[connieflyer]

  The crew over at Bottlehead basically say that anyone can build it. Truth is you have the benefit of a wonderful group of heafiers here who love DIY and would be happy to build it for you for very little. That's what I decided to do in the end. I just ran an ad for a crack builder. I'm building the wooden base for the kit from some nice hardwood and he's building the amp. 
 
If you need names I'm happy to furnish you with some. Please consider that you have a huge Schiit fanboy here raving over the crack. I have the lyr sitting right beside it. Get the crack and you can buy me a beer later. 

I was under the impressiong that you already had one, that does make a difference if you were just repeating what others had said of if you had one yourself. The wa7  is definately a better looking amp.  One of the nicest one out there.

 

[olegausany]

 The crew over at Bottlehead basically say that anyone can build it. Truth is you have the benefit of a wonderful group of heafiers here who love DIY and would be happy to build it for you for very little. That's what I decided to do in the end. I just ran an ad for a crack builder. I'm building the wooden base for the kit from some nice hardwood and he's building the amp. 
 
If you need names I'm happy to furnish you with some. Please consider that you have a huge Schiit fanboy here raving over the crack. I have the lyr sitting right beside it. Get the crack and you can buy me a beer later. 

I was under the impressiong that you already had one, that does make a difference if you were just repeating what others had said of if you had one yourself. The wa7  is definately a better looking amp.  One of the nicest one out there.

Yes it's nice looking but everyone here talking about the best sound. I rather have better sound and less nice look than great look and so so sound but this doesn't apply to WA7, it's just means that with right tubes paining Crack is way better

 

[connieflyer]

Well I am using an Ember with the 650's and have rolled a half dozen or so tubes and I believe i have found a great match, but that is my feelings.  to say that bhc is the best amp for 650's without trying "all" the amps is a little presumptous

 

[MattTCG]

  I was under the impressiong that you already had one, that does make a difference if you were just repeating what others had said of if you had one yourself. The wa7  is definately a better looking amp.  One of the nicest one out there.

 
I have one on loan. 

 

[JamieMcC]

   
Fingers are starting to hover dangerously close to *checkout* and *ship to UK*..... The Crack + HD650 might just be the first setup I'll use to start my adventures in tube rolling!
 
Apart from the SB upgrade, are there any other upgrades/tweaks/tubes that provide noticeable improvements?

 
I have spent about $100 so far on hot rodding my own Crack and am over the moon with the results over the stock Crack + Speedball, which is rightly highly rated in the first place. And its also been a whole lot of fun.
 
I have been putting some thoughts down on each of the mods to the crack with my impressions on the results on my build page over on the bottlehead forum if you are interested. Impressions have been made listening with the  HD650's and T1's
 
http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,5284.0.html
 
Parts list
 
Valab 23 step ladder Attenuator $30
 
JFX Premium Metallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors 100uf 250v 2 x $32
 
JFX Premium Metallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors 2.2uf 250v 1 x $3

  The crack works well with both the hd800 and T1...quite well. But the magic is with the 650.

 
With the above mods you can have magic with the T1's also

 

 
Jamie

 

[PTom]

So is the HD 650/BHC combo competitive or even better than any summit fi setups? i.e. well amped HD 800, LCD 2/3, Beyerdynamic T1, Hifiman HE 500/6 etc....

 

[olor1n]

  So is the HD 650/BHC combo competitive or even better than any summit fi setups? i.e. well amped HD 800, LCD 2/3, Beyerdynamic T1, Hifiman HE 500/6 etc....

 
Going by some of the posts here? Yes.
 
Funny that the Crack hype has lead someone to formulate this thought and post it as a legitimate question.
 
edit: Before y'all get riled up - Yes, the combo could be "better" for someone who: 1) prefers the signature of the HD650 2) accepts its limitations over the flagships and 3) cannot justify the expense of summit-fi over something "good enough". These conditions don't discount the flagships as more capable though.

 

[MattTCG]

  So is the HD 650/BHC combo competitive or even better than any summit fi setups? i.e. well amped HD 800, LCD 2/3, Beyerdynamic T1, Hifiman HE 500/6 etc....

 
I think that some here would be afraid to comment for fear of getting flamed, 

, be not MattTCG...bring on your torches. While the crack/650 is not as good as some summitt fi setups (ie hd800 and a really good amp/dac) it certainly gets you in the neighborhood at a FRACTION of the cost. IMO
 
I denied the gushing over this combo for a couple years now. And then finally I gave in. Not because I wanted a DIY amp or that I felt any of the other amps that I'd used with the 650 were letting me down. It was because I loved the 650 so much that I wanted to hear all it's potential...every last drop.
 
