CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: Bottlehead Crack  (Read 3743 times)

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Hands

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #50 on: September 10, 2015, 01:06:34 AM »

Shit, I go poking around the Crack to see if I can find any loose connections that might have explained the right channel going out last night (which would come back if I pushed on various spots on the amp or tubes), and when I set it back up, I'm now getting a low-pitched, quiet hum. There regardless of tubes, volume, input connections, etc. Most likely scenario is that the connections need reflowed, but this thing looks like a PITA to work with given the speedball upgrade, huge caps, and given whoever built this did a sloppy job of it. Sweet! (Will pay good money if someone wants to take a look for me, seriously. I don't have much time for this.)
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OJneg

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #51 on: September 10, 2015, 02:04:40 AM »

Post pics and maybe we can help doofus. Or maybe MisterRogers can save the day
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fishski13

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #52 on: September 10, 2015, 02:55:11 AM »

I would start at the source/input and work your way forward. Ohm out the pot/grounds when the channel cuts out. Had a Crack here that would cut out and hum. Turned out to be a bad stock pot.

If you need someone to look at it, let me know.
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Thenewdude007

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #53 on: September 10, 2015, 05:29:35 AM »

So how much would tubes improve the midrange & bass of the HD800?

I have the stock Crack & stock tubes.
Sounds great, but midrange & bass are extremely veiled & thin compared to my LCD2.

What's the the most expensive tubes for the Crack that can bring the mids & bass forward.
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OJneg

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #54 on: September 10, 2015, 05:31:33 AM »

So how much would tubes improve the midrange & bass of the HD800?

I have the stock Crack & stock tubes.
Sounds great, but midrange & bass are extremely veiled & thin compared to my LCD2.

What's the the most expensive tubes for the Crack that can bring the mids & bass forward.


Consider Speedball first
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CEE TEE

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #55 on: September 10, 2015, 05:55:37 AM »

Hi Hans, someone earlier in the thread mentioned that switching between new tubes and NOS in the driver socket can cause problems with connection due to differences in pin thickness.  Could you try moving the driver tube in the socket to see if the stock socket has some issues? 
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sound soft harmonics rich bile rich rhyme

Riotvan

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #56 on: September 10, 2015, 06:39:50 AM »

Yep and you should also do a grounding test: http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=4812.0
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Extremes are easy, balance is hard.

OJneg

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #57 on: September 10, 2015, 07:34:24 AM »

GE 5814 + TungSol 5998 seems to be the best match for HD800 so far. Keep in mind that this Crack has a bevvy of other mods and tweaks.
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Arnotts

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #58 on: September 10, 2015, 07:39:56 AM »

So how much would tubes improve the midrange & bass of the HD800?

I have the stock Crack & stock tubes.
Sounds great, but midrange & bass are extremely veiled & thin compared to my LCD2.

What's the the most expensive tubes for the Crack that can bring the mids & bass forward.

Why do you WANT them to be expensive? LOL

Maybe you mean the best?

Also, before you start tailoring your amp and DAC to the HD800's, you probably want to mod them first. Or use EQ. Unless you're dead-set on keeping the stock sound...
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OJneg

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Re: Bottlehead Crack
« Reply #59 on: September 10, 2015, 07:40:41 AM »

Unless you're deaf-set on keeping the stock sound...
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