[DenverW]

Off the top of my head, tubes that you can use with speedball would be 12au7 and ecc82 variants. 6sn7 and variants like the 7193 (half of a 6sn7), rj5 types, and 6f8g work fine with the proper adapters. Tubes like E80CC (not e88!) and 12bh7 work as drop ins but work best with some small resistance changes inside. Everyone has their favorites, and many prefer the 6sn7 type with the adapter. Make sure to never put a 6sn7 into your power tube socket, even though it fits.

After all that, you know my favorite tubes with the crack? 12AU7 type. The crack was designed with these in mind, and some just sing. Siemens nickel plate (also called chrome or silver) is a great great tube for under $50.

As far as your other question, I've never seen the guys amps before and cant find any information on them. He is possibly an ebay seller only. Tube Lamps? They look nice.

 

[GreenNeedle]

I did say that the rosewood base for my crack would look much more lively and while I am not posting any pictures in this post I can say it is absolutely glowing while not finished.

I actually had to strip it back to bare wood because it turned out (I jammed it in for the earlier pictures) that the internal measurements of mine were very slightly smaller and thus the power connector and side capacitors were not fitting in very well.

So I routed out a bit around the rear and rear sides to negate that problem and then sanded the rest back. I then bought a Danish Oil from someone on Easybay that is not a brand and it is WOW factor stuff. Much thinner and goes on so nicely. 2 coats so far and it already beats the branded stuff. I am positive this is going to look superb now

In terms of the base plate, I have unsoldered the wires I need to, for me to be able to take the hardware off the plate and now have the plate back, bare and ready for enameling. This will get some scuff sanding, then etch primer and finally enamelled in cream (spray.) I actually had problems with the bell cover when i sprayed the hammerite on and (maybe sprayed too thick a coating) as it stayed gummy for ages, so I ended up taking that coat off, respraying and then putting it in my oven for an hour at 100C and it came out looking amazing and completely hard.

So I am intending to bake the cream enamel, maybe for less time but am hoping that the usual spray can "orange peel" effect remains rather than polishing it up to a smooth finish. If it goes well I think I might do the chassis of my Trio KD1033 in the cream as well.

I should add it wasn't really that inspirational a choice. It was when I was baking my bell cover the Oven communicated to me. I have one of these ovens below and it lead me to a Garrard turntable that had been refinished in cream:

Should be able to put some "finished" pics up on Monday / Tuesday. I say "finished" because you all like to add stuff and upgrade. I am only intending to upgrade the volume pot the the TKD2511 and in a week or 2 add the speedball.

 

[PsilocybinCube]

I'm sure that most of you have looked into the power cable from Bottlehead, but I had to add my two cents on their kit.

I purchased my BHC second-hand from @DenverW (who has helped me several times to troubleshoot and improve sound) and he said a couple of times that the first thing to do for the amp was to build the cord. I was a little bit incredulous to be honest but decided to give it a whirl.

It was a fun and easy project. Perhaps the best part was that my wife offered to do the braiding and she did a great job with it. That may be the first time I've managed to wrangle her into this little audio hobby.

So, after plugging it in and A/B'ing it for two days, I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. There are clear differences in the sound. It would be easy to detect it in a blind test. The sound is certainly clearer, the bass is definitely louder and clearer, and honestly the overall sound is much more smooth.

I'm using HD800 headphones (no mods, yet) and though I love the sound and extra dimension the headphones give with their large sound stage, I did feel they were a little bass-light. The extra oomph to the bass has made quite a difference.

Take it for what it's worth, but I think the power cable should be a must for BHC owners and now I am tempted to build them for other devices like my Topping DX7Pro. I don't know that everything will experience the same benefits as an OTL amp, but the gains are pretty amazing for such a small investment.

 

[GreenNeedle]

I'm sure that most of you have looked into the power cable from Bottlehead, but I had to add my two cents on their kit.

I purchased my BHC second-hand from @DenverW (who has helped me several times to troubleshoot and improve sound) and he said a couple of times that the first thing to do for the amp was to build the cord. I was a little bit incredulous to be honest but decided to give it a whirl.

It was a fun and easy project. Perhaps the best part was that my wife offered to do the braiding and she did a great job with it. That may be the first time I've managed to wrangle her into this little audio hobby.

