[raindownthunda]

I am actually buying a new Crack with no speedball to rediscover what I missed.. Admittedly, I immediately added speedball and output caps and recently did Crees and choke. All since initial build in 2014. End result is incredibly good but I want to find out what a bone stock (keep it unmodified out of box) Crack amp sounds like without all the changes. By the time I build it (hasn't shipped yet), I will have spent a great deal of time with the modified amp. So, it should be a really fun comparison. I think even better than doing it the other way. I will have the amps side by side for immediate comparison.

If I find it not to my liking I can always upgrade it cheap (or my brother gets a nice b-day present!)

I’ve always wondered how difficult it would be to configure a switch to toggle between stock crack & speedball crack. Has this ever been done?

 

[GPJ7]

I’ve always wondered how difficult it would be to configure a switch to toggle between stock crack & speedball crack. Has this ever been done?

It could be done with enough thought and layout but the Crack chassis is small and it would probably require more than a few switches and additional wiring. And potential sound degradation. I personally think t would not be worth it.

The best option would be to build it stock like they say and wait. (I was too impatient and I think that is most everyone's problem). The other option is to buy another Crack. I personally think t's a good way to go. For one thing, I will have a lot of hours listening on the modded Crack so it should be plain as day to hear the differences. Especially with two completely different configurations side by side. No reliance on audio memory needed whatsoever. Instant A/B.

The other thing is a built Crack will resell for more money than paid most likely. Or do the full upgrades for about $300 and have a very clean sounding Crack/SB.

Or, If the goal is to have an upgraded eventually, just do a Crackatwoa to begin with and be done with it. The cost will be similar but the Crackatwoa will still be better. Myself, I just want the basic bare bones amp to hear the rawness of the tubes. And in my case, a C2A makes no financial sense.

 

[smodtactical]

Imo too many people jump to speedball. It loses a lot of the magic of og imo.

 

[Galapac]

Imo too many people jump to speedball. It loses a lot of the magic of og imo.

One advantage of the Speedball upgrade is it allows you to use the E80CC tube which I find to be superior to the 12AU7 offerings.
I especially like the Philips version, and to me at least, I get more top end and expanded mids from the E80CC.

You can also take advantage of 6SN7 variants, which for people coming from the DarkVoice is an advantage as you do not need to buy more tubes.

It is also mentioned here in more detail from @DenverW :
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/crack-bottlehead-otl.476650/post-16286212

 

[GPJ7]

.........................

 

[GPJ7]

Imo too many people jump to speedball. It loses a lot of the magic of og imo.

................................

 

[GPJ7]

.................................

 

[KonanAtlante]

How many watts are the resistors? 1w, 3w?

The E80CC is indeed phenomenal with Crack/SB. I recently changed the transistors on the Speedball boards to run Matsushita 12BH7A's (Mullard tooled). Really excellent. Maybe as good as E80CC but I need to do more listening.

I have 470 ohm resistors installed permanently on the Speedball boards. And changed the transistors permamnently to the more robust ON MJE5731AG for use with 12BH7A.

I just solder in parallel resistors depending on tube type.

With 12AU7 and 6SN7GT I solder in a parallel 470 ohm resistor to end up at 235 ohm
With 12BH7 I solder in a parallel 150 ohm resistor to end up at 113 ohm
With E80CC it's just the 470 ohm resistor with no other ones needed.

Plate voltages end up in the 70 to 80 volt range.

Pictured is a shot of 470ohm with 150ohm for 113 ohm, 12BH7A operation. Beefier transistors are shown as well.

I have a valve amplifier very similar to the bottlehead, 6sa7g rca and 6sn7wgta sylvania brown, I opened it and I see that it has a speed ball (I didn't make it), I wanted to modify it so that it sounds better in the beyerdynamic dt880 600ohm, I notice it lacks power, mainly bass, the superlux 681 (modified, cable and casing) superlux hd330 150ohm (cable mod) works very well, with multitester it gives me the output at maximum volume voltage 3.w (varies according to the music and the moment in it is reproduced) with peaks of 5.5w in both channels and 10.00 kohm I leave some images in case you can give me some advice, what to modify

Speedball?

capacitor 220uf 160v siemens in the end towards the jack socket

 

[GPJ7]

How many watts are the resistors? 1w, 3w?

They are 1/2 watt, +/- 1%

Interesting amp and very nice! It looks like whoever built in knew what they were doing. I don't believe that is a Bottlehead Speedball board. I am nearly electrically illiterate and just provided the above information from what I learned at the BH forum. It isn't too complicated and there was enough good info there to try the mod. Sorry I can't help but I am sure there is a wizard here that might be able to help.

 

[KonanAtlante]

Really enjoying my Crack at first listen. This is what my Eikons needed to wake up, totally blows away the LP I had them on before. The mid detail is excellent and the bass is quite nice. Very easy but fun listen. I can't wait to get my Aeolus to pair with it. RCA Grey glass might be my next runner up for driver tube.

can you tell me where you bought the headphone stand?

 

[hikaru12]

can you tell me where you bought the headphone stand?

Try Angry Goose on Etsy. It’s very pricey but it’s expert craftsmanship. It’s my last stand I still have mine.

 

[bagwell359]

One advantage of the Speedball upgrade is it allows you to use the E80CC tube which I find to be superior to the 12AU7 offerings.
I especially like the Philips version, and to me at least, I get more top end and expanded mids from the E80CC.

You can also take advantage of 6SN7 variants, which for people coming from the DarkVoice is an advantage as you do not need to buy more tubes.

It is also mentioned here in more detail from @DenverW :
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/crack-bottlehead-otl.476650/post-16286212

I use the E80CC myself and it smokes the 12AU7 variants. My amp is quieter, has better bass, detail, the treble has lots of decay harmonics but seems to have less HD, and the images are better fleshed out and more 3D. Outside of that...

I did however spend a lot of money and my cathode follower (6080 and 6AS7G) are meh. I missed out on a mint 5998 about 18 months ago and the prices since are bizzare.

 

[Asterisk3095]

As someone new to tubes, how many hours does a tube typically have for its lifetime? Furthermore, are there any popular tubes that are still in production? It makes me worried that I might like a certain tube, but when it runs out of life there won't be any more I can get since they won't be in production.

 

[bagwell359]

Chatham 2399 with Telefunken E80CC about 5 mins ago .... good stuffs for sure.

Wow near twin to mine

 

[bagwell359]

As someone new to tubes, how many hours does a tube typically have for its lifetime? Furthermore, are there any popular tubes that are still in production? It makes me worried that I might like a certain tube, but when it runs out of life there won't be any more I can get since they won't be in production.

Most no longer made. Life depends on design and quality of tube construction.