I'm really impressed by the finish of the top plate and the wooden base. The circuit looks like it has been heavily customized - it's got huge caps, the stepped attenuators as you mentioned, and from what I can tell nice insulation going around the wires to reduce the noise floor of the amp (it's already a very quiet amp with the speedball mod). I gotta say it again - it's an impressive looking amp!
Yea so the Western Electric 412a is the best power tube you can put in it , as you said I can't tell exactly what the input tube is(the smaller one). But man your neighbor hooked you up BIG TIME. Also years later I'm sure he's bored with it send me that wooden case RIGHT NOW. I demand it. My God that's a thing of beauty.
Thank for your review! i enjoy my setup so much! I liked your video that it made me bought the bottlehead crack with speedball. Current setup : Sennheiser HD-650 Bottlehead Crack + Speedball ODAC Thanks :)
The Bottlehead stuff is great. I recently built a Crack + Speedball upgrade to pair with my HD 650's. Outstanding combo. I see a S.E.X. 2.1 in your future to drive the Audeze LCD 2's ;-) Thanks for posting the vid.
I went and checked out the S.E.X., and yeah, I might have to try it, if I can get over the intimidation of having to pick up a soldering iron. The last time I did so was 35+ years ago.
So, after 7 years, I confess: I built that amp. And it's as awesome as Mike says it is. I wish I had a pair of HD820s (or 800s) to go with it, but the 600s are so good I almost don't care. I will go through these comments and reply at some point, but if anyone wants a similar build, just let me know - I'll do it for free (if you buy the goods).
@@austin5815 Hey there! Yes, powder-coated like in an oven. Blue Flame Powder Coating in Denver, CO. Auto parts are their mainstay, but they do whatever. Find a local shop that’ll take you seriously, then send them pics of the finished product for their online catalog.
@@austin5815 Not much difference. Parach coding will cover both sides of the plate though, so be aware that you may have some grinding to do to get to bare metal on the back side, for grounding purposes. I have also tried a sheet of carbon fiber, the kind with a 3M sticky backside. Looks really cool. Just have to use a Dremel tool to carve out the holes and cooling vents.
I just picked up the Senn HD600, along with a Schiit Modi 2 Uber dac and Vali 2 amp (using an electro-harmonix 6922 tube as a replacement for the stock tube) .. This is my first experience with a tube amp of any sort, and I'm absolutely loving the setup. The sound has just blown me away. (Vali 2 is a hybrid, so I'm not sure how close to the sound of a true tube amp it has) Thinking about spending another $75 on a Philips Holland / Pope PCC88/7DJ8 tube., as I'm already feeling an addiction to "tube rolling" coming on .. I'd LOVE to try a custom Crack someday -- everyone over at head-fi seems to agree with you that it's the ultimate amp for the HD600 ... Only problem is that I've never done any solder/electronics work, so I'm a little bit hesitant to spend several hundred dollars on a kit for my very first project... Do you happen to have the custom part list (including tubes) for your neighbors Crack? I wish I knew someone with his talent in my area (Seattle) -- not sure I'd be able to build one quite as fancy as his with my current inexperience. Any idea how his setup might compare with the stock Crack or Crack speedball? Thanks..
+TruthBy Design I don't have his custom part list, but I can say that his build is waaaaay over the top. He spent a small fortune on it, AND built it himself. I'm like you, in that I'm kind of intimidated by trying to build one of these kits. However, I think there are a number of kits that we could probably "warm up" on. I finally invested in a SEEED soldering kit (off Massdrop). It's a little tiny soldering iron, much smaller than the traditional type. I mainly got the little one so it wouldn't take up much room. Now I figure I have no excuse if the itch to try a build hits me. Enjoy the HD600s. They are great 'phones!
@@mike.thomas "waaaaaay over the top" is spot on. A lot of those mods IME don't offer a huge difference in audio quality over the stock parts. The two things that really change the sound quality on this amp are the speedball upgrade and tube rolling. Power supply maybe if you're plugging directly into the wall and don't have a good power conditioner/protector. That dale resistor stepped attenuator he built can be bought on eBay fully built for $30. I put one in my Crack 'cus it was a thing people were talking about over on HeadFi but I didn't notice an increase in quality over the Alps Blue Velvet I had on there at similar levels.
