Bottleheads crack headphone amplifier delivers highend sound for a lowend price. I wanted it for my measurement program, which was slow in coming, so it took a while to get around to. 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. While waiting for the bigger kit a nonsna member contacted me to assemble his bottlehead. While i havent built the eros specifically and thus cannot comment on it, i have built a couple of the other bottlehead kits, namely the crack headphone amp and seduction now called reduction phono amp. Apr 29, 2014 bottlehead s crack headphone amplifier delivers highend sound for a lowend price.
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. If you are looking for a first time project this, in my opinion, is. An output transformerless otl amplifier for use with high impedance headphones that comes as a diy kit. Ill do the basic build first, then the speedball upgrade. Dec 04, 2018 bottleheads basic headphone amplifier kit, the crack, is probably the most well known, and best regarded, kitbaseddiy headphone amplifier there is. This kit went together right the very first time, the step by step instructions were dead nuts on. Aoshike 6j1 valve tube amplifier kit 6j1 tube preamp amplifier board preamp headphone. Bottleheads basic headphone amplifier kit, the crack, is probably the most. The new pt10 power transformer has a single high voltage secondary that feeds a pseudo dual mono supply, and an improved internal shielding arrangement.
Otl tube amp will good with planar headphones like audeze. It is an alltube outputtransformerless otl design, intended to. 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. Bottlehead chassis, wood bases and speaker cabinets, transformers. It showed us why the otl headphone amps from a few years back were so highly praised. Docs just announced a new otl headphone kit called crack. The resistances and voltages were then tested and passed all tests.
Came as the stock tube in the kit and i returned to it at the end of all my rolling to see how far the crack had come. 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. Bottlehead and enjoy the are giving away their easytobuild crack 1. The included tubes are of decent quality and can be expected to provide years of great sound. This amp is wired pointtopoint as opposed to on a board. Purchased this kit and built the preamp literally in two days. Like crack this amp is intended to be used with high impedance headphones 200 ohms or higher like sennheiser hd600650800, beyerdynamic 250 and 600 ohms headphones, etc. 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.
After thoroughly enjoying the crack for over a year, i decided it was time to enjoy the next step up in the bottlehead range for both a challenge and a new step towards audio nirvana. 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. Other diy kits in the bottlehead stable include the singleended experimenters headphone and speaker amp, the s. The next step in the bottlehead range is called the single ended experimenter kit or s. Hi guys, got a crack coming in as my first diy build to write an article on. Oct 15, 2016 recently completed my second bottlehead kit.
The kit for discussion today is a single ended triode parafeed transformer output monoblock amp called the paraglow, by electronic tonalities of poulsboro, washington. This weeks kit is the bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier. Bottlehead s crack headphone amplifier delivers highend sound for a lowend price. However, that does not mean that you cant implement a similar amp with your own design. Unfollow headphone amp diy kit to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Christmas eve the ups guy shows up with my crack kit from bottlehead.
The highest quality audiophile tube amplifier kits for headphones since 1995. Sep 18, 2012 bottlehead crack the stupendously good diy headphone amplifier. After that, itll be game on for further upgrades, tweaks, and tube rolling. Bottlehead crack otl headphone amp greetings once again. I read lots of good things about the bottlehead crack. Bottlehead crack headphone amplifier tube mazetube maze.
The bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier bottlehead has been known to me many years before i purchased my first kit from them. 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. 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. The bottlehead crack otl headphone amplifier diy audio. The bottlehead crack is a diy kit sold by bottlehead in america. Apr 03, 2019 originally announced in 2010, the crack is an affordable tubebased headphone amplifier kit offered by the bottlehead corporation located in poulsbo, washington state, usa.
X with extended foreplay, the stereomour 2a345 stereo amp, the paramount 300b2a3 monoblocs, the quickie batterypowered preamp and the eros. My diy headphone tube amps diy headphones, diy amplifier. Nobody has chimed in yet, so i will add my somewhat peripheral experience. This is a good company for the budding diyer as the directions are very explicit with color photographs and the support is quite good.
In outline, usbased bottlehead has been creating valve kits for some time and have a good. Mar 29, 2020 well, as indicated above, the design for the quickie from bottlehead is not in the public domain so even if someone had the schematic, it wouldnt be right to just publish it without permission. The imposing 6080 dualtriode power tube did not light up. Crack is our version of classic otl headphone amp designs of several years.
