[NoName1]

@JamieMcC I was inspired to build the ziricote base because of the ziricote ZMF Aeolus headphones I bought from @zach915m. I reached out to Zach to get help on the products and process to achieve a matching finish, so basically all of these tips are thanks to him! I'm planning to post a build write up on the base as I have a bunch of pictures of the process and final product. Right now I'm having too much fun tube rolling with my new Bottlehead Crack, so here's the quick rundown:

1. Sand up to 400 grit then apply Mohawk pre-catalyzed sanding sealer
2. Sand up to 1000 grit. For the high grit (500-4000) I used the abralon pads used for bowling balls that Zach recommended
3. Apply 5-7 coats of Mohawk pre-catalyzed semi-gloss clear lacquer, with light sanding at 500-1000 grit between coats - as needed to remove any bumps in the lacquer and definitely before the last coat goes on. The more you sand off the more coats you'll need to apply... Use a tack cloth to clean up dust between each coat, esp after sanding.
4. After the last coat dries, sand up to 4000 grit. I dry-sanded first and eventually wet sanded everything again, which turned out better.
5. Let the lacquer cure for a little over a week and then apply the Mohawk penthouse polish. I underestimated how much of a difference the polish makes! You can see after / before polish in the two pics below.

Let me know if you have any more questions! This was my first time doing this type of a wood finish so had a lot of questions going into it myself...

Here's the other base and Aeolus after applying the penthouse polish to both:

Fully assembled crack, BEFORE polishing the base, with all black furnishing & powder coated top plate & transformer:

@zach915m Should consider making bottlehead bases to go with his headphones. I know I’d love a cocobolo base to match my ZMFs.

 

[cddc]

Looks like he left some room for some mods. Which was clever.

For sure, enough room to hold these large caps and chokes

 

[Wes S]

@zach915m Should consider making bottlehead bases to go with his headphones. I know I’d love a cocobolo base to match my ZMFs.

Sign me up for a Sapele, to match my Aeolus.

 

[BobMonkhouse]

It's my first post here in this thread... I've had my BH Crack for a month and love it!
Here it is in its full glory dressed up in my new just finished piano glossy frame:

It's going to sound better now because of the shiny frame, right?!...

 

[Astral Abyss]

It's my first post here in this thread... I've had my BH Crack for a month and love it!
Here it is in its full glory dressed up in my new just finished piano glossy frame:



It's going to sound better now because of the shiny frame, right?!...

Very nice! And shiny! I love the logo you made for the front.

 

[BobMonkhouse]

Thank you! The logo's stainless steel brush finish, laser cut. The BH is really what my HD6XX deserved.

 

[bagwell359]

It's my first post here in this thread... I've had my BH Crack for a month and love it!
Here it is in its full glory dressed up in my new just finished piano glossy frame:



It's going to sound better now because of the shiny frame, right?!...

Hmmmm, might be a bit bright in the upper mids... The BHC can't play my HFM cans well, but my Senn 600 sounds remarkable on it.

 

[cddc]

It's my first post here in this thread... I've had my BH Crack for a month and love it!
Here it is in its full glory dressed up in my new just finished piano glossy frame:



It's going to sound better now because of the shiny frame, right?!...

Very nice build!

Any difference in sound from the Ember?

 

[BobMonkhouse]

It is different and as much as I like the Ember, the BHC adds not much width but layering and depth to the imaging of my HD6XX making it sound more holographic. Obviously, there's nothing objective in this statement talking about tube amps. It's all my subjective perception.

I like the relatively cheeper RCA 6AS7G output tubes and fine tune the sound by changing my few favorite mini driver tubes. I totally enjoy my music with this setup.

Again, there's nothing wrong with the Ember which I use with a few other headphones, but the BHC/HD6XX combo is very satisfying.

 

[cddc]

BHC and HD6XX is a match made in heaven

Thanks for the impression on Ember, for sure Ember and BHC will sound different, one being hybrid and the other pure tube.

 

[cddc]

I should have let her listened

It's a Sylvania and ???? 6CG7 can't read the name of it,Two listening area is enough for me The wife is taking the amp and the headphone Darn it.I should have let her listened to RAP music not her favourite instrumental.

Just curious: can 6CG7 be used in the 12AU7 socket? Do we need an adapter?

Thanks.

 

[DenverW]

Just curious: can 6CG7 be used in the 12AU7 socket? Do we need an adapter?

Thanks.

Yes, but you would either need an adapter, or, as Paul B states, " Just separate the jumper between pins 4 and 5, then run a wire from pin 9 to whicheven pin (4 or 5) has no wire running to it." I'm lazy, so its adapter for me .

 

[cddc]

Yes, but you would either need an adapter, or, as Paul B states, " Just separate the jumper between pins 4 and 5, then run a wire from pin 9 to whicheven pin (4 or 5) has no wire running to it." I'm lazy, so its adapter for me .

Cool, thanks a lot buddy!

I am pretty bad at soldering, so an adapter would be a much easier solution to me.

 

[Tom-s]

A new chapter in my own tube-rolling adventures -> Going from 3 to 4 tubes on my Crack . This with an 6080 -> dual A2293 adapter.
Did anyone notice the A2293 is only 0,95A -> more driver options .



At this moment in time i've only changed the output tube. I'm not noticing much difference from my GEC 6080.
I'll try to write a comparison soon. Comparing GEC 6080 with the GEC A2293's in detail.
And maybe also compare single vs dual drivers, so a dual GEC tube Crack vs four GEC tube Crack.