There might not be "audiophile USB cables", but power via USB (used by your dac) might not be clean. You could use an isolator and separate "audiophile quality" power supply if for some reason you thought you hadn't spent enough money. Also, HD600's are rated as 300 ohm.
Good point on the power via USB thing. Yeah, I thought they were 300ohm, but I wasn't positive when I made the vid (and was ill-prepared, so I had to punt :-)).
i have one of these with the speedball on order. should ship soon if they're not too overwhelmed with other orders. can't wait to listen to it with the hd650 :D
great video, your neighbor is a true builder master. Can I ask you how much did it cost your friend in parts and mods till he had the final product? Will be be building you your unit?
Thank you for this video!! If I want to get more info in the mods your neighbor did how would I go about getting that?....I just purchased the HD600 & been drooling over the Bottlehead Crack. Any info would be awesome. Again, really enjoy your videos & look forward to more :)
Tim Diebert I think it's an enhanced "Speedball" mod, which Bottlehead sells as an additional kit. Start there, and check out the Bottlehead forums. He posted there as "brillo" when building/hotrodding his setup.
I've watched this so many times I can lip sync the entire video.... I will be building my own soon but I want that volume control but might be above my skills
Marcos Favero I don’t know for sure but I kind of doubt it. I mean you’ll almost certainly get sound but I’d expect things to be sub-par due to voltage and impedance matching issues. In other words it’s not a line-level output, unless there’s something I’m forgetting, and it has line level outputs.
The 990's input impedance is greater than the stock Crack's output impedance, and is relatively close to the "perfect match" HD-600, so I think you'll be fine. The 990 also shows up on this page (though it warns it's out of date): bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=546.0
michael hayes According to my friend that built it, it’s just a matter of persistence and care. I have not built an amp, but I’ve built a few synthesizer modules and I’ve found if you’re good at following instructions soldering a kit together is pretty easy (as long as the instructions are good).
Being right-handed, I flipped the top plate over so the volume knob would be on the right side instead of the left. This required some fairly tircky wiring charnges underneath, but nothing too crazy, so I just went ahead and built it 'upside down'.
Hey Mike, I have to confess I don't know headphones or turntables from your new (to you Porshe) and as yours is my first subscription (I am a retired Fireman with not much internet experience.) I know just enough to get stuck. Anyway this is the last utube video that I have received from you so I think that something is wrong. i have enjoyed your latest videos, but had to find them on utube. Please let me know if I am still a subscriber. It is probably Google/utube thing me thinks. Anyway I just bought a new Fuji x-pro1 with a free 18mm lens. I also bought the M mount adapter for my Zeiss 50mm f1.5 Sonnar. I have been to busy to use all this, however, once I put in latest firmware I am good to go. What do you think of the Fuji x system (specifically x-pro1) Believe me I have thick skin so shoot away. This is all assuming that you can ... re utube issues.
Hi there, Sorry it took me a while to respond. I've produced a number of videos since this one, so if you haven't seen them in your "My Subscriptions" view then perhaps something is wrong. I guess the best way to tell if you're really subscribed is to either look under "My Subscriptions" (on the left-hand menu), or when looking at this video's page, see if there is a "Subscribe" button. If there is such a button, then you aren't actually subscribed. Re the XPro1, I think people should use the camera that works best for them, and I don't judge choices. I don't really have any direct experience with the XPro1 other than fooling with it in the camera shop for a few minutes. I do like the style of the camera, though. Right now, it seems to me that Sony and Fuji are doing most of the interesting innovating in the digital world.
That's one of the best bottlehead builds I've ever seen. Kudos to your neighbor friend person
I'm really impressed by the finish of the top plate and the wooden base. The circuit looks like it has been heavily customized - it's got huge caps, the stepped attenuators as you mentioned, and from what I can tell nice insulation going around the wires to reduce the noise floor of the amp (it's already a very quiet amp with the speedball mod). I gotta say it again - it's an impressive looking amp!
Yes, it's very impressive. My neighbor pulled out all the stops when modding it. It really sounds great, too!
Yea so the Western Electric 412a is the best power tube you can put in it , as you said I can't tell exactly what the input tube is(the smaller one). But man your neighbor hooked you up BIG TIME. Also years later I'm sure he's bored with it send me that wooden case RIGHT NOW. I demand it. My God that's a thing of beauty.
Thank for your review! i enjoy my setup so much! I liked your video that it made me bought the bottlehead crack with speedball.
