[dusk]

I am so excited to finish my first ever DIY project - a Bottlehead Crack - and share it with all of you! I'm really damn proud at how it turned out.
 
Paired with the HD650s and fed by an AURALiC Vega / Audirvana+, I have to say this might be one of the best systems I have ever heard so far.
 
It took me about 10 hours total time over two days, including casework.
 
I took pictures of the entire process for anyone interested.
 
Now I'm very interested to see what the Speedball adds... 
 
It's looking like those glorious Audio Note separates don't seem all that far out of my reach anymore.
 
I want to say thanks to @FrankCooter for insisting I give DIY a shot, and providing a ton of inspiration from his gorgeous creations. Thanks Frank!
 
On to the build log!
 
 
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LETS GET STARTED.  Clean desk.  Mug of coffee. INSPIRATION.  Done.
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Snapping all the pieces in place that can be snapped into place...
 

 
 
 
This part was a small bitch.
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Top side starting to look like something.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Numbered and ready to go.
 

 
 
 
Desk is starting to get cluttered....
 
 

 
 
 
Used a drill to twist the wires.
 

 
 
 
 
They came out pretty good.
 

 
 
 
First bit of soldering.  Burned myself twice.
 

 
 
 
 
First time needing helping hands.
 

 
 
 
Desk getting worse....
 

 
 
 
 
L/R wired up to volume pot.
 

 
 
 
 
These little LED's were the first real bitch of the project.
 

 
 
 
 
Starting to look like something down here!
 
 
 

 
My first real screw up of the the project.  Melted some wires while trying to angle the soldering iron in a silly way.
 
 
 

 
 
DONE SOLDERING.... time to test it.
 
 
 
 

 
 
EVERYTHING WORKED.  First pass! 
 

 
 
The tubes are glowing, not exploding into my eyes!
 

 
Inside LEDs working fine, too.  Looks like some kind of squid monster.
 

 
Alright.. all hooked up to a makeshift floor system.
 

 
HOT DAMN does this sound good... This might be one of my favorite headphone setups.. ever.
 

 
 
 
This was the first thing I played... aftermath in mono.
 

 
 
 
Followed by.. well, you know.
 
 
 

 
 
Desk and floor are a mess... I'll clean it tomorrow.
 

 
 
On to the case!!!
 
 

 
 
I have no idea what I'm doing.  Never worked with wood before... 
 

 
I tried burning the edges with a blow torch.. came out pretty good!
 

 
 
Spraying poly on it for a semi gloss finish.
 

 
Letting the little guys dry out.
 

 
 
Wood glue and tape.
 

 
 
 
DONE.
 

 

[FrankCooter]

Congratulations Alex!
 
Very clean build for a first project!
 
I really like the way you customized the case with the blowtorch.
 
This amp should give you many, many hours of enjoyment. The music will be great, but every time you turn it on you'll get the additional and unique thrill of "Hey ! I made that !"
 
BTW,  "Aftermath" was either the second or third album I ever bought ( first was "The Doors"). Still sounds great today.
 
Now it's time to start "hot rodding" the circuit !

 

[CEE TEE]

Oh man- that SMOKES my Crack build.  Yes, enjoy it for a bit and then put the Speedball upgrade in.  Definitely cleans up and tightens up the sound.  You look like a real DIY guy from those pics.  And a music lover too...

 

[gepardcv]

Very nice!! Love the blowtorch idea. I want to listen to this setup.

 

[bcschmerker4]

Congratulations on a fully-functional first build.

 

[whirlwind]

Very nice, well done, sir........great idea with the blow torch....congrats and happy listening......and don't forget to listen to The Kinks - One For The Road 

 

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Great work, very nicely documented. The blow torch on the corners was a splendid idea! Gives it a nice vintage look. The Speedball is a great upgrade, very worthwhile, it adds control and detail. Adding a choke and replacing the pot are both excellent bang-for-the-buck upgrades.

 

[Pingupenguins]

Looks really cool! I like how the Bottlehead can be built off a bunch of leads, no PCB required. Might try to build one out of my wire. Got TONS of it laying around. Keep on DIY'ing amps!

 

[aamefford]

@Dusk! Very nice build! You make me impatient to get started. I look forward to seeing you at our next area meet. If you bring the Crack, I'll look forward to hearing it. Again, nice and cool looking build.

 

[funch]

  Congratulations Alex!
 
Very clean build for a first project!
 
I really like the way you customized the case with the blowtorch.
 
This amp should give you many, many hours of enjoyment. The music will be great, but every time you turn it on you'll get the additional and unique thrill of "Hey ! I made that !"
 

 
Amen to that. The DIY aspect kicks the enjoyment factor up several notches.
 
So, have you been lookin' for your next project yet?  

 

[dusk]

Amen to that. The DIY aspect kicks the enjoyment factor up several notches.

So, have you been lookin' for your next project yet?  

Actually I've been slowly modding the crack up. Replaced both tubes (Mullard cv003 NOS and tung sol 5998), added the speedball, a stepped attenuator with dale resistors, some mundorf coupling caps bypassed with jensen cap. I plan on adding a choke, vintage light a neutrik cable, redo the power and rca plugs to support to right angle, and build a new longer cable for the HD650... Then I think I'll be done with the project. I'll post pictures when I'm "finished" with it. It already sounds amazing with HD650s.

I wanted to build a phono stage next, and was looking into the Eros and ANK L3 phono, but in my internet travels I found a man named Mark Voight who builds phono stages one at a time (month long build process) out of his house. It's called the Magi Phonomenal He doesn't do any advertising and is word of mouth only, but every review was too glowing to ignore, so I bought one to see for myself.

I was thinking that my next major project will be to replicate the circuit of the Magi Phono.

I'm really getting into my turntable, a fully restored vintage Thorens TD 160 and needle drops recently, and tweaking that thing has been hours of frustration and satisfaction... I'm about to mod it to take a new motor..

This hobby has a lot of unexpected detours and side passageways, and I'm enjoying exploring all the ones I find.