[bloodhawk]

I am working on setting up a set of those meters now for a friend, if you have specific questions I should be able to help. He is coming out of an extra preamp out so i will have RCA connectors wired to the board. Tomorrow I do the fine tuning.

Pictures of how you wire it up would be highly appreciated , if possible!

 

[Paladin79]

The wiring is on the amazon link I posted above. In this case i just went left to right, green, black, red, yellow and repeated. I hooked a 12 volt ac to dc converter to the orange plug, and the light is working. The bottom green three pin plug is marked L in ( left channel in), center is shared ground, R in is Right channel in. I will have RCA cables hooked to it in a few minutes and into a preamp; out fairly soon.

 

[bloodhawk]

The wiring is on the amazon link I posted above. In this case i just went left to right, green, black, red, yellow and repeated. I hooked a 12 volt ac to dc converter to the orange plug, and the light is working. The bottom green three pin plug is marked L in ( left channel in), center is shared ground, R in is Right channel in. I will have RCA cables hooked to it in a few minutes and into a preamp; out fairly soon.

Basically meant inside the amp

But thank you nonetheless!

 

[Paladin79]

I mentioned that up above but I can explain it again. The board has a left, right and ground input. You can wire directly to your headphone jack, that is where you plug in your quarter inch male connector. It has been a while since I built one but I believe it uses red for right, black for ground, and white wire for left channel. This took me all of 15 minutes to wire and incredibly it is matched up to my preamp out stage I just plugged it into. It will be ready to go for my friend tomorrow with RCA connectors on it to plug into the back of his Jotunheim. The first photo was earlier today, I work with this type of thing so if my explanation was not very good I will try to explain it better.

If I wired this to a quarter inch trs connector, instead of the two rca connectors, I could plug straight into my crack amp right now and run two sets of meters off of the same amp lol. No sound, just meters.

 

[Kitchener]

Thanks a lot for the info Paladin79!

I've been a little busy over the weekend so I haven't had time to reply.

The VU meters are a measure of volume units, power. They will show when the channels are balanced and I run separate volume controls so I can tweak the balance a bit anyway. They come as a set with a control board for as low as $20 on EBAY or $30-$40 on Amazon. You can get them with yellow or white bulbs as I recall. The circuit board has a left and right channel input and shared ground, I ran mine off of the last stage, the headphone jack. You can also use that as a preamp out of course. They have some adjustment but the power was a bit high for the meter deflection so I put a current limiting resistor in line with the signal to each meter until I got it measuring into the red portion of the meter at a level a bit higher than I would normally listen. They are fairly important in my case because I run most all of my amps off of the preamp out of other amps, or dacs and there is generally a master volume control involved. I can see the level before I ever plug my headphones into this crack. If you buy a set I can walk you through setup, I ran a separate 12 v 500ma ac to dc converter to the pc board to light the bulbs. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-VU-Panel-Meter-Warm-Back-Light-Cables-Recording-Durable-Driver-Board-Module/232698469460?_trkparms=aid=555019&algo=PL.BANDIT&ao=1&asc=20150817211623&meid=fda087ad5ed84ec58a9c588fe02145fb&pid=100505&rk=1&rkt=1&&itm=232698469460&_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226

Personally I would run two meters in your case, they will always read the same and I prefer the look of two if you have room. I am also a Gemini so I tend to do things in twos anyway. Each meter has four solder lugs on the back, two for the meter and two for the bulbs. I should have a spare set laying around so I can figure out which is which pretty easily. The yellow meters match up very well with edison bulbs on color. I also used magic Eye tubes in one build but on those you best have a very good understanding of electronics, power supplies, and how much current might do you some damage. Oh I lucked into some 100k single gang ALPS pots that seem stepped like ladder pots, I believe they might use surface mount resistors but I am not positive since they are sealed.

I gave the black amp to my son, the other one has 1/8 inch copper plates on top, front and back. I have turned down some hefty offers for it but it is a keeper.

https://www.amazon.com/Panel-Meter-...UTF8&qid=1523036099&sr=8-1&keywords=vu+meters

At least Amazon gives you a diagram of how to hook them up and this price is a bit better than I have seen before. I can access plugs for the sockets if you decide to get some or you can pull the sockets and hardwire to the control board.

