[mordicai]

I bought a lot of tubes and many were from eBay. My current 5998 is from eBay. I have never gotten a DOA tube on eBay but I try to be careful who I buy from. Most reputable sellers will accept a return and I have returned tubes twice with no problem. Paid about $50 for my 5998 about a year ago and $12 for a mullard 12at7 that I am listening to now with the Stereomour. Fabulous tube

 

[stupidmop]

Hi all!

I've had a Crack kit in the top of my wardrobe for a couple of months now. When I received it I was pretty busy and still enjoying my other amps so tucked it away for calmer times.

When I received it I was very enthusiastic. Over the last few weeks i guess I've become a bit daunted by the thought of undertaking the build. I don't have any DIY electronics experience. Just wondering if other people felt this way and how they found the process?

Jeb.

I loved building the kit. The voltage checks I wouldn't do again for anything. That's why I put up with the channel imbalance and horrible gain spikes from the pot. I have a blue velvet and a very nice stepped attenuator setting on my desk but will never be installed unless my electrician buddy will do the checks for me. IMO this is NOT a beginner's kit. Again IMO,YMMV!

 

[NightFlight]

   
 
The Mainline is a top shelf amp and anyone would be lucky to have it.  The Mainline has a very different in signature VS the Crack, however.  The Crack is warmer sounding and what one would more expect from an OTL amp.  The Mainline is much more transparent a neutral and leaves the Crack in the dust in virtually every technicality you can imagine.  It's just fantastic with the HD800's and it will certainly elevate your HD800's by leaps and bounds.  

 
Well, after having built the Crack I'm looking forward to just the process of building. Even better now that I'll have a good amp to listen to along the way.  I kind of built the Crack in a rush and I feel I could have done some of the connections with a better certainty.

 

[NightFlight]

  I loved building the kit. The voltage checks I wouldn't do again for anything. That's why I put up with the channel imbalance and horrible gain spikes from the pot. I have a blue velvet and a very nice stepped attenuator setting on my desk but will never be installed unless my electrician buddy will do the checks for me. IMO this is NOT a beginner's kit. Again IMO,YMMV!

 
Well, just use an alligator clip to the meter ground lead and poke around with positive, keep your left in your pocket and never hold the chassis when checking because that is grounded. While aluminum is only %60 as conductive as copper it only take a little bit. That and watch the angle of your probe when you come in to press against a point. 
 
Once you get comfortable with the above.... (that's both good and bad) - your fairly safe.

 

[stupidmop]

 I did. Fried my transformer. I was just giving a word of caution, he asked for opinions I gave mine. Bottlehead were excellent with their customer service. They fixed it for me because I refuse to do the checks again. I know, I'm a wuss. But the loud pop and fried tube were enough to convince me it was above my skill level. I'm very good with an iron just not a meter I'm glad everyone has a great experience and is good with a probe meter, it just ain't me. I LOVE the amp. I've just reserved my upgrades to tube rolling which has afforded me hundreds of hours of audio bliss. Don't mean to offend anyone these are just my opinions.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

   
Well, after having built the Crack I'm looking forward to just the process of building. Even better now that I'll have a good amp to listen to along the way.  I kind of built the Crack in a rush and I feel I could have done some of the connections with a better certainty.

 
I had a similar experience.  I built my Crack pretty quickly and I should haven taken my time and enjoyed the build more.  I was yearning to build again hence the Mainline (lord knows I did not need ANOTHER amp!).  The Mainline is a really fun build like the Crack just with many, many more steps.  It really hit the spot for me.  I was worried it would be a difficult build but the manual is so top notch it really isn't any harder than the Crack.  Looks like you and Jamie will be building Mainlines at a similar time.  There is going to be some good reading 'round these parts soon!  

 

[NightFlight]

   I did. Fried my transformer. I was just giving a word of caution, he asked for opinions I gave mine. Bottlehead were excellent with their customer service. They fixed it for me because I refuse to do the checks again. I know, I'm a wuss. But the loud pop and fried tube were enough to convince me it was above my skill level. I'm very good with an iron just not a meter I'm glad everyone has a great experience and is good with a probe meter, it just ain't me. I LOVE the amp. I've just reserved my upgrades to tube rolling which has afforded me hundreds of hours of audio bliss. Don't mean to offend anyone these are just my opinions.

 
Hmm. I shorted out my 6080 across an output pin and and its neighbour during some checks. Luckly it survived. Tubes are pretty tough. But it did scare me!

 

[Rocketman248]

Just put a few wraps of electrical tape around the probe so just the tip is exposed.  Much less risk of touching something you're not supposed to.

 

[mordicai]

Radio Shack sell a set of leads that only have a tiny point exposed unless you slide a covering piece back. 10 bucks I think.

 

[Jeb Listens]

Thanks guys - It was indeed the voltage check stuff in the manual that worried me a bit so those are great tips.  

 

[NightFlight]

Welp. I'm now in the 'power cord makes a difference' camp. Went from 18 to 14AWG. I don't know if its the dielectric, or the fact that I DeoxIT cleaned the power cable contacts.. It made enough of a difference that my eyebrows nearly left my skull.  This unbeliever has heard the flock. IMHO power cords and connectivity are just as important as any other aspect. 
 
Re-discovering the music. Again.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

  Welp. I'm now in the 'power cord makes a difference' camp. Went from 18 to 14AWG. I don't know if its the dielectric, or the fact that I DeoxIT cleaned the power cable contacts.. It made enough of a difference that my eyebrows nearly left my skull.  This unbeliever has heard the flock. IMHO power cords and connectivity are just as important as any other aspect. 
 
Re-discovering the music. Again.

 
I agree.  When I upgraded my power I noticed a very positive change with my tube amps.  My SS amp did not benefit as much.  In my condo, however, I know I have really bad power that fluctuates between 115 and about 125 constantly.  The regenerator fixed that.  It also lowered the noise floor and eliminated the ghosting sound I was getting.
 
I went through the same surprise when I upgraded my interconnects.  I bought them (to be totally honest) because I wanted cool interconnects.  Trevor at Norne built them for me and they replaced Blue Jeans cables.  I was expecting no change but to my ears and surprise I felt there was.  Oddly enough I find it impacted my SS amp more than my tube amp.  Go figure. 

 

[i luvmusic 2]

When i was in Middle East doing some work i saw some of  this i should have take some for my amp.

 

[GrindingThud]

That may need to be burned in a bit longer than usual....

When i was in Middle East doing some work i saw some of  this i should have take some for my amp.

 

[DDDamian]

That may need to be burned in a bit longer than usual....