[Tin Trinh]

Yes, I have the Modi 3 and it works well with my Crack and HD650 headphones.

Yeah thanks you ill try that.

I use another Schiit multibit with mine but it is out of that price range, I run Gumby to Freya to Crack. All 6sn7 tubes except for a Tung Sol 5998, I did away with the 12AU7 some time ago.

Love it , hope to upgrade soon , i go with modi 3 first thank you.

 

[attmci]

Copy from the bottlehead:

"I misread some of the comments here and plugged my VT-231 into the output socket (of the Crack) and listened away. I actually had a few hours on it before I figured it out. Nothing exploded and it sounded OK to me except a very slight flange effect sound in the mids, but I figured it's old, actually a really old sample. Anyway, I'm wondering what's the harm in continuing to use it as the output from time to time? I've since rolled my 6as7's in and out and the amp's fine."
Paul:
"Someone else did this a while ago and tried to argue that there was no problem. I went through the laundry list of problems that you'll run into if you do this, but the post is proving to be a little elusive to find.

It's not surprising that nothing happened that immediately. What you're doing would be like going out and starting your car, then putting a cinder block on the gas pedal and walking away. Will your car still run for a while? Probably so, but you can expect imminent destruction in a far shorter time period compared to normal use.

The amp also isn't designed for the 6SN7 to plug into that socket. The 6SN7 would be a poor choice overall for this position, so it's not like a moderate amount of tweaking would make the 6SN7 work in place of the 6080. They are very, very different tubes made for completely different purposes."

 

[Paladin79]

The 6sn7 with adapter is a great choice to use in place of the 12Au7 or equivalent. I rarely use anything else since being exposed to this solution.

 

[attmci]

The 6sn7 with adapter is a great choice to use in place of the 12Au7 or equivalent. I rarely use anything else since being exposed to this solution.

Tom, the guy used 6SN7GT as power tube.

 

[Paladin79]

Tom, the guy used 6SN7GT as power tube.

Yeah I saw that, I was just saying with adapter it is a good choice for the driver tube, IMHO or the loktal version the 7N7. (The tall version of that tube, in action here.)

 

[Maxhawk]

A while back I made a board for the Crack with a switch that changes the bias resistors for optimal current for 12AU7, E80CC, and 12BH7 tubes. This replaces the Speedball current source board and mounts to the existing standoffs. Here is my original post. I ordered some new boards to have on hand for future projects and I'm offering my remaining bare boards for $6.00 shipped in the US ($10.00 international for most countries -- will need to confirm actual shipping charge depending on destination). PM me if you're interested.

The new boards are blue:

 

[bloodhawk]

A while back I made a board for the Crack with a switch that changes the bias resistors for optimal current for 12AU7, E80CC, and 12BH7 tubes. I continue to get requests so I decided to get more boards made and offer them to the community. Here is my original post for the board I made. I'm offering bare boards for $6.00 shipped in the US ($10.00 international for most countries) and if there's enough interest in kits, I can buy parts in quantity to get a discount. I'm thinking +$10 with parts. So, $16 shipped in the US and $20 for int'l for kits.

The new boards are blue:

These are totally worth it! And add so much more value to the crack and expand the tube rolling options!

Had them in my Crack build from some time back -

Spoiler

 

[attmci]

These are totally worth it! And add so much more value to the crack and expand the tube rolling options!

Had them in my Crack build from some time back -

Spoiler

Have u tried to use the Dave to drive the Crack?

 

[bloodhawk]

Have u tried to use the Dave to drive the Crack?

Did try it a few times, but didn't really find any audible change vs the Dx7s which is what i was using the crack with.

 

[Paladin79]

My favorite tubes in the Crack to date. Tung Sol 5998 and a Russian 1578 (6sn7 equivalent) Melz plant. Another interesting driver tube can be the 7N7 tall body loktal, but this 6sn7 equivalent is on a par with the 1940's grey glass RCA tubes IMHO and a total winner.

 

[proto65]

I am about to pull the trigger and buy two little upgrades for the crack, the Triad C7-X, and the cree schottky diodes. I have only seen them installed on post speedball cracks but I assume they work fine with pre speedball cracks, is that correct? Also for installing the triad, I desolder this 270 resistor and solder the triad in its place, right? Lastly does the orientation of the triad matter because I have seen photos of it installed both ways?

 

[attmci]

Did try it a few times, but didn't really find any audible change vs the Dx7s which is what i was using the crack with.

Thanks for the quick response. I always want to try my better DAC on the Crack, but haven't got a chance. Now I believe a better Dac needs a better Amp to scale up, and vice versa.

 

[attmci]

My favorite tubes in the Crack to date. Tung Sol 5998 and a Russian 1578 (6sn7 equivalent) Melz plant. Another interesting driver tube can be the 7N7 tall body loktal, but this 6sn7 equivalent is on a par with the 1940's grey glass RCA tubes IMHO and a total winner.

Looks great, Tom.

 

[Paladin79]

Thanks, I was about to mention the DX7S is not a bad DAC, I was involved with some tests recently with 20 pretty expensive DACS and the Topping came in at number 6, it rated higher than some DACs costing 10 times more. I use the DX7 with my Crack on occasion but usually it his hooked to a Freya/Gumby combo.

Oops sorry, my only point should have been the Crack can sound pretty good with a DX7S.

 

[bloodhawk]

Thanks for the quick response. I always want to try my better DAC on the Crack, but haven't got a chance. Now I believe a better Dac needs a better Amp to scale up, and vice versa.

Definitely. I got the Dave for a steal of a price with the stand, that's why I bought it. Otherwise, i would have never even thought of getting one. I'm definitely not a believer in super high-end DAC's.

The Crack in itself makes the output from any DAC a total treat to listen to.