[ffivaz]

  I have heard the ODAC is very analytical and not warm at all, sounds like something I won't like, some even say its not adequate for headphones but more for speakers.. 
correct me if I am wrong of course, the ODAC price is very tempting.
Do you have experience with the ODAC and CRACK? the AQ 1.2 is also around the same price isn't it better? 
 
 
So you guys really think the speed ball is a must when talking about electronic music and deep bass? and you also say I need different tubes, in total it can sums up to almost 500$.. I really thought I could just buy the stock crack with stock tubes and enjoy it even bass wise. 
In the future the speed ball is definitely in mind and also tube rolling but for now I want to get the most out of the budget, with the purchasing the best upgradeable dac and amp in my price range.

 
The stock Crack is musical. It's warm but not laid back or "tubey". The HD 650 are also on the warm side of headphones. Don't get me wrong : that is nice, I can listen to them for hours without any fatigue (like I get with, say, grados). So IMHO, I think you can get a clinical or analytical DAC. Now for the SB, I don't think it changed the sound signature of the Crack, only everything the Crack did well was even better : tight bass, excellent mids and precise trebble!

 

[Loquah]

   
The stock Crack is musical. It's warm but not laid back or "tubey". The HD 650 are also on the warm side of headphones. Don't get me wrong : that is nice, I can listen to them for hours without any fatigue (like I get with, say, grados). So IMHO, I think you can get a clinical or analytical DAC. Now for the SB, I don't think it changed the sound signature of the Crack, only everything the Crack did well was even better : tight bass, excellent mids and precise trebble!

 
+1 to all of this

 

[grrraymond]

GEC Brown Base, then.

If I'm running a SB Crack with 5998 & E80CC, plus resistor mod, what would the brown base add, potentially.

I know some on here have owned both but predominantly use the 5998. What's the difference, to your ears/tastes?

 

[JamieMcC]

Have you seen Nick Tams multi 6as7g review?
 
Personally I like the micro detail as it reveals the subtleties of tone & timbre in voices or the pluck and reverb of a string or weight of piano key strike and how the note decays. Its at a different level resolution wise if you like vocals like say Eva Cassidy. But this comes at a premium cost, is it worth the extra with a stock Crack I don't know. But I think the sound is rather special but then my Cracks not stock and I listen using my T1's as my HD650's just cant resolve at the same level.
 
I would also suggest you need to be receptive to the differences if your working surfing or playing games while listening then I doubt the differences will come across well.     
 
http://the-key.enix.org/~krystal/review-tube-bottlehead.html

 

[bigfatpaulie]

 
I would also suggest you need to be receptive to the differences if your working surfing or playing games while listening then I doubt the differences will come across well.     
 

 
I really agree with this.  I think a lot of what is talked about when it comes to small differences like this are really only apparent when taking the time to savor the music; at least for me.

 

[grrraymond]

Thanks for that. I'd never seen Nick Tam's reviews because the OP seems cut short/can't find the link on the current iteration of the BH forum.
 
My Crack has SB upgrade and Mundorf caps coming next week. I do tend to only listen to music when I'm doing nothing else but I'm still not sure whether it sounds like a worthwhile investment. Seems a Quickie might be more significant if I'm going to spend the money.
 
They don't come around too often so the one on eBay UK currently has got me tempted. I'm sure someone will snap it up in any case.

 

[.Sup]

I have heard the ODAC is very analytical and not warm at all, sounds like something I won't like, some even say its not adequate for headphones but more for speakers.. 
correct me if I am wrong of course, the ODAC price is very tempting.
Do you have experience with the ODAC and CRACK? the AQ 1.2 is also around the same price isn't it better? 


So you guys really think the speed ball is a must when talking about electronic music and deep bass? and you also say I need different tubes, in total it can sums up to almost 500$.. I really thought I could just buy the stock crack with stock tubes and enjoy it even bass wise. 
In the future the speed ball is definitely in mind and also tube rolling but for now I want to get the most out of the budget, with the purchasing the best upgradeable dac and amp in my price range.

ODAC is not analytical at all and is a GREAT DAC, especially for the price. Its very airy, it separates everything nicely so its not congested together like vocals and instruments on some other DACs. For electronic music I would get speedball for its speed and response but like others said enjoy stock Crack first.

 

[Rune3400]

I have been searching this thread without finding any mention of the SQ benefits of playing the amp at full volume???

Of course normally this would mean blowing out your ears, but that's why you use a passive preamp to control the volume instead.
It's a trick I picked up with my last tube amp that had channel imbalance at low levels. ATM my Crack SB is set to max volume and my passive preamp to around -40db. 

The sound difference is quite extreme. Highs are much more crisp and beats more punchy. All in all the sound is much, much more dynamic. It's like going from a 50$ DAC to a 500$ DAC IMHO.

Why havn't I seen anyone mention this? Is there something I don't know? Does it hurt your tubes to play at max volume all the time? What's the catch? 

-Rune

 

[MoatsArt]

Soon I will be experimenting with this. Actually, I will be removing the volume pot on the Crack all together, throwing in a couple of 100K resistors and controlling volume via Submissive (Bottlehead's passive pre-amp). Looking forward to seeing what difference this makes.

 

[grizzlybeast]

I know this is random but I wanted to make my bottlehead crack with speedball upgrade a colorful orange and rit dye with alcohol did the trick. I need to apply another coat and then varnish it after im done.
 
knob looks kinda goofy though minimalist.


 
@Zashoomin did a good job on my build as well. Me coloring it was the easy part. and its like an automatic bass boost to the hd650. Everything sounds a little more solid and tighter overall... not just the bass. 

 

[MoatsArt]

Mmm....

A Jaffa Crack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffas

Brilliant colour scheme if you ask me.

 

[JamieMcC]

  I have been searching this thread without finding any mention of the SQ benefits of playing the amp at full volume???

Of course normally this would mean blowing out your ears, but that's why you use a passive preamp to control the volume instead.
It's a trick I picked up with my last tube amp that had channel imbalance at low levels. ATM my Crack SB is set to max volume and my passive preamp to around -40db. 

The sound difference is quite extreme. Highs are much more crisp and beats more punchy. All in all the sound is much, much more dynamic. It's like going from a 50$ DAC to a 500$ DAC IMHO.

Why havn't I seen anyone mention this? Is there something I don't know? Does it hurt your tubes to play at max volume all the time? What's the catch? 

-Rune

Yes I have noticed a similar thing also when using with my turntable, my phono-stage which has adjustable gain if I set it right down low I can listen with the Crack at its max volume.

 

[JamieMcC]

That Cracks been Tangoed, I like it!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhOeG-uTJxw

 

[MoatsArt]

Ooh, Tony. That might be worth a little replay!

 

[bleudeciel16]

Doing my first listen as we speak!
 
I was impatient and it's 3am so I wasn't able to assemble the box quietly (hammers aren't known for being quiet, yeah?), so I used a copious amount of masking tape to temporarily hold it together while testing.
 
Mids are definitely lush.  Reminds me of my HD595 + LD II++ pair I had.  Only with better bottom end and better soundstage.
 
At first, I felt I lost some sparkle on the top end, but then again, the HD650's aren't known for being sparkly.  I stopped thinking about that, and concentrated on the mids.  The delicious smooth and warm mids.  Man.  Good stuff.
 
So far, I'm impressed.  Have a lot more listening to do though!  I don't think I'll be selling my Lyr through.  It's still a great amp and I'm sure I'll regret selling it if I ever get an Ortho or something to drive.
 
Will return with pics and impressions once I get more listening time.