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-EM87-A...qid=1523038218&sr=8-1&keywords=magic+eye+tube

Here is the option I used on another project, the magic eye tube. In this case it has like a bar graph of green that goes up and down with the change of volume level, comes with its own circuit board.
Sounds easy right? Then you realize you have to use a 250v supply to power this baby. I built my own; unless you happen to have one or have a good plan, I would avoid this option. This is more of a cool effect rather than a calibrated meter. I incorporated it on an amp to win a bet.

Those links were very helpful for getting a grasp of what components are required.

So to hook up a meter I'll need a circuit board for the meters and a separate converter to power them?
I'm quickly running out of space in my Crack!
But I think I might be able to mount those boards along the inside walls maybe,

I have some rather large corner brackets and feet incoming that might take up quite a bit of surface area in my Crack, so I'll need to make some measurement before I decide wether it's even possible to fit VU meters.

I've been browsing for meters on eBay, but it's been hard finding one that might fit.
While I really like the look of the meters you've used, I don't want them to protrude very much from the Crack.
-preferably I'd want the meters to almost run flush with the front of the Crack.

I found one that might fit the bill: https://www.ebay.com/itm/291034519630
But it has blue LEDs and I really don't want that

But how to do you hook up the converter?
Could you perhaps take a picture of where you have connected the ac/dc converter to your power supply?
And also a picture of how you connect the VU-circuit board to the output jack?

 

[Paladin79]

The kit i showed you does come with the circuit board of course. The AC to DC converter (you have to purchase this separately) plugs into a wall outlet, I did not wire it into the Crack power supply. I mounted the meters on an 1/8 inch copper plate from the front but i could have done a flush mount as well. I wanted to show the brass screws on the front of the plates but I could have mounted these flush as well. Mounting from the front hid any imperfections in the circular holes I made and while I have ten hole cutters, the closest one in size was a bit bigger than the meter so I hid that gap as well.

Because of the way I built my Crack amps, it is not easy to show a photo of that 1/4 inch jack but I described it in an earlier post. Look in your Crack build instructions and you just need to know left channel, right channel and ground. White wire, red wire and black wire. I used a totally different 1/4 inch jack on mine and photos would probably be more confusing than helpful. Think of it this way, I can get the same connections plugging in a 1/4 inch male plug into my Crack amp, you just need to be on the wire side of the connector.

The meters themselves are right at 34 mm diameter. with 6.55 mm depth before the square frame with the holes. Here you see the ac-dc adapter and it goes to the orange plug. ( red wire to 12 v, black wire to zero)The three pin green plug at the top connects to two RCA male connectors in this case but to mount it in a Crack you would wire to the lugs on the backside of your 1/4 inch connector. All other connections go to the meters.

I do not know about other meters and their circuit boards, I have worked with this style five times and I cannot speak for other products. These are imported and there are not a lot of instructions but luckily Amazon posted some good drawings.

I built my Crack amps with extra space and the plate onto which I mounted the meters and the left and right volume controls is four inches square.One option for you would be to add pre-amp out female RCA jacks to your crack and plug the meters in there and build them into a different box. Like I said, I have a friend coming in who just wants the meters so he can plug them into the pre-amp outputs on his amp. The rca jacks would hook up exactly like the meters, left channel, right channel and ground. I added those to the back of the black Crack I built but then I use four inch plates and a larger cabinet. Before I touched the crack kit I knew what changes I wanted and worked toward those.

I found some photos of the inside of one of my Cracks but I had not wired to the jack yet and soon changed it out for a metal jack. All metal on my steampunk crack is either brass or copper, my cables even matched, as did my headphones and headphone stand.

 

[Paladin79]

I found an original 1/4 inch Jack from the kit, those are the three connections I described, one with white wire (left channel) Red wire, right channel, and black wire for ground. I used shielded twisted pair audio cable, two wires and a ground and matched those up on the jack, and input jack on the circuit board for the meters. You end up with two wires on each lug instead of one. There is a common ground, the black wire is ground. If you were to wire this to two rca jacks for a preamp out, you would run the ground from each connector to the black wire, then white to left and red to right.

The opening for this jack is on the right, if you insert the male plug, it matches up to this order, tip, ring, sleeve. Tip is white wire, ring is red, sleeve is black.

The black carbon fiber crack I showed earlier is just two standard wooden cases glued together, they allowed for most anything I wanted to do. It is just a matter of gluing them, using wood filler, then a whole lot of sanding and multiple coats of black spray lacquer. I used up more time working on that cabinet than any portion of the crack build.

