Before soldering a wire onto the female RCA jacks I always insert a male RCA plug. This prevents the heat from deforming the insulation; especially on the economy RCAs.
Hint: When soldering RCA jacks cut about 10mm solder, fold it in half and put it in the RCA jack. When the soldering iron touch and melt it put the conductor in the hole and keep still for a couple of seconds.
Nicely done! For an old electronics hobbyist like me, nice to learn a couple things I've forgotten over the years I've been away from the hobby. I'm looking forward to building the Crack as my first foray back into the DIY world. Thx.
Thanks for this! I just ordered my Crack with Speedball mod a couple of days ago. It's been years since I've done any serious soldering and this was a great refresher. Since Bottlehead recommends this for high-impedance cans, I'll be pairing my Beyerdynamic DT990 (600 Ohm) to it. I only wish there was room for a second set of inputs, but I'll shell out the $50 for a Schiitt SYS passive amp.
This is great! I actually have another FTL project going myself and this gave some good soldering tips when I finally patch it up in a proper casing. And it looks so neat that I have to try to top that!
Great video much appreciated lessons on soldering and wicking techniques. If they haven't already Bottlehead owes you an amp or two for motivating and inspiring sales for them. Thank you for putting this together sir!
This was great thorough video. I've been wanting to build a tube headphone amplifier since I finished my tube guitar amp. This gives me a great idea of what to expect. Thanks for posting!!
That bare solid core is for the ground buss. You can route and bend turn corners . Solder in and it holds it shape. Many guitar amps are wired with solid core for that reason. No sphagetti flopping around .
Enjoyed your effort of making this clear DIY video..."I love the smell of exploded El-Co's in the mornin' ! '"...just kidding. I am never too old to make mistakes...and learning from them...RU-vid really replaces TV and Books more and more. Keep up the good cause...electronics is still fascinating and the retro old stuff also is worth too discover some more ! greets from the Netherlands... Henri
Hi Tyll, very nice video. The soldering/desoldering tutorial is really helpful...my Altoids CMoy amp had a bunch of issues due to soldering, desoldering, resoldering, troubleshooting components in the circuit. I was actually looking to purchase a Bottlehead amp some day when I get the money (I'm a Seattleite, and attended the last meet at Bottlehead HQ). I noticed that the Crack is meant for high-impedance headphones, which many average consumers don't have. Would you recommend their S.E.X. amp?
Oh, it'll take me a little while as I've got to figure out how to get audio from my tester through a bluetooth connection, but the gear is on the way to do it.
Hi Tyll. First of all i wanna say i apreciate all the great work you are doing, amazing stuff, you are deffinately my number one reviewer for audio stuff :) Now a question. What do you think of pairing this DIY amp with AKG k701? They are lower ohms then what you recommended for this amp, so is there any better option for a DIY amp for these cans? Thank you!
Hey Tyll, could you recommend an amp for the Shure SRH840, I'm new to the audiophile game and want to spend around $100, or more if necessary. Thanks, Tom.
Hey Tyll, Im pretty new to all this but have a pair of sennhieser hd 25 because of your great review of it. Would this amp change their sound substantially or is this over kill them? Thanks
Don't listen a single thing people says online about subjective quality of a headphone. It is worth nothing since everyone repeat the first thing said like the famous Sennheiser veil that never existed IMO (I own a 650). If you can try different pairs, that's the best thing you can do. Otherwise, I don't think you can go wrong with a DT880, Sennheiser HD600/650, AKG Q701/K702 and so on (tested them all). Buy the one YOU like, test it for a while and then learn your tastes. Best of luck!
This amplifier is about 40 dollars to build if u can source the parts used but not the case you can make your own just get the schematic I restore old tube amplifiers and been making builds like this for years in the winters This is a great kit to get someone in the hobby also building a fender champ 5 watt amp that was fun But for me 250 dollars could get me a HH Scott 222c unrestored and have a fully integrated tube amp
You are not supposed to cut the excess leads as close as possible. You cut them right above the meniscus the solder creates on the lead. If you cut below the meniscus you should reflow the connection.
The Crack won't power the HE-500 properly because of its really high output impedence. For the HE500, you need a good solid state/hybrid amp with high current output.
Because many "modern" amps don't use vacuum tubes anymore. I can't think of any non-audiophile equipment that still uses tubes for amplification. In terms of sound quality, solid state amps are better than tube amps since they have less distortion.
Thank's, however, that would be a problem since I am not electronics savvy. I might be interested if I found someone selling a fully functioning completed amp.
I'd seriously suggest using no-clean flux along with solderingh, at least with this method, because even if the solder has internal flux (you never said anything about that InnerFidelity) because when you tip, like InnerFidelity, then you burn off all the flux from the solder.. So .. Use flux .. minimize the risk of a bad solderjoint just a tiny bit more .. Kit isn't none too cheap after all =)
That's not Tommy Bahama it's Toni Montana,ya wanna meet mt little tube headphone amp? Sorry bro had to do it.Thanks for the video I MIGHT TRY IT when the extra cash comes rolling in.
