[Eileen Schmalle]

Probably a stupid question but.. what is the crack 1.1 & speedball vs. regular crack w. speedball?

Hi Neogeosnk! Thank you for asking your question, questions are never stupid! The Crack1.1 is our latest updated version of the Crack which offers a universal power transformer and can be used worldwide by following the wiring instructions in the manual otherwise it still offers the same great sound as our original Crack.

 

[brokensound]

I did a quick search and couldn't find an example of folks using the Vishay MKP capacitors. So if you had trouble fitting three 100uF capacitors in the stock case along w/ the choke and schottky diode, these wonderful rectangular capacitors are worth exploring. It is rated for 500v. I picked mine up on Amazon for ~$20, which is even cheaper than the Audyn Q4s. I used it to replace the last power supply capacitor. My impression is that it improved the weight of the music, namely, the bass sounded more authoritative.

 

[Bruc3]

hi all,

I live in Sydney, Australia and am very keen on pairing a BH crack + speedball with my HD6xx.

Any Aussies here willing to build one for me if I buy the kit?

Of course I will pay for your services. Its hard to find a used one here in Australia and I don't have confidence to build one myself.

 

[Tom-s]

Crack's been my first DIY kitbuild. I learned to solder by building Crack.
Thanks to the superb manual, even with skill-level 0, Crack is a safe bet.
Be confident, you can build it.
For the money, and how it taught me a lot about how audio, tubes and stuff works (all, that standard, of the shelf stuff didn't) it is probably the best amplifier i ever bought and ever will buy.
Compared to many (more expensive) amps the last few years, i can say with confidence that the Crack is indeed a gaint-killer with Sennheiser HD6xx/HD800 headphones.
The journey, building it, enjoying it, modding it, enjoying it further is what makes the Crack special. Don't miss out on that, build one yourself.

 

[JamieMcC]

hi all,

I live in Sydney, Australia and am very keen on pairing a BH crack + speedball with my HD6xx.

Any Aussies here willing to build one for me if I buy the kit?

Of course I will pay for your services. Its hard to find a used one here in Australia and I don't have confidence to build one myself.

Hi you could try giving Loquah a pm he has built a number of Bottlehead kits if he can't help then he will probably know some one who can.

I would really recommend you give the build a go you self. I was like many others having never soldered or used a multi meter before and had the same doubts as yourself. The instructions are really good and easy to follow there is always a picture along with the text for reference so if your not quiet sure about how something has been described in the text looking at the picture normally makes it crystal clear.

Learning to solder and with the confidence gained in building your own Crack can lead to all sorts of other great diy audio projects.
Its a lot of fun and a neat hobby.

https://www.head-fi.org/members/loquah.152302/

 

[Eileen Schmalle]

Crack's been my first DIY kitbuild. I learned to solder by building Crack.
Thanks to the superb manual, even with skill-level 0, Crack is a safe bet.
Be confident, you can build it.
For the money, and how it taught me a lot about how audio, tubes and stuff works (all, that standard, of the shelf stuff didn't) it is probably the best amplifier i ever bought and ever will buy.
Compared to many (more expensive) amps the last few years, i can say with confidence that the Crack is indeed a gaint-killer with Sennheiser HD6xx/HD800 headphones.
The journey, building it, enjoying it, modding it, enjoying it further is what makes the Crack special. Don't miss out on that, build one yourself.

Thank you for your post Tom! I'm so happy that you got so much out of building the Crack kit and had such a good experience.

 

[Bruc3]

Guys, I think you may have convinced me to try building one.

I will wait till the kit is on sale again before I purchase though as its pretty expensive now buying from Australia (import tax, weak AUS dollar)

In meantime I will start reading on soldering tutorials.

In regards to tools for the job, could I just buy below to do it?

Solder kit:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/20-130w-soldering-iron-starter-kit/p/TS1651

Multimeter
https://www.jaycar.com.au/low-cost-digital-multimeter-dmm/p/QM1500

 

[Stillhart]

Guys, I think you may have convinced me to try building one.

I will wait till the kit is on sale again before I purchase though as its pretty expensive now buying from Australia (import tax, weak AUS dollar)

In meantime I will start reading on soldering tutorials.

In regards to tools for the job, could I just buy below to do it?

Solder kit:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/20-130w-soldering-iron-starter-kit/p/TS1651

Multimeter
https://www.jaycar.com.au/low-cost-digital-multimeter-dmm/p/QM1500

There are tons of good soldering tutorials online. I just watched some from this guy and I thought they were pretty helpful: https://tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/

Regarding those items, I'm sure they'll work fine to get you started. That DMM doesn't appear to come with the test probes though, so you'll have to add those in.

 

[Bruc3]

There are tons of good soldering tutorials online. I just watched some from this guy and I thought they were pretty helpful: https://tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/

Regarding those items, I'm sure they'll work fine to get you started. That DMM doesn't appear to come with the test probes though, so you'll have to add those in.

Thanks I will checkout those soldering tuts.

Is this the test probes here:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/multimeter-test-probes-shrouded-type/p/WT5325

And little additional tools I need are:
- plyers
- screwdriver
- wire cutter/stripper

Will that cover everything for the job? Assuming I have nothing at the moment.

 

[Stillhart]

Thanks I will checkout those soldering tuts.

Is this the test probes here:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/multimeter-test-probes-shrouded-type/p/WT5325

Those will definitely fit. They cost more than the DMM though... lol

 

[Bruc3]

Those will definitely fit. They cost more than the DMM though... lol

Lol, oh the one's here are cheaper, should do the job yeah?
https://www.jaycar.com.au/multimeter-test-probes-930mm/p/WT5316

Also what size wire stripper do i need?

 

[Stillhart]

Lol, oh the one's here are cheaper, should do the job yeah?
https://www.jaycar.com.au/multimeter-test-probes-930mm/p/WT5316

Also what size wire stripper do i need?

Looks good to me. For wire strippers, I use something like the below (though obviously a much cheaper version):

https://www.jaycar.com.au/stainless-steel-wire-stripper-cutter-pliers/p/TH1841

 

[Paladin79]

with a bit of work you can alter the looks of the amp as well.

 

[Bruc3]

Looks good to me. For wire strippers, I use something like the below (though obviously a much cheaper version):

https://www.jaycar.com.au/stainless-steel-wire-stripper-cutter-pliers/p/TH1841

Thanks, looks like I am pretty much set on the tools.

 

[Bruc3]

with a bit of work you can alter the looks of the amp as well.

Yeah that is the next thing I will research into, I have never painted anything either so need to read up on basics.

I was thinking just buy a can of black spray paint to do the wood and metal top plate but I am guessing it probably involves a little more than that.