[Doc B.]

Nice Bob! Even the table is perfect.

 

[Bwaze]

Ordered a Bottlehead + Crack. Black Friday discount + discount due to not ordering wood base is very welcome, but I'm afraid all the savings will be put to upgrades.

 
It will be my first DIY project, and I plan to take it slowly. I'm planing to make a new top plate in polished stainless steel - I work as a designer and CNC punching machine operator (and lots of other stuff) in a company that makes professional kitchen cabinets. I still haven't decided on the sides - I could make everything in stainless steel, but I guess tube amplifiers look better with at least side wood panels.
 
Right now I'm using Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, 250 ohms with portable amp Cayin C5. I think I'll upgrade the headphones to Beyerdynamic T1 if I find a good deal in a year or two, depending how much I'll like the Bottlehead Crack - I'm new to this big headphone business - always had a full size speaker system an small portable IEM headphones for phone.
 
I read that Bottlehead got 40% more orders than they anticipated, so I guess there could be quite a long wait (and even longer for me with shipment to EU). And I already got Valab stepped attenuator today from Taiwan...

 

[JamieMcC]

  Ordered a Bottlehead + Crack. Black Friday discount + discount due to not ordering wood base is very welcome, but I'm afraid all the savings will be put to upgrades.

 
It will be my first DIY project, and I plan to take it slowly. I'm planing to make a new top plate in polished stainless steel - I work as a designer and CNC punching machine operator (and lots of other stuff) in a company that makes professional kitchen cabinets. I still haven't decided on the sides - I could make everything in stainless steel, but I guess tube amplifiers look better with at least side wood panels.
 
Right now I'm using Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, 250 ohms with portable amp Cayin C5. I think I'll upgrade the headphones to Beyerdynamic T1 if I find a good deal in a year or two, depending how much I'll like the Bottlehead Crack - I'm new to this big headphone business - always had a full size speaker system an small portable IEM headphones for phone.
 
I read that Bottlehead got 40% more orders than they anticipated, so I guess there could be quite a long wait (and even longer for me with shipment to EU). And I already got Valab stepped attenuator today from Taiwan...

 
Hey really pleased you managed to get your Crack order in and a great deal by the sound of it to congrats. The Valab is imo great value for the money upgrade wise. Make sure to add a few extra inches to the braided signal wire lengths and the black ground wires the Valab has the connections on the top and you will need a little bit of extra length from the cut lengths stated in the manual.
 
The DT 770 PRO, 250 ohms worked well with my Crack and the T1 theses days offers exceptional performance for the money they seem to be getting less expensive every time I see a promotion.

 

[JamieMcC]

  My current aural delight:

That looks a very civilised way to enjoy some music. Cheese and biscuits to go with the wine?

 

[atomicbob]

 
That looks a very civilised way to enjoy some music. Cheese and biscuits to go with the wine?

Absolutely. That red was a Mourvedre based blend from Syncline called Subduction Red.

 

[Tom1510]

For sale my Bottlehead Crack Speedball in the sale forum.
 
If this post is against the forum rules, I will remove it.

 

[swmtnbiker]

I'm still enjoying this sweet, sweet package of audio goodness practically every day...
 

 

[muad]

So I am in the process of building my crack and just painted the top plate with rustoleum hammered bronze. I tried every technique under the sun but I can't the hammered finish to appear. It comes out looking like a shiny uniform metallic bronze with pinholes in it. I tried lighter coats but that gives it a uniform textured finish. Hammered spray paint is supposed to look like the end of the below video. So anyone have any ideas? If not it's going to the powder coaters
 

 

[Loquah]

  So I am in the process of building my crack and just painted the top plate with rustoleum hammered bronze. I tried every technique under the sun but I can't the hammered finish to appear. It comes out looking like a shiny uniform metallic bronze with pinholes in it. I tried lighter coats but that gives it a uniform textured finish. Hammered spray paint is supposed to look like the end of the below video. So anyone have any ideas? If not it's going to the powder coaters
 

 
I believe the hammered paint is designed to go on thick which is different from other paints, but it needs the thickness for the chemical process to create the uneven finish

 

[moriez]

Hi all,
 
If everything works out I'll be the second owner of the mighty Crack with Speedball real soon. Been wanting the amp for some time now so pretty excited!
 
I'm wondering if it's a good OR bad idea OR at all possible, to paint the top plate without disconnecting the wiring inside and leaving it sitting in the woodbase. Would proper masktaping of everything sticking out on top and the vents be sufficient? This also goes for painting the wood. It sounds like a stupid idea to masktape the top plate and sand the base with the top plate still in place. Tremendously stupid maybe
 
What's your view?

 

[Loquah]

  Hi all,
 
If everything works out I'll be the second owner of the mighty Crack with Speedball real soon. Been wanting the amp for some time now so pretty excited!
 
I'm wondering if it's a good OR bad idea OR at all possible, to paint the top plate without disconnecting the wiring inside and leaving it sitting in the woodbase. Would proper masktaping of everything sticking out on top and the vents be sufficient? This also goes for painting the wood. It sounds like a stupid idea to masktape the top plate and sand the base with the top plate still in place. Tremendously stupid maybe
 
What's your view?

 
It's technically possible, but I think it'll be quite a challenge to do it without it looking a bit shabby once the masking is removed, particularly around the transformer

 

[dxanex]

^ It's definitely possible, but will require a lot of masking tape, an X-ACTO knife and plenty of patience. I botched the paint job on one of my builds and decided to fix it after I was halfway done with the soldering. A bit messy, but it turned out fine.

 

[Klots]

   
 

Did all that and nothing. Still high pitch squeal. I put my previous tube (GE 6AS7GA) into it and no squeal after 4 hours of listening. But the 5998 sounds better, only the high pitch squeal is a bit annoying. I just have to live with that squeal I guess. Made a little video with my phone so you can hear exactly what it sounds like.




A little edit: It is not the tube. I put my GE 6AS7GA tube in again and have been listening for a few hours. It makes the noise too, slightly different from 5998 but still. If I tap on the tube then it goes silent and then starts again. This mystery sound is only heard in left channel. What component in Crack could make the output tube to sqeal? All ideas welcome. Thanks!

 

[Loquah]

Still sounds like a dodgy solder joint to me. Best to reflow each joint and at the same time ensure each wire / component is securely attached. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not too bad.

 

[Klots]

Still sounds like a dodgy solder joint to me. Best to reflow each joint and at the same time ensure each wire / component is securely attached. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not too bad.

I have done that several times already. My film capacitors should arrive tomorrow, so I will replace electrolytics and see if anything changes. And if not I will check solder joints again. Soon I can solder crack blindfolded