You can learn more about the speedball upgrade for this kit at this link. Discussion in headphone amplifiers and combo dacamp units started by ojneg, oct 3. Bottlehead crack headphone amp desktop setup youtube. The crack is designed to hook you on your first try. Doc and queen have been in the business of selling tubebased kits for quite some time and have earned an excellent reputation for providing easily accessible and excellent sounding kits. This does not have to be a diy kit if there are better headphone amplifiers out there that are already made but the project would be fun to tackle so the more diy the better, but this is not a must. The bottlehead crack is a superb introduction into the world of diy audio. Well, as indicated above, the design for the quickie from bottlehead is not in the public domain so even if someone had the schematic, it wouldnt be right to just publish it without permission. 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. Bottlehead crackatwoa headphone amp build portable audio. Hes a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has. Hifi stereo hifi audio audio speakers valve amplifier audio amplifier audiophile headphone amp vacuum tube diy electronics. A 12au7 input tube serving as a voltage amplifier, directly coupled to a 6080 power tube as a cathode follower output.
The marvelously addictive bottlehead crack innerfidelity. Only needing one power tube and one input tube, tube rolling is one of the most fun things to do with the crack, and you can easily tune the sound to your liking. Vacuum tube, diy box, audiophile, speakers, techno. But here i present a little desktop system that i put together to check out a.
Other than the kits, he also puts out a magazine called valve, and runs a forum on. So for christmas i got another kit that id been wanting. The crack is an affordable kit, so builders will inevitably want to tinker and. If you love this amp is higly recommended to upgrade it with the speedball kit. You basically receive a bunch of parts and wires, along with four pieces of wood, a aluminium chassis and a couple of tubes. Cnet news editors and reporters provide top technology news, with investigative reporting and indepth coverage of tech issues and events. While i havent built the eros specifically and thus cannot comment on it, i have built a couple of the other bottlehead kits, namely the crack headphone.
Ive now built a crack headphone amp with speedball upgrade and an eros phonopre. Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a3. Its been way too long since we talked about the lovely bottlehead crack diy headphone amp. Diy audio projects forum new bottlehead quickie battery. The bottlehead crack diy tube headphone amp kit youtube. Unlike many vacuum tube designs, the crack is relatively beginner friendly due to the included documentation and large user base. A forum for discussing kit assembly by bottleheads factory authorized technician, paul birkeland. Nobsound el34 class a singleended tube amplifier stereo hifi amp diy kit 1set. 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. Apr 29, 2014 the bottlehead crack tube amp for headphones. I decided to go diy route its much more fun like that and i would be more familiar with internal structure of the amp that way. However, you didnt just build a tube amp to not play around with.
Upgrading the bottlehead crack headphone amplifier. The bottlehead crack is an outstanding first project for the novice audio diyer. Apr 29, 2014 the bottlehead crack tube amp for headphones saved from. How to build fender princeton tube guitar amp kit beginning to end dlab. Doc and queen have been in the business of selling tube based kits for quite some time and have earned an excellent reputation for providing easily accessible and excellent sounding kits.
The parts quality is very good, the documentation is truly excellent, the bottlehead forums provide fantastic peertopeer assistance, and construction is very easy. The bottlehead crack is an exceptional headphone amp that pairs well with high impedance headphones such as the sennheiser hd 650s and the hd 800s. To set out a few of the parameters that i am currently looking at the budget is around 350 which is flexible depending on what amp kits are around. Bottleheads basic headphone amplifier kit, the crack, is probably the most well known, and best regarded, kitbaseddiy headphone amplifier there is. First the challenge and fun of building has been a truly invigorating experience. 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. But this kit contains the most through documentation i have every seen, bar none. Originally announced in 2010, the crack is an affordable tubebased headphone amplifier kit offered by the bottlehead corporation located in poulsbo, washington state, usa. Home kits headphone amplifier kits headphone amplifier kits. The chassis, transformer, and screws were painted with metallic paint.
Gone are the dynaco days when teenage boys built kit amps in their garages or basements. Finally, ive listened to the amp with my own set up to ensure it was in proper working order. I have the bottlehead crack otl headphone amp, its amazing, i also have the speedball upgrade, by far the best headphone amp ive heard. Bottlehead provides mostly tube builds, from headphone amplifiers, to lowwattage speaker amplifiers, to preamps, etc. Buy products related to tube amplifier kit products and see what customers say about tube amplifier kit products on free delivery possible on eligible purchases. Im going to be super happy with the crack 2 as a change of pace amp once i get all the kinks worked out. One of the very first things i did when i started innerfidelity was call doc b. This article about the bottlehead crack is part of the wayback wednesday series. Check out the other wayback wednesday articles here. Have you tried planar magnetic headphone on bottlehead crack. The bottlehead crack is a tube amplifier in kit form. Review by headfonia the headphone enthusiasts website.
One big consideration was that this kit was to fit between the crack and the mainline in terms of price. Bottlehead crack headphone amp build and modification. Bottlehead stereomour kit thinking about building a 2a345. Crack is our version of classic otl headphone amp designs of several years ago that were hailed as some of the best sounding of their day. My goal for this build was a focus on quality of finish and neatness of wiring and component layout. Crack comes in form of a kit or the company can put it together for you. Bottlehead crack otl amp kitdiy the headphone community.
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