[White Lotus]

  Yes. S.E.X.

 
Yep, not really an option for me, as it's not the product being offered to me for cheap.
 
 I'll steer clear of this product, as it doesn't seem to suit my needs.
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone! Much appreciated. 

 

[rated1975]

  I've sprayed Hammerite on many of our panels over the years. Prep is everything, get the panel really clean with formula 409 or lacquer thinner before spraying. Hammer finish paint is a product that doesn't really require a primer, and I usually spray just a couple of mist coats and then one medium heavy coat a minute or two apart. A bunch of light coats will end up more textured than hammered. It's also very important to give it time to polymerize. I suggest waiting at least a week before mounting any hardware to avoid tearing the finish.

Thanks Doc. Now just a matter of choosing a colour and waiting for the Crack to arrive.

 

[heliosphann]

Just got some custom 600ohm DT990's. 
 
What's a good input tube to bring the best out of these cans?

 

[WhenKittensATK]

I bought this about 2 months ago and just finished it yesterday. It was a highly enjoyable project from start to finish. I'm a beginner to this kind of stuff and even I did a decent job. I opt'd to forgo speedball install for a month to see if I'll notice the difference.
 
Custom Work
Stain: Rustoleum Kona
Finish: Rustoleum Poly
Top Plate: Almond Powder Coated ~$25
Transformer Cap: Silver Powder Coated ~$12
 
Full Photo Album (Imgur)
 

 

[adydula]

Here's mine with 4 coats of Mission Oak Minwax:
 

 

 
Alex

 

[Doc B.]

Nice work you guys! They are both lovely.

 

[adydula]

Thanks Doc! Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance.....
 
Speedball is next when your elves ship it out.
 
A very simple circuit that does exceptionally well!
 
All the best.
 
Alex

 

[Aeolus Kratos]

 
I just returned home after a long week traveling for work, turned on the beloved Crack, plugged the HD650 in and listened to all my sweet music....
 
Oh man, I actually forgot how addictive the music coming from the Crack + HD650 combo can be. When I listen to my setup, I no longer care about how the bass, the treble is, the soundstage and other "technical" factors of the sound are produced, it's just me, lost in the music.
 
Thanks Doc for such an amazing and magical music experience! It really helped me relax after a hard working day.
 
Cheers,
Kratos.

 

[DDDamian]

Nice testimonial do you find the tube stabilizers / dampers make a difference?

 

[coastal1]

Need a little help.  I'm getting constant 'clicking' sounds from my amp that starts without anything plugged into the RCA jacks so it's not coming from interference from source.  At first I thought it might be a new input tube that hadn't burned in, but I tried a Telefunken that's sounded clean before and still got the clicking sounds.  Using TS 5998 as output tube, and that too has previously sounded great.  
 
So I was thinking as first step I'll clean the tube pins and tube sockets, and then check all connections.  Cleaning the tube pins seems easy enough, but any advice about the best way to clean the sockets is appreciated, as well as the best contact cleaner to use. Also, the output tube 'wobbles' quite a bit more than the input tube.  Could this be a possible cause of the noise, i.e., not a tight enough connection?  The wobble is not new (sounded great before) so I'm a little reluctant to try to mess with that unless that's an obvious red flag.  I bought this used so not sure if the wobble is normal, or if the output socket needs to be tightened or replaced.
 
Any other likely causes?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[FunyunBreath]

  Need a little help.  I'm getting constant 'clicking' sounds from my amp that starts without anything plugged into the RCA jacks so it's not coming from interference from source.  At first I thought it might be a new input tube that hadn't burned in, but I tried a Telefunken that's sounded clean before and still got the clicking sounds.  Using TS 5998 as output tube, and that too has previously sounded great.  
 
So I was thinking as first step I'll clean the tube pins and tube sockets, and then check all connections.  Cleaning the tube pins seems easy enough, but any advice about the best way to clean the sockets is appreciated, as well as the best contact cleaner to use. Also, the output tube 'wobbles' quite a bit more than the input tube.  Could this be a possible cause of the noise, i.e., not a tight enough connection?  The wobble is not new (sounded great before) so I'm a little reluctant to try to mess with that unless that's an obvious red flag.  I bought this used so not sure if the wobble is normal, or if the output socket needs to be tightened or replaced.
 
Any other likely causes?
 
Thanks in advance.

 
If you take the amp to another room in the house do you still get the clicking? Wondering if it may be wireless interference from your phone or router.

 

[coastal1]

   
If you take the amp to another room in the house do you still get the clicking? Wondering if it may be wireless interference from your phone or router.

 
Thanks, I actually should have mentioned this and will try this as a first step.  Along with trying a new input tube, I did move the amp to a room that has a router (and TV) nearby.  Those were the only changes.  The router is a couple of feet away, the TV is very close, though turned off.

 

[FunyunBreath]

Yeah my guess is it's the router for sure. My amp is in my office where my router is as well, but I moved the router all the way across the room to get it as far away from the amp as possible. Otherwise I get those popping/clicking noises too.
 
You're pretty much going to hear any device that uses wifi/4G in vacuum tubes as a popping/clicking noise when data is being transmitted. 

 

[coastal1]

  Yeah my guess is it's the router for sure. My amp is in my office where my router is as well, but I moved the router all the way across the room to get it as far away from the amp as possible. Otherwise I get those popping/clicking noises too.
 
You're pretty much going to hear any device that uses wifi/4G in vacuum tubes as a popping/clicking noise when data is being transmitted. 

 
Great, thanks very much.  Hopefully this will resolve the issue and I'll save the socket cleaning/tightening project for another day... by the way, should the 'wobble' of the output tube be a concern at all?

 

[Keithpgdrb]

I was also going to suggest interference from outside the amp.  I was convinced that my amp was going south, until I moved my cell phone away from the amp.  so step one, make sure your phone is no where near the amp.  then check the router thing.  that should be easy to test.  even moving it a few feet away should change the interference if that is the cause.