Did the crack live up to my expectations? It exceeded them. 
 
I'm enjoying this combo so much that I'm no longer lusting after the he400i like I was just a few weeks ago. I may even put that purchase off for a while and let the dust settle before pulling the trigger. There is something that I appreciate about one pair of hp's and one amp that bring this much happiness. No other hp's and cables all over the place. Ahhh...simplicity at it's finest. 

 

[JacobLee89]

   
I have spent about $100 so far on hot rodding my own Crack and am over the moon with the results over the stock Crack + Speedball, which is rightly highly rated in the first place. And its also been a whole lot of fun.
 
I have been putting some thoughts down on each of the mods to the crack with my impressions on the results on my build page over on the bottlehead forum if you are interested. Impressions have been made listening with the  HD650's and T1's
 
http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,5284.0.html
 
Parts list
 
Valab 23 step ladder Attenuator $30
 
JFX Premium Metallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors 100uf 250v 2 x $32
 
JFX Premium Metallized Polypropylene Film Capacitors 2.2uf 250v 1 x $3
 
With the above mods you can have magic with the T1's also

 
 
Jamie

 
OK first step: stare long and hard at my HD650's
Second step: Resort to dining on bread and water for a few months.
 
Thanks for the insight on the parts!
 
From your documentary (ish), it seems wiser to buy the valab attenuator as part of the build rather than to replace the stock part (pententiometer?) later. May get the capacitors at a later date.
 
Also, I' have some spare Van Damme pro patch cable lying about which I'd rather use (for the input) than braid wires together. Now I'm curious as to how it'd affect the sound 

 

[JamieMcC]

   
OK first step: stare long and hard at my HD650's
Second step: Resort to dining on bread and water for a few months.
 
Thanks for the insight on the parts!
 
From your documentary (ish), it seems wiser to buy the valab attenuator as part of the build rather than to replace the stock part (pententiometer?) later. May get the capacitors at a later date.
 
Also, I' have some spare Van Damme pro patch cable lying about which I'd rather use (for the input) than braid wires together. Now I'm curious as to how it'd affect the sound

 
When I build another I would add the Valab attenuator from the start. However I would recommend if building the Crack first time to build stock first but allow some extra length to all the connecting cables of the stock pot. This makes trouble shooting very easy if built stock and would allow you to run the BHC for a while in standard form first. When you want to add the Valab your cables will have enough length and it will be easy to make the change. Running stock first will also give a very good bench mark for use in evaluating any future modifications against.
 
My summing up comments on the $30 Valab 23 step ladder Attenuator (its actually a little less)
 
"IMHO the Valab has taken my BHC+Speedball +Tung-sol 5998 to a level of refinement above which I had been experiencing when running with the 6AS7G GEC brown base without the Valab fitted. My perception of performance of the GEC is likewise improved."
 
The GEC on ebay are around £100-£150 nos mark ,if used tested strong then normally a little less.

 

[PTom]

   
Going by some of the posts here? Yes.
 
Funny that the Crack hype has lead someone to formulate this thought and post it as a legitimate question.
 
edit: Before y'all get riled up - Yes, the combo could be "better" for someone who: 1) prefers the signature of the HD650 2) accepts its limitations over the flagships and 3) cannot justify the expense of summit-fi over something "good enough". These conditions don't discount the flagships as more capable though.

That's pretty much why I asked it. I've read a number of posts about how the HD 650/crack combo lead to people selling summit fi gear or stating that they prefer this combo to way more expensive setups. 

 

[MattTCG]

I rolled a couple of tubes in the crack to experiment with the 650's. The Tung Sol 5998 remains the star of the show...gives me chills, seriously. The RCA 6A7S is also good, but second place. The 6080 is third place and offers a tubey warmer sound. 

 

[bdr529]

I think I like the Bendix 6080WB more than the TS 5998 in my BHC, but it's pretty much a toss up.

 

[CITIZENLIN]

Hi
 
How is BHC compare to LD MK IV with HD650?

 

[pez]

A bit off-topic, but those of you who also listen to IEMs, do you have an opinion on one that sounds 'similar' to the HD650s?  I'm sure it's a long shot, but curious, nonetheless .