet that mount on the outside of the box. For this amp.
I am also including a photo of the inside of this amp, I know it is a mess. The little yellow tubes at the bottom of the frame contain current limiting resistors for the VU meters. I do not like leaving resistors next to wires so they are housed in metal sleeves with a pvc insulator over the outside. The diameter is about double that of the resistors and the ends are open to allow for heat dissipation. The top plate will come out completely since I used Molex connectors for small wire, and spade connectors and such for larger wire gauges.

 

[Renato Fury]

You guys, stop flaunting your Bottle Head Cracks for those who can not build one.

 

[ProfFalkin]

You guys, stop flaunting your Bottle Head Cracks for those who can not build one.

=/

 

[Paladin79]

Heck I am just happy Doc B will sell me a kit when he sees the sloppy wiring I have going on under the last one I built. In all seriousness though, through the years I have assembled Heathkits, Dynaco Dynakits, etc. and Bottlehead offers a fun product with excellent instructions. I take pride in offering some of my own interpretations and in no way is there any intent to make anyone feel bad about their kit builds or lack thereof. It is an excellent sounding amp that is still quite popular and I look forward to future builds.

 

[Renato Fury]

Heck I am just happy Doc B will sell me a kit when he sees the sloppy wiring I have going on under the last one I built. In all seriousness though, through the years I have assembled Heathkits, Dynaco Dynakits, etc. and Bottlehead offers a fun product with excellent instructions. I take pride in offering some of my own interpretations and in no way is there any intent to make anyone feel bad about their kit builds or lack thereof. It is an excellent sounding amp that is still quite popular and I look forward to future builds.

Relax, my friend, I'm kidding.

 

[Paladin79]

Good to hear and I am generally relaxed. If you get serious about wanting to buy one of the Crack amps there are plenty of ways to do it and you have received some good advice here. Heck back in the day I shipped some equipment to countries where certain cigars that Fidel Castro liked could be purchased, Cohiba Esplendidos, worth their weight in gold in some countries lol. If you want something bad enough there are always ways to work through problems.

In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions for silver feet for the black amp I built before I ship it to my son, lay it on me. A lot of things I found were too large for my application.

 

[attmci]

=/

Por que o idiota não pode construir um amplificador ainda aqui?

Estou só brincando. Usei o google tradutor e diz algo que não pretendia dizer.

 

[larcenasb]

Larsenasb I have two dual gang 100 k Alps pots that a vender gave me. I can send you one no charge to swap out your pot. If it helps it is yours. Private message me an address and I will have my people ship you one Monday. I only use Alps single gang in my builds.

Tom

"And relief washes over me in an awesome wave." Oh my goodness! Either I had a flawed Alps 100KAX2 pot or a flat out counterfeit. Thank you so very much Tom (Paladin79) for your generosity and kindness to help me fix this problem. My new Alps pot turns butteryyyy smooth--no more cheap, rough turning. Also, stereo separation is noticeably wider and instruments more distinct. So, there was definitely something wrong with my old pot. But that's all over now, and it's just my music and me. Thanks again, Tom. I just can't say it enough.

 

[Paladin79]

I am so glad it worked out well for you. I was fairly confident that was the issue but I did not feel right telling you to go buy another pot so the solution I offered was more logical in my mind. The lugs on those pots are made for mounting in PC boards so it is possible it got a little too hot during the soldering process.
We once built two guitar cables for a gentleman and shipped them at different times. Same length, same cable, same connectors. He called to say one was louder than the other and it turned out to be true. My builder got one of the cables a little too hot and created a high resistance short that measured about 300k ohms. In a live test both seemed fine but compared to each other there was a difference. Sometimes in order to understand a process you have to enter into it and flow with it. (I am paraphrasing Frank Herbert's first law of Mentat..Dune).