It typically takes four weeks to get the parts made for your kit. Resources bottlehead web site and crack product page. But beware that it has an output impedance of like 100 ohms which means that your headphones should be at least 250 ohms, the 650 will be fine ofc. Pb designed the layout so that it could be done as a kit. The bottlehead crack is a tube amplifier in kit form.
Sb still a great amp though, with some great otl staging, one area it bested the t3, which doesnt have the best staging. Aug 21, 2018 bottleheads basic headphone amplifier kit, the crack, is probably the most well known, and best regarded, kitbaseddiy headphone amplifier there is. The bottlehead could capture the ethereal gossamer touch of jeanefflam bavouzets piano on debussys reverie but also his highoctane rendition of the suite bergamesque. First the challenge and fun of building has been a truly invigorating experience. This amp is wired pointtopoint as opposed to on a board. May 28, 2017 i think bottlehead have the best support and instructions of any kit ive ever built. And the last catch is that the chassis plate is made from acrylic plastic and the colors we get are random. We ordered a couple of cracks right before the price increase was announced more on that later so that probably explains the long waiting period. For decades, bottlehead has been providing wonderful diy kits, usually based around vacuum tubes hence companys name bottlehead, and with kit naming being a bit, ummm, edgy. You have to combine the parts and solder them to get a working amplifier made and you also have to sand and paintapply varnish to the wood. Oct 03, 2015 sb crack gets you alot of the way there but falls behind in most areas to summit fi stuff. If youve ever been interested in developing some soldering skills and learn about whats going on inside of a tube amp, bottlehead kits are a great place to start. You basically receive a bunch of parts and wires, along with four pieces of wood, a aluminium chassis and a couple of tubes.
X with extended foreplay, the stereomour 2a345 stereo amp, the paramount 300b2a3 monoblocs, the quickie batterypowered preamp and the eros and seduction phono preamp kits. The crack and crackatwoa sound similar but even with the upgrades the crack imho is beaten by both the other dedicated headphone amps. Bottlehead has been around for quite some time, id been following them for a while since before i came to ohio. Apr 06, 2019 bottlehead considers this a level 2 kit, meaning it is intended for someone who has some experience and already completed a kit like the crack. Aug 06, 2010 btw, theres a bottlehead forum where other guys and gals whove built this amp can help you along if you get stuck or better yet, let you know how to do further mods on this kit. Bottlehead crack headphone amp build and modification. The bottlehead crack amplifiers arrived a little over two months after having ordered them on bottleheads website. We ordered a couple of cracks right before the price increase was announced more on that later so that probably. The valhalla is way more neutral than the crack, it has that tubey sound but its not as warm, sluggish and yeah, tubey, as the crack. Ill do the basic build first, then the speedball upgrade. Sep 18, 2012 bottlehead web site and crack product page. Also the kit comes without a base, just like the original foreplay kit. I think bottlehead have the best support and instructions of any kit ive ever built. I waited until black friday to grab it from their website for 15% off.
It is an alltube outputtransformerless otl design, intended to pair with highimpedance headphones, such as the sennheiser hd6xx line. Originally announced in 2010, the crack is an affordable tubebased headphone amplifier kit offered by the bottlehead corporation located in poulsbo, washington state, usa. Discussion in headphone amplifiers and combo dacamp units started by ojneg. Ive also built the decware se84diy and zsp1, as kits go the bottlehead kits are not overly expensive, they are complete, well designed and come with exceptional directions. Christmas eve the ups guy shows up with my crack kit from bottlehead. Tremendously impressed with the quality of the instructions as well, of course, as the product itself. Bottlehead forums are a spectacular resource, go to the crack subforum for questions and assistance building this amp. All i know is that hd6x0 is synonymous with bottlehead crack speedball combo. Following an extended bout of debugging intermingled with highly colorful cursing, i realized that bottlehead was the ibm of tube amp kits. The parts quality is very good, the documentation is truly excellent, the bottlehead forums provide fantastic peertopeer assistance, and construction is very easy. A great amount of detail was put into this bottlehead crack headphone amplifier.
I have the bottlehead crack otl headphone amp, its amazing, i also have the speedball upgrade, by far the best headphone amp ive heard. Has anyone built the paramour 2a3 tube amp kit from. The bh power cord is a nice cable and an interesting kit to build although frankly, a bit physically taxing, due to the extent you are supposed to twist with a drill and then braid several fairly rigid pairs of solid core wire. The bottlehead crack is an outstanding first project for the novice audio diyer.
