The HD 650's bass is tauter, the sound is significantly more transparent and better focused than the HD 580s. Late in the review I received a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 headphones, which blew away my old HD 580s. Is it adding "coloration" to the sound? Probably, but I like it. But the Crack's added warmth and richness somehow makes everything sound better. Now sure, good quality solid-state amps will produce greater detail and superior bass definition, and if accuracy is what you want, buy a solid-state amp, like Schiit Audio's $249 Asgard amp I raved about last year.
#Bottlehead crack amp crack#
The Crack delivers bona fide high-end sound. That's what the best tube amps do, you hear more of what's going on in the music, minus the edge or false hyped "detail" of typical budget-priced headphone amps. The sound was pure and clear, but never hard or bright. I bought these at least 10 years ago, and played 'em with countless receivers and headphone amps, but the Crack took the HD 580's sound to the next level. I first tried the Crack with my high-impedance Sennheiser HD 580 full-size headphones. The Crack is a bit bigger than most desktop amps-it's 7 inches wide and 11.25 inches deep-and it was designed by Paul Birkeland.
#Bottlehead crack amp Pc#
The amp's chassis, real wood base, power transformer, PC boards, and even that nifty little Bottlehead badge are all made in the U.S.A. Most Bottlehead customers buy the kits, but the company sells factory-assembled Crack headphone amps for $369, and considering the Crack's build and sound quality, it's still a major deal. The Crack is an output transformerless amp, specifically designed for high-impedance (100 ohms or higher) headphones like many Sennheiser, AKG, and Beyerdynamic models (Bottlehead offers other amps tuned for low-impedance Grado, Audio Technica, etc., models). It should take an evening or two to complete. The Bottlehead Crack amplifierįirst things first $219 buys the Crack as a build-it-yourself kit, but Bottlehead's founder Dan Schmalle assures me the kit is super easy to build by anyone who knows which end of a soldering iron gets hot. Bottlehead has been selling electronic kits for 17 years. Not this time the Bottlehead Crack amplifier I'm reporting on today goes for just $219, and it sounds like it's five times that price. I review and play around with a lot of audio gear, and as much as I love great budget stuff, the best-sounding products are always a lot more expensive. Those of you who are interested may want to reach out.I don't remember who told me about Bottlehead, but I'd like to thank whoever it was that made the introduction.
See: He's a really gracious guy and sent me a board at cost. Bottlehead, and others, have suggested that 6sn7's may perform better/were intended to run with DC, not AC, on the heater pin, so a wallwart of appropriate spec, wired to that tube socket, might actually be the best solution for those who desire to maximize performance with 6sn7's in the A-slot.Īlternatively, Maxhawk (on HF and bottlehead boards) made a really cool speedball replacement board with a selector switch that changes the bias to run 12au7's, e80cc's or 12bh7's at their ideal operating points. One other user on bottlehead reported the same outcome with three different adapters. Tried twice, one of which came from Lowther Club, and both added audible noise with various 6sn7's as compared to the blessed black background I hear with all of my 12au7's and 12bh7's. This and the slight lack of refinement in the highs did not bother me at all with hd6X0's or dt880's but can be an issue with hd800's, which necessitated a lot of tube rolling to find something I liked.įWIW - I have not had good experiences with 6sn7 adapters. Although more detailed and resolving than the sluggish WA3, it loses out to certain other well designed amps in the resolution department.
It is dynamic, engaging and punchy and throws a good but not expansive soundstage. I haven't heard the Valhalla, but this summary description of the crack is right on.
0 kommentar(er)