 

[Kitchener]

Thanks a lot for taking the time, Paladin79

So when you hook the meters to the jack, you just connect them directly to where the black/red/white wires are connected on the jack?
-Like one would hook up a bypass capacitor?

The meters need a separate power supply?
I'm fast running out of power outlets at my office (as well as space in my Crack) so I might have to give meters a pass in this Crack.
I was hoping it would just be a matter of hooking them up to the power plug inside the Crack.
Show how much I know about circuitry! (nothing, that is, I understand nothing )
-my only previous experience with DIY electronics comes from building keyboards, like this one.

Proper woodwork is a nothing short of a massive hassle.
I read up a bit on surface finishes before I got the Crack.
And just reading about the elbow grease involved in applying Danish oil made me want to lie down.
In the end I just opted for a plain, clear poly coating.

What you've done with your builds is incredible, just beautiful

 

[Paladin79]

I appreciate your kind words.

You can connect them directly to the solder lugs. They do have to be soldered. I could internally wire an ac outlet into the crack but for me it is just as easy to use an outlet strip such as this.

https://www.amazon.com/Certified-EZ...1&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ac+outlet+strip&psc=1

I also like to keep a less expensive transformer like that outside of the Crack circuitry. I used Danish oil on this crack but it is quartered oak, and deserving of a good finish. The electronics goes pretty quickly for me so I am more apt to spend time on other aspects of the build.

A fascinating keyboard! Maybe there is a language barrier here but if you can wire that, a quarter inch jack should not be much of an issue lol.

 

[Tom-s]

I fired my Crack up again after a year of sitting around, collecting dust, just on my desk.
Yesterday i started out with a afternoon of tube rolling European ECC82's.

Decided that i like my Philips Valvo factory tubes the best.

Got onto tube rolling 6SN7's. I prefer the Brimar 6SN7GT (1963) over de 6H8S Melz metal plate and round plate black glass VT-231's.

Going back in time the 6F8G is the predecessor to de 6SN7's. Those Tung-Sol round plates (1938) are great tubes.

But now i tried new ones, ECC32 labeled Adzam (pre 1955). It's a British made tube with the insides comparable to the Brimar.

The sound is very lush, open, lots of detail retrieval, suberb mids, easy highs , laid back, (i'm not good at this).

Bass is weak, detailed, but weak (even with Tung Sol 5998, Bendix Graphite plates).

When used in Crack. Use it only in a speedballed Crack with the extra resistor options in place.

When using standard R1 the ECC32 tubes display 115V+-, with R1 on E80CC mode it's a better fitting 80V+-.

So that makes tube rolling a little difficult since switching would be required.

For now i compared it to E80CC pinched waist Philips tubes and it is more open/airy, more details, less bass.

 

[S.S.R.I]

Hi,

I purchased a crack 1.1 otl kit via someone who lives in U.S.A.The kit has arrived to me but there is no manual CD inside the box.I have no order number and at the moment i can't reach the person who made the purchase.So i am not sure does bottlehead help for manual.If anyone can help for manual i will be very happy.

Thanks.

 

[Paladin79]

It is downloadable from Bottlehead. i would think if you emailed them and explained your situation they might hook you up with the link. I have built an earlier version that came with a CD but you certainly need the latest download.

 

[S.S.R.I]

It is downloadable from Bottlehead. i would think if you emailed them and explained your situation they might hook you up with the link. I have built an earlier version that came with a CD but you certainly need the latest download.

Thanks for reply.Yes you're right, i need the latest version.I wrote here firstly because i need the manual immediately .If i can't find someone has the latest version from here i will try to contact with bottlehead.

 

[Kitchener]

I got a 6SN7 adapter from Garage1217 a couple of weeks ago.
But I'm having some difficulties putting it to good use.

I think it acts pretty much like an antennae for all electrical interference in my office.
Whenever I try using it there is a high pitched whine, regardless of volume.
The whine goes away as soon as I cup my hands around the adapter like a shield.

So I'm thinking maybe I can try shielding the adapter in some way.
My first thought was getting some sort of tube, metal or plastic, with the right diameter and just put it around the adapter.
But I'm fed up with **** money away, so I want to MacGyver something instead.

I've got loads of Sugru lying around.
Could I mold a housing of Sugru around the adapter?
It's non-conductive, so it could act as insulation.
Should I try putting some wiring inside the Sugru to better shield against interference?