So much fun to listen to greatsounding music through something i built. Otl addiction i think im far more excited about the crack than lieven is. Tubes are the 12au7 and 6080 or derivatives thereof. I bought the crack and its speedball upgrade after i got my hands on a pair of massdrop x sennheiser hd 6xx headphones. You have to combine the parts and solder them to get a working amplifier made and. The process of stuffing and soldering a circuit board isnt difficult, but it is smaller scale and fussier than the crack assembly. It was then finished by hand with special oil with increasing grits of sandpaper between coats to get an ultra smooth finish. Bottlehead considers this a level 2 kit, meaning it is intended for someone who has some experience and already completed a kit like the crack. Discussion in headphone amplifiers and combo dacamp units started. The bottlehead crack is a superb introduction into the world of diy audio. Bottlehead quicksand battery powered amplifier kit a great. Also the kit comes without a base, just like the quickie.
The marvelously addictive bottlehead crack innerfidelity. Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a345. Although i cannot speak to the eros, i can say that ive been very happy with both the crack and the seduction. As per the very wellknown crack otl amplifier, its a kit that you build yourself, but its a little more challenging than the crack due to the extra components involved.
Maybe like how a fish seems to taste better if you caught it yourself. Yes, i know it only comes with the chinese 2a3s, but i could maybe get better 2a3s later. It is an alltube outputtransformerless otl design, intended to. Bottlehead and enjoy the are giving away their easytobuild crack 1.
Ive now built a crack headphone amp with speedball upgrade and an eros phonopre. It would be a pretty involved build with a lot of sub assemblies to build and test. The two stage zero feedback rc coupled circuit uses parallel feed a. This weeks kit is the bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier. Btw, theres a bottlehead forum where other guys and gals whove built this amp can help you along if you get stuck or better yet, let you know how to do further mods on this kit. For those of you too young to remember the heyday of mainframe computers, ibm dominated the market with products that were universally acknowledged to be inferior to their competitors. Docs just announced a new otl headphone kit called crack. A bottlehead forum threads on suitable tubes for rolling and output cap upgrades.
Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a3. I also own the bh crackatwoa a fancier version of the crack, the s. Oct 15, 2016 recently completed my second bottlehead kit. I could hardly believe it showed up before christmas. Hi guys, got a crack coming in as my first diy build to write an article on. Nov 19, 20 i have the bottlehead crack otl headphone amp, its amazing, i also have the speedball upgrade, by far the best headphone amp ive heard. Along with the quickie, i also built the bottlehead quicksand amplifier.
Bottlehead quicksand battery powered amplifier kit a great starter amp kit with plenty of room to build upon. This is a quick build log of bottlehead crack otl tube amplifier with some pictures and little stories. The bottlehead crack kit the amp runs on a single 9 pin 12au7 and an 8 pin 6080 6as7. Aug 06, 2010 hi guys, got a crack coming in as my first diy build to write an article on. Other diy kits in the bottlehead stable include the singleended experimenters headphone and speaker amp, the s. Upgrading the bottlehead crack headphone amplifier. The bottlehead crack is a diy kit sold by bottlehead in america. I finally decided i wanted to try to build a crack and placed an order for a kit last week. So for christmas i got another kit that id been wanting. Here you will find vacuum tube based amplifier, preamplifier and headphone amplifier kits, speaker kits, finished high end tube audio products, reel to reel tape machine upgrades, parts, and one of the finest support communities on the web.
Its an excellent sounding little unit, with good potential for modifications indeed bottlehead. I think it depends on what you want, the more tubey amp is the crack and if you like it then go for it. While the initial frustration regarding the ordering almost made us gave up, by the moment i received the package i really couldnt wait to start the build and to finally hear what the crack is all about. The bottlehead kits come well packaged and look good when completed, and also offer plenty of opportunity for customization along the way. It could cover in a warm bath the weird tones and rich colours of bill frisells version of shenandoah on the cd eastwest. Members of the bottlehead community watch for the best battery deals and report them on the bottlehead forum. Unlike many vacuum tube designs, the crack is relatively beginner friendly due to the included documentation and large user base. The company was created by the president for life dan doc b schmalle in the mid1990s, and primarily offers diy tube audio kits for both headphones and home stereos. Bottlehead crack headphone amps going on sale polk audio. With a stock crack and speedball this has surpassed all the upgrades ive made on it before, including high end caps, pot, and tube upgrades.
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