So, after plugging it in and A/B'ing it for two days, I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. There are clear differences in the sound. It would be easy to detect it in a blind test. The sound is certainly clearer, the bass is definitely louder and clearer, and honestly the overall sound is much more smooth.

I'm using HD800 headphones (no mods, yet) and though I love the sound and extra dimension the headphones give with their large sound stage, I did feel they were a little bass-light. The extra oomph to the bass has made quite a difference.

Take it for what it's worth, but I think the power cable should be a must for BHC owners and now I am tempted to build them for other devices like my Topping DX7Pro. I don't know that everything will experience the same benefits as an OTL amp, but the gains are pretty amazing for such a small investment.

Do you have a link on how to make the power cable?

 

[Bullpride]

Do you have a link on how to make the power cable?

The instructions are included when you purchase the materials from Bottlehead.

 

[carlman14]

Do you have a link on how to make the power cable?

There's a link to the instructions on the power cord webpage: https://bottlehead.com/bottlehead-power-cord-kit-assembly/

 

[PsilocybinCube]

The instructions are included when you purchase the materials from Bottlehead.

They actually didn't include instructions with mine. There was a note to look at the instructions online and it stated that some of the parts included in the kit would look slightly different from what was sent.

You could probably build your own power cable from the instructions online by purchasing the parts from a local electrical outlet. That said, I didn't want to fry my BHC so I opted to pay a bit more and get it from Bottlehead!!!

 

[DenverW]

And you can support Bottlehead by getting it through them. If you want to build a cord of your own later with what you learned that’s another matter.

 

[Bullpride]

And you can support Bottlehead by getting it through them. If you want to build a cord of your own later with what you learned that’s another matter.

Yeah that's what I was getting at. I am all about supporting the fine folks at Bottlehead. With out purchasing from them, they wouldn't continue to put out great kids and guides.

 

[GreenNeedle]

I don;t think I'll have any pictures by Monday. Will wait a week for the enamel to dry but thought I would add this one. Autistic people don't do things by halves. I need that turntable to match the BH crack so that's been enamelled as well......and the new Danish Oil is darker than the one I used on the turntable plinth and my DIY receiver box so they need stripping to match the crack's wood colouring. The crack is right at the back of this "family."

Pity that because the lighter colour was very much reminiscent of the sticky back vinyl coverings 70s equipment had. Everything needs to match for me though

The turntable enamel has a couple of "noggins" in the finish so will need to be wet sanded with P400 in a couple of days and have another go. A few "noggins" need to be lived with because every new coat seems to get some despite very careful tack cloth treatment prior to spraying. These will likely rub out with nothing other than bare hands rather than needing sandpaper or anything else.

I've already widened the volume hole in the crack plate to accommodate the TKD 2CP 2511.

 

[matti621]

I'd like to have a taste of a tube amp. Which Chi-Fi should I try from aliexpress as a first dip?

 

[Bullpride]

I'd like to have a taste of a tube amp. Which Chi-Fi should I try from aliexpress as a first dip?

Pretty sure everyone here is going to suggest you build a Crack (Given this is the crack thread in the DIY forum).

I know Josh Valour has done a video on tube preamps that can be had on Amazon for around $25. This would require you have a Solid State headphone amp already.

 

[matti621]

Pretty sure everyone here is going to suggest you build a Crack (Given this is the crack thread in the DIY forum).

I know Josh Valour has done a video on tube preamps that can be had on Amazon for around $25. This would require you have a Solid State headphone amp already.

Let's put it this way. Which known design does it follow? They always resemble at least a class, sometimes almost copy amps from the 60's... Some follow a seemingly simple desin (e.g. this Chinese amp) but it's hard for me to see from the pics.

 

[PsilocybinCube]

Pretty sure everyone here is going to suggest you build a Crack (Given this is the crack thread in the DIY forum).

I know Josh Valour has done a video on tube preamps that can be had on Amazon for around $25. This would require you have a Solid State headphone amp already.

I'm pretty sure that if it doesn't have 'THX789' in the name of the amp, Josh doesn't like it.

 

[matti621]

What's the Crack's secret? It measures terribly according to this review. EDIT: link fixed