Bottlehead Crack In February

A quick tour of the web shows that the Cracks basic metal plate design lends itself well to wannabe woodworkers.

Gone are the Dynaco days when teenage boys built kit amps in their garages or basements.

Today they are more likely to wave wands at flat-screen TVs from the overfed comfort of their couches.

We have become alienated from the means of musical production.

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of low-paid Chinese labour Look no further than your own unpaid labour.

With thousands of satisfied customers having left a trail of praise on Bottleheads user forum and across the web, I was fairly certain that my money would be well spent.

After more than two years of listening to this amplifier and demoing it against products from Burson, Musical Paradise, Audiolab, Decware, Little Dot and several others, I am confident that this is the best sub-300 headphone amp money can buy.

Other DIY kits in the Bottlehead stable include the Single-Ended eXperimenters headphone and speaker amp, the S.E.X.

S.E.X with Extended Foreplay, the Stereomour 2a345 stereo amp, the Paramount 300b2a3 monoblocs, the Quickie battery-powered preamp and the Eros and Seduction phono preamp kits.

Bottlehead is nothing if not consistent in its attempt to carve out a distinct house style.

In a world filled with attractive model names like the Pioneer SP-BS41-LRnot to be confused with Pioneers SP-BS21-LRand the Harbeth Compact 7ES-3, Bottlehead stands out like a breath of fresh air.

My first attempt had resulted in one channel working properly but the other one being totally silent.

I went back to the drawing board, pulled out my multi-meter and checked my resistances.

And then nothing.

The imposing 6080 dual-triode power tube did not light up.

When my wife asked what the risks were in checking those, I said there was virtually no chance of death by electrocution but a slim chance of a high voltage shock.

I dutifully returned the completed amp to Washington State for repair.

Bottlehead Crack In February

All in all I had waited two months to listen to the music since I had received a 5-keys box of crack in February filled with over 100 parts.

Bottlehead claims on its website btw that over 90 of those parts are sourced in the USA.

Having not soldered in 25 years, I was not one of those who can, as the Bottlehead website suggests, make this amp in just a couple of evenings.

And frankly, I doubt that anyone without experience can make this amp in fewer than fifteen hours including the time required to glue, varnish and sand the wooden base.

After a one-day burn-in and a thorough check of all joints and readings, Bottlehead shipped the amp back to me swaddled in enough bubble wrap to protect against the abuse of North Americas ramshackle railroad network.

I was out of pocket another 90 but at least knew that I had a properly built amp, certified as it were in the event of resale.

Unless you plan to assemble several DIY kits, I cannot understand why anyone would sell their Bottlehead creation.

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