[Doc B.]

Quick question is 274b tube compatible with the Crack?

No, Crack uses UF4007  ultra fast solid state rectifiers.

 

[olegausany]

Quick question is 274b tube compatible with the Crack?

No, Crack uses UF4007  ultra fast solid state rectifiers.

Thanks a lot for fast answer.
This also should mean that 5AU4G will not work either since it also is recertifier type as much as I know

 

[Nic Rhodes]

the crack doesn't use any tube rectifier

 

[Loquah]

I think (big emphasis on THINK) that Doc is referring to the rectifiers in the under-chassis circuitry, not rectifier tubes.

 

[skeptic]

Correct - crack uses a diode bridge to turn ac -> dc.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge  When looking at the underside of the amp, they are the four little black components on the right side of the transformer.

 

[trentrosa]

Nice and simple solid state diode rectifier bridge. Keeps it clean

 

[chadbang]

Hello, I've become interested in purchasing a Bottlehead Crack, but I'm hesitant to pay up front and then wait for delivery. There was once a (well-known) amp builder who ran his business this way and wait for this amps grew longer....and longer.... until they exceeded a year and people began shouting "theft." My question is, why is Bottlehead, after several years of being in business, unable to stock sufficient material to avoid this waiting period? The price of the amp has risen to a price point that is no longer an insignificant amount of money, and the fear of a business suddenly going under makes paying upfront somewhat unattractive. My question is: Does this waiting period go in precise time segments, coinciding with regular shipments (say, of laser cut boards)? Or is it more random than that? Thanks for your help!

 

[Nic Rhodes]

i think it is merely the business model Bottlehead use to keep costs to a minimum. Nothing to worry about at all and despite my amp being at a rush period I thought delivery was swift and well done. There is nothing to worry about here, Bottlehead seems a good organisation.

 

[chadbang]

Well, that's good to know, Nic. Can you give me an approximation of the time from your order until it was shipped. 2,3,4 weeks?

 

[Zashoomin]

  Well, that's good to know, Nic. Can you give me an approximation of the time from your order until it was shipped. 2,3,4 weeks?

I would say anywhere from 2-8 weeks depending on what parts they are missing.  

 

[Nic Rhodes]

without checking I would say 3 to 4 weeks but that was for the UK delivery and with all the customs surcharges / taxes also.

 

[Loquah]

I'd agree with all the above re shipping. You can always shoot them an email and ask if they're experiencing any backlog.

FWIW they are great to deal with and seem to truly care about their community of customers. I don't see them going anywhere.

Final point us that Crack is their top selling HP amp so if they have to wait for quantities before ordering parts (eg chassis plates) the Crack would be the one hitting those minimum numbers more quickly / regularly.

 

[sjeffrey]

  Well, that's good to know, Nic. Can you give me an approximation of the time from your order until it was shipped. 2,3,4 weeks?

You can check their delivery status page, http://www.bottlehead.com/et/deliverystatus.htm
They only update it once or twice a week but it gives you an idea on how long it should take.
They seem to be a bit longer now because they are in the process or just completed a massive group buy that happened about 2 months ago.

 

[amcananey]

Look, I don't love the way Bottlehead runs the order process, but I understand why they do it.

1. They don't pack and ship individual kits as order comes in (e.g., one Crack, then one S.E.X., then one Stereomour, then another Crack, then an Eros, then a Quickie, etc.). Instead, they pack kits in batches. One week they might pack 50 Crack kits, then the next week they pack 50 S.E.X. kits, then the week after that they pack 100 Quickie kits (I'm just using sample numbers, and they might pack more than 1 kit in a given week). This is obviously more efficient for them, since they can basically run an assembly line.

2. They take orders, then when they have a sufficient volume of orders, they place an order for parts. Then they wait for the parts to arrive. Some parts arrive sooner than others, and they can't ship the kits until they have ALL the parts. This basically keeps their working capital at close to zero, which helps keep down the price of the kits. But as a customer, it is annoying.

3. In terms of the amp builder who screwed his customers, if you're referring to who I think you you're referring to, then: (a) I think that was an unusual situation -- I believe there were external factors that played a role in that situation that are unlikely to affect anyone within Bottlehead, and (b) he was an amp BUILDER -- Bottlehead just sells kits. If you have problems like those that I suspect the amp builder had, then I can easily see how you could get behind on actually doing the work of building kits. But Bottlehead is a team, they can cover for eachother as needed (at least to a certain degree), and they aren't building amps, they are "just" selling kits. Yes, there is manual work involved (especially the brushing of the chassis plates), but it isn't on the same level as building an amp.

Again, I find the Bottlehead approach slightly irritating, but maybe we are all just spoiled by Amazon and next-day delivery and we should remember that Bottlehead's model wasn't all that unusual a couple of years ago...

Best regards,
Adam

 

[skeptic]

Chad - as you can see if you skim even a few pages of this thread, or the forums at bottlehead, Doc B and his team are in constant communication with their customer base - providing both prompt technical support and regular updates on when then next batch will ship.  Having purchased a couple of bh products now, I can assure you that there are absolutely no parallels between bottlehead's business model and the SP fiasco.  
 
Frankly, as I assume you know as a long term member here, most of the highly recommended amps on head-fi have waiting lists, and all require payment up front.  This kit is well worth a few week wait.  Pull the trigger with confidence.