Discover 469 Community discussions, tips, and reviews on Bottlehead Crack + Speedball. Looking forward to hearing this with my HD650s. Do yourself a favor and get a temp-controlled iron, some de-soldering braid, and a flux pen before.
The arrival of my HD6XX's motivated me to build my Crack. I was thinking about getting the plate powdercoated, and spending some time on the base. But in the end decided to just build it and make a pretty base later (perhaps one that matches the faux wood on the Marantz). My DAC/Amp is a Marantz HD-DAC1. Signal path is: Tidal -> Chromecast Audio -> HD-DAC1 'fixed' line outs -> Crack -> HD6XX After comparing Crack to the headphone out of the HD-DAC1 (by simply moving the cable back and forth), I'm finding the Crack a bit underwhelming. Note that I have not yet added the Speedball. Forgive my terminology, I'm new at this headphone thing.
I find it more difficult to track the bass guitar - things are a bit congested with a lot less detail. I understand the Speedball will clear this up specifically. The Crack is definitely warmer, but there's also less detail in the mids. It's like my ears are hearing less, but louder, with the Crack. All in all, the HD-DAC1 is just a lot more engaging, and not in a tiring way. When switching from Crack to HD-DAC1, it's like I'm taking cottonballs out of my ears or something.
Everything just jumps out at me on the HD-DAC1, I find myself getting into the song rather than listening for the things I want to compare. Primary comparison song is 'Hey Floyd' by Jamiroquai.
As the song picks up, the instruments continue layering. All are clear and identifiable on the HD-DAC1, and the big orchestral chorus intro just sounds fat and wide and amazing. On the Crack, it sounds more like a wall of noise. So my questions are: -How much will break-in help the Crack? I have about 2hrs on it now. -How much will speedball help the Crack for overall sound quality (that is - not just 'tighter bass' as is often described) -How much would better tubes help?
-I don't have experience with, well, any other DACs or AMPs. I know the HD-DAC1 isn't common, but reviews are glowing where you can find them - so is it just unreasonable for me to think that a ~$400 crack will sound as good as the amp in a ~$1100USD DAC/AMP unit? Thanks in advance for any tips/advice/criticisms.
About the amp: Probably the best amp I've experienced for high impedance headphones for under $1000 and better than some that cost more. Perfect for those who own Sennheiser HD800, HD650, HD600, HD580, Beyerdynamic T1, or any Beyerdynamic headphone that's 250ohm or more. It seriously sounds AWESOME. Tempat dorama jepang sub indonesia. The first amp that made me understand what soundstage meant and made me utter 'Wow! Imaging and depth of sound is superb. In case you are wondering, it was paired with a T1 headphone.
Almost any decent DAC pairs amazingly with it too. I've tried Matrix X-Sabre, Audio-GD NFB-1, NFB-2, SA-1.32, SA-2, Ref 7, Neko D100Mk2 and they were all fantastic pairings. After an A-B test against my Burson Soloist which was my previous favorite, I sold the Burson. It has the all important Speedball upgrade but further to that, it has a stepped attenuator upgrade which removes channel imbalance at low volumes and sharpens the imaging further; it has 5 upgraded capacitors including two huge Mundorf MCAPs.
This amp is worth at least $850+ now with all the upgrades not counting the poor AUD which will make it cost $600+ just to land a stock unbuilt unit here with Speedball. This amp was expertly built and upgraded by a HeadFi member called Loquah. Some of you Melbourne guys might know him. Item: Linn Kans MK1 bookshelf speakers Location:Mosman Price: 650 Item Condition: good Reason for selling: Too many speakers Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal as friend, COD Only Extra Info: These Kans are original MK1’s with sequential serial numbers and finished in black oak wood veneer. They are generally in very good condition but have picked up a few corner chips in the veneer, which I’ve shown below, and overall, do not detract from their appearance as the pair of tiny black boxes of Hi Fi magic. Over the years the Kans have developed a sort of Hi Fi cult status. Say what you will about them, but there is little doubting what these can achieve when placed(ideally on their original stands) close to a solid wall and with a moderately powered high current amp!
Item: OCOS speaker cable Location: Mosman Price: 90 Item Condition: used Reason for selling: NLR Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal as friend, COD Only Extra Info: This is a pair of OCOS speaker cable, now marketed by Dynaudio. I made up a parallel pair (2 strands) and terminated them with crimp on copper lugs. This equates to what Dynaudio offer as their Dynaudio Ocos Pro at many multiples of my asking price. As these are only 1.2m pair, it will only suit a select lucky few and especially if you’re running Dyns or Sonus Faber bookshelfs. Item: Lightspeed Attenuator Location: Hobart Price: $320 including shipping in Australia Item Condition: Used - Excellent condition Reason for selling: No longer required Payment Method: Pickup - Cash / Bank transfer / PayPal (+3.5%) Extra Info: LDR based variable attenuator. I am the second owner of this item, which is about 3 years old.