Edit:
Nah, nevermind it's just the tube picking up more interference than the 12AU7.

 

[Kitchener]

This is pretty much a straight copy of my post over at Bottlhead, but I figured maybe someone over here might appreciate it as well. Whore for attention, that I am.

Let me present my, pretty much finished (for now), Crack:

IRONCLAD
​

-or Brass Shithouse, alternatively.


Mods:
Speedball
Output Caps: Mundorft MKP, 100uF 250V
Choke: Hammond 157M
Pot: TKD 2CP-601
Power Bypass Cap: JB JFX, 2.2uF 250V

​

Cosmetics:
Polycoat for base
Clearcoat for transformer bell
Knob: Elma Marconi Classic British Wing Knob from HifiCollective
Brass corners: Heart of Brass Etsy store

​

Pictured tubes:
Mullard 6080
Mullard 12AU7
-just because they fit the IRONCLAD (capital letters required) theme

​

Before I move on to some more detailed descriptions of the mods, let me just make it absolutely clear that I am an awful audiophile.
I have almost no frame of reference, my experience with amps is limited to once owning an APPJ "something" and still owning a couple of broken down old Tandberg receivers (next project: restoring them!).
To be completely honest, I just did all this for the fun of building.
And to be even more honest, I thought the Crack sounded wonderful without mods, and after mods it ...errr still sounds wonderful. But I can't for the life of me tell what's different.
But I did find the bass more punchy and clear after the Speedball, so that's nice.

Speedball:
Not much to say, order the kit and stuff it in.
Audible difference: Nicer bass.

Choke:
I debated wether to suspend the choke from the top plate or mount it in the base.
In the end I decided to screw it to the inside wall of the base, where I think it fit rather nicely.
I might stuff in another choke just to adhere to the IRONCLAD theme...nah.
Audible difference: Not that I could hear. My Crack was dead quiet before and is still dead quiet.

Power bypass:
The small film cap was cheap so I figured "why not".
Bypassed the last cap in the PSU.
Audible difference: Nah.

Pot:
There was a slight, expected, imbalance at lower levels with the stock pot.
So I figured, "why not".
Went for a TKP pot just because lot's of people go for the Alps.
The stock pot was just as smooth as the TKP, I find the TKP takes a little more force to rotate.
The TKP fits in the plate hole, so no need for filing.
But the “locking tap” makes the pot’s terminals face away from the nine pin socket and it’s considerably smaller than the stock pot, so you might have to choose between running longer wires to and from the pot or figure out how to mount the TKP facing another way.
I ended up putting an extra nut on the pot, so the locking tap didn’t reach the plate. But the pot is still a little small, so my wiring to and from the pot is a mess, gonna fix it up some day.
Audible difference: better channel balance at lower volume levels.

Output caps:
These are probably my favourite.
Not because of the sound, just because I like the look of them.
But soldering the fat leads with a 15W iron was an enormous pain in the ass; took ages to heat up.
They’re suspended below the top plate by metal mounting clamps. I quite like the clamps as they’ll let me swap caps quite easily if needed and they look sturdy.
Audible difference: sorry, can’t hear it.

Brass corner pieces:
I wanted some square, metal feet for my Crack.
It was pretty much impossible to find exactly what I pictured so I landed on these metal corner guards that I mounted like legs.
While I quite like the look, the Crack has gone from an intriguing oddity on my desk to a brutal and ostentatious behemoth.
Audible difference: by far the largest sonic improvement of any modification.

​

Conclusion:
As I’ve said, I have a poor frame of reference and a poor audiophile ear.
So when I say that I can’t hear an improvement in the sound of my Crack, it’s just that: I can’t hear it, not saying it’s not there.
Besides, by the time I’ve actually installed a mod, I’ve forgotten what the damn thing sounded like before!
I had a stock Crack about three months before I started modding it.
I’m still not quite done with the Crack. I’m going to put in some new wires to and from the pot, reflow a couple solder joints and I’ve also got two bypasses for the output caps lying around. But after that I’m probably done.
As for the whole IRONCLAD thing, I’m well aware it’s just a pretty ordinarily modded Crack with tacky tat screwed on. But it’s mine. IRONCLAD!

The only mod I can recommend is the Speedball.

The other stuff I just did for the fun of tinkering, and if you like that sort of thing: go for it!
Just don’t expect to have your mind blown.

​