I like Crack

Now that I have your attention-

I ordered a Bottlehead Crack headphone amp in April. Took 3 weeks to get. I started building last weekend, and built the amp I a few evenings (having a pro soldering station helps). All initial checks, resistance and voltage, were right on the money. The base came out very nice too- Minwax Sedona Red (2 coats) the 3 coats of semigloss polyurethane with light sanding between coats.

I started to listen shortly after the final voltage check. first came WBGO- sounded great. Next I put on Norah Jones- excellent too! Vinyl comes next.

I'm using Sennheiser HD600 headphones with stock cables.

I'm going to have to pad down the volume control as from 0 to as loud as I'll ever listen is maybe 1/6 rotation of the volume knob. Bottlehead's FAQ section discusses this and suggest wring in a couple 270k resistors. I will have to do that.

the crack came with no name tubes. Wondering what sonic heights it can reach with first rate tubes. NOS Sylvania 12au7? Bendix 6080?

anyone else built and have a crack?