Current setup :
Sennheiser HD-650
Bottlehead Crack + Speedball
ODAC
Thanks :)
Nice vid, Mike. Thanks (and thanks to your neighbor).
The Bottlehead stuff is great. I recently built a Crack + Speedball upgrade to pair with my HD 650's. Outstanding combo. I see a S.E.X. 2.1 in your future to drive the Audeze LCD 2's ;-) Thanks for posting the vid.
I went and checked out the S.E.X., and yeah, I might have to try it, if I can get over the intimidation of having to pick up a soldering iron. The last time I did so was 35+ years ago.
That looks difficult :-).
Impressive build. This amp is a Bottlehead Crack on steroids!
So, after 7 years, I confess: I built that amp. And it's as awesome as Mike says it is. I wish I had a pair of HD820s (or 800s) to go with it, but the 600s are so good I almost don't care. I will go through these comments and reply at some point, but if anyone wants a similar build, just let me know - I'll do it for free (if you buy the goods).
@@austin5815 Hey there! Yes, powder-coated like in an oven. Blue Flame Powder Coating in Denver, CO. Auto parts are their mainstay, but they do whatever. Find a local shop that’ll take you seriously, then send them pics of the finished product for their online catalog.
@@austin5815 Ha! Yeah, trusted pair here too. Mike’s review is honest, and conservative - those phones are sweet, truly.
@@austin5815 Not much difference. Parach coding will cover both sides of the plate though, so be aware that you may have some grinding to do to get to bare metal on the back side, for grounding purposes. I have also tried a sheet of carbon fiber, the kind with a 3M sticky backside. Looks really cool. Just have to use a Dremel tool to carve out the holes and cooling vents.
I just picked up the Senn HD600, along with a Schiit Modi 2 Uber dac and Vali 2 amp (using an electro-harmonix 6922 tube as a replacement for the stock tube) ..
This is my first experience with a tube amp of any sort, and I'm absolutely loving the setup. The sound has just blown me away. (Vali 2 is a hybrid, so I'm not sure how close to the sound of a true tube amp it has) Thinking about spending another $75 on a Philips Holland / Pope PCC88/7DJ8 tube., as I'm already feeling an addiction to "tube rolling" coming on ..
I'd LOVE to try a custom Crack someday -- everyone over at head-fi seems to agree with you that it's the ultimate amp for the HD600 ... Only problem is that I've never done any solder/electronics work, so I'm a little bit hesitant to spend several hundred dollars on a kit for my very first project... Do you happen to have the custom part list (including tubes) for your neighbors Crack? I wish I knew someone with his talent in my area (Seattle) -- not sure I'd be able to build one quite as fancy as his with my current inexperience. Any idea how his setup might compare with the stock Crack or Crack speedball?
Thanks..
+TruthBy Design I don't have his custom part list, but I can say that his build is waaaaay over the top. He spent a small fortune on it, AND built it himself. I'm like you, in that I'm kind of intimidated by trying to build one of these kits. However, I think there are a number of kits that we could probably "warm up" on. I finally invested in a SEEED soldering kit (off Massdrop). It's a little tiny soldering iron, much smaller than the traditional type. I mainly got the little one so it wouldn't take up much room. Now I figure I have no excuse if the itch to try a build hits me.
Enjoy the HD600s. They are great 'phones!
TruthBy Design your tube isn't otl like this. it's very different
@@mike.thomas "waaaaaay over the top" is spot on. A lot of those mods IME don't offer a huge difference in audio quality over the stock parts. The two things that really change the sound quality on this amp are the speedball upgrade and tube rolling. Power supply maybe if you're plugging directly into the wall and don't have a good power conditioner/protector. That dale resistor stepped attenuator he built can be bought on eBay fully built for $30. I put one in my Crack 'cus it was a thing people were talking about over on HeadFi but I didn't notice an increase in quality over the Alps Blue Velvet I had on there at similar levels.
There might not be "audiophile USB cables", but power via USB (used by your dac) might not be clean. You could use an isolator and separate "audiophile quality" power supply if for some reason you thought you hadn't spent enough money.
Also, HD600's are rated as 300 ohm.
Good point on the power via USB thing.
Yeah, I thought they were 300ohm, but I wasn't positive when I made the vid (and was ill-prepared, so I had to punt :-)).
