The best pairing with the 7236 to my ears is a tube that is warmer and spacious, as the 7236 is aggressive and forward. Something basic liked a Ken Rad 12AU7 or a GE 5 Star 12AU7 would be a nice pairing.
1 Like
I’ve been listening to the 7236 for a bit and I see what you mean. For the GE tube, are you talking about the GE 5963 you mentioned in your review post?
the ge 5963 would work also…but I was actually referring to the GE 12AU7A. You can find them relatively cheap.
Cool thanks. You hadn’t mentioned that one in your other post so I thought it might be a typo. It looks like vacuumtubes.net has them for $20.
https://vacuumtubes.net/RES%20Audio%20pages/12au7.html
I’m guessing this is the “JAN black plate one”? Dale the site owner also recommended that one as great budget option. From his experience he’s found the RCA clear top to be the most liked for the Crack. Though I’ve been seeing very mixed reviews for that one.
I bought my 12AU7 from this guy. He posts the measurements he gets. Lets you pick what you want.
1 Like
I actually don’t care for the RCA clear top. It lacks bass impact and sounds way too solid-state like for my preferences.
Thanks, I’ll definitely check him out. I haven’t come across him before yet.
Yeah that seems to be a common complaint with that particular tube.
Small steps forward. I scraped off as much extra glue as i could and put in some finishing screws to help hold it as the glueing wasnt as tight as i prefer. Here is a pic using some Naptha to bring out the grain and spot rogue glue. The random light spots are glue.
Tomorrow ill be doing a final sanding before i bring it in for spraying.
6 Likes
That’s actually pretty nice grain on that. They’re usually not as pronounced.
1 Like
Thats the naptha wipe down popping it out
Here are some more pics after i sanded away the last of the glue this afternoon.
Here you can see it 100% dry
Here is it after i wiped it down to clean the sawdust and dried a little. The grain always dries last. I hope that means the black will go into there the most and define it more.
4 Likes
I went to finally download the crack manual and the speedball manual.
Both say ive hit my download limit. Which is funny since i have not downloaded them once.
I had the same thing happen to me. Just email Bottlehead.
Crap 
I wonder if Mainline’s on sale. That may be too much temptation.
1 Like
So it does work on the Mainline. Save $194.85.
Yeah I noticed that 
will have to wait till next year though…I bought some pricey cans.
1 Like
It’s officially been 1 month since I received my Bottlehead Crack Speedball. The stain and paint both have settled well and darkened slightly…it looks even better now IMO.
After tons of listening time, I can say without a doubt that my favorite tube combos are the Bendix 6080WB with the Matsushita 12AU7, or the Mullard CV2984 with the Brimar CV4003.
Anybody that owns a Sennheiser HD650 or HD600…the Bottlehead Crack should be a mandatory purchase, lol.
14 Likes
It is really where the name crack comes from! There’s just a certain magic that happens. Like having a piece of chocolate with a glass of port. Or sharing a bottle of liebfraumilch and a quart of spicy Szechuan beef. Or a good stilton with a schmere of fig jam on a water cracker. Magic combinations that you just can’t mess with, regardless of the price.
This post made me hungry.
5 Likes
Pizza and beer
2 Likes