2:50 HD 600 is 300 ohms.
i have one of these with the speedball on order. should ship soon if they're not too overwhelmed with other orders. can't wait to listen to it with the hd650 :D
how was it 4 yrs later? worth it?
great video, your neighbor is a true builder master. Can I ask you how much did it cost your friend in parts and mods till he had the final product? Will be be building you your unit?
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I talked to him, and I think he has around $1100 in the amp with all the fancy parts and tubes.
Thank you for this video!! If I want to get more info in the mods your neighbor did how would I go about getting that?....I just purchased the HD600 & been drooling over the Bottlehead Crack. Any info would be awesome. Again, really enjoy your videos & look forward to more :)
Tim Diebert I think it's an enhanced "Speedball" mod, which Bottlehead sells as an additional kit. Start there, and check out the Bottlehead forums. He posted there as "brillo" when building/hotrodding his setup.
After seeing this, I'm not sure I want the normal one now. :)
I've watched this so many times I can lip sync the entire video....
I will be building my own soon but I want that volume control but might be above my skills
How can I contact your neighbor ?
is that how it's pronounced, now i'm thinking of the room correction software on Denon receivers - Audyssey
Quick question: Can the Bottlehead Crack output be used also as a source for active speakers rather than headphones? Thanks!
Marcos Favero I don’t know for sure but I kind of doubt it. I mean you’ll almost certainly get sound but I’d expect things to be sub-par due to voltage and impedance matching issues. In other words it’s not a line-level output, unless there’s something I’m forgetting, and it has line level outputs.
Who build that ?
I'm thinking about buying the kit for one of these. Do you think the Beyerdynamic DT990 250 Ohm would be a good pairing with the crack?
The 990's input impedance is greater than the stock Crack's output impedance, and is relatively close to the "perfect match" HD-600, so I think you'll be fine. The 990 also shows up on this page (though it warns it's out of date):
bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=546.0
Is that a KT66 or KT88 in the Bottlehead?
Neither. It's a 421A (if you're talking about the large tube). Can't remember what the small tube is, but it's not a KT.
hi mike mike here,i have never built anything except a crossover would you think i could build this with very limited experience ?
michael hayes According to my friend that built it, it’s just a matter of persistence and care. I have not built an amp, but I’ve built a few synthesizer modules and I’ve found if you’re good at following instructions soldering a kit together is pretty easy (as long as the instructions are good).
Is this video mirrored? Normally the potentiometer is on the left and the power jack on the right.
DeathToTheseWalls The video is normal -- this Bottlehead Crack is highly customized by my neighbor, who built it.
Being right-handed, I flipped the top plate over so the volume knob would be on the right side instead of the left. This required some fairly tircky wiring charnges underneath, but nothing too crazy, so I just went ahead and built it 'upside down'.
Hey Mike,
I have to confess I don't know headphones or turntables from your new (to you Porshe) and as yours is my first subscription (I am a retired Fireman with not much internet experience.) I know just enough to get stuck. Anyway this is the last utube video that I have received from you so I think that something is wrong. i have enjoyed your latest videos, but had to find them on utube. Please let me know if I am still a subscriber. It is probably Google/utube thing me thinks. Anyway I just bought a new Fuji x-pro1 with a free 18mm lens. I also bought the M mount adapter for my Zeiss 50mm f1.5 Sonnar. I have been to busy to use all this, however, once I put in latest firmware I am good to go. What do you think of the Fuji x system (specifically x-pro1) Believe me I have thick skin so shoot away. This is all assuming that you can ... re utube issues.
Hi there,
Sorry it took me a while to respond. I've produced a number of videos since this one, so if you haven't seen them in your "My Subscriptions" view then perhaps something is wrong. I guess the best way to tell if you're really subscribed is to either look under "My Subscriptions" (on the left-hand menu), or when looking at this video's page, see if there is a "Subscribe" button. If there is such a button, then you aren't actually subscribed.
Re the XPro1, I think people should use the camera that works best for them, and I don't judge choices. I don't really have any direct experience with the XPro1 other than fooling with it in the camera shop for a few minutes. I do like the style of the camera, though. Right now, it seems to me that Sony and Fuji are doing most of the interesting innovating in the digital world.
Great!
Thanks, now I want one..
Happy to spread the G.A.S. illness :-)
great video, but what was the name of the larger tube?
+Brennan Beltrano It's a 421A.
+Mike Thomas
thanks!
No problemo. :-)