Bottlehead crack crosstalk issue

[iTM_Havok]

Hello, I recently bought a used bottlehead crack with the speedball upgrade from the AVexchange sub-Reddit. but for some reason audio that’s only supposed to be in the left channel is in the right channel and vice versa. does anyone have any idea how to fix this? I hope it’s not the wiring because I have no experience soldering

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Can you post some photos of the build? If you pull out the left RCA cable, do you at least only get audio in one channel?  How about the right RCA cable?

 

[iTM_Havok]

Can you post some photos of the build? If you pull out the left RCA cable, do you at least only get audio in one channel?  How about the right RCA cable?

just tested that and I still hear audio in both channels with only one RCA plugged in. sure, here's some photos of the build.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

just tested that and I still hear audio in both channels with only one RCA plugged in. sure, here's some photos of the build.

Does this hold true for just using the left jack and just using the right jack?

Can you post a picture of the plug on your headphones that you're plugging into the amp?

 

[iTM_Havok]

Does this hold true for just using the left jack and just using the right jack?

Can you post a picture of the plug on your headphones that you're plugging into the amp?

Yes it does. I'm using a 4-pin XLR cable with my 6XX and a 1/4" adapter.

 

[Deluk]

Just a guess, I'd say that the XLR adaptor is shorted. You should be able to easily check that with a meter. Why are you using that? It looks as if you have the original headphone jack.

 

[iTM_Havok]

Just a guess, I'd say that the XLR adaptor is shorted. You should be able to easily check that with a meter. Why are you using that? It looks as if you have the original headphone jack.

I’m using the adapter because it makes switching between my Burson soloist 3XP and crack easier. but I’ll try using the original cable that came with the 6XX and see if that fixes it.

 

[iTM_Havok]

Just a guess, I'd say that the XLR adaptor is shorted. You should be able to easily check that with a meter. Why are you using that? It looks as if you have the original headphone jack.

Just tried using the cable that came with the 6XX and the crosstalk is still happening.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Can you post some more detailed photos of the headphone jack wiring?

 

[iTM_Havok]

Can you post some more detailed photos of the headphone jack wiring?

sure, here's some more photos of the headphone jack wiring and where the wires go to.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

The "O" pads on the bigger Speedball board look like they might be wired together, which they shouldn't be.  That would combine both channels at the output and cause your problems. This would definitely be the first time anybody has ever done that...

 

[iTM_Havok]

The "O" pads on the bigger Speedball board look like they might be wired together, which they shouldn't be.  That would combine both channels at the output and cause your problems. This would definitely be the first time anybody has ever done that...

which photo is that in? also, is that something that can be easily fixed if I send my amp to bottlehead to be repaired?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Carefully unscrew the two screws that hold the larger PC board to the amp, then let it lay down and post a photo of the wires on the bottom of the amp.

This is a repair you can do on your own.

 

[iTM_Havok]

Carefully unscrew the two screws that hold the larger PC board to the amp, then let it lay down and post a photo of the wires on the bottom of the amp.

This is a repair you can do on your own.

I unscrewed the larger PCB board from the amp. do you mean take photos of the wires under the larger PCB? I can't do this on my own if I need a soldering iron... I don't own one.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Unscrew that PC board and lay it down, then post a photo of the wires on the bottom.  If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, you'll just need some kind of cutter.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Just for further information, your kit wouldn't be eligible to be sent in for repair unless we can't sort this out here. As it stands, I believe there's an extra wire that needs to be removed, and it would be completely silly for you to pay a bunch of money to send the kit to me to clip this wire out.

 

[iTM_Havok]

Unscrew that PC board and lay it down, then post a photo of the wires on the bottom.  If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, you'll just need some kind of cutter.

Alright, I did that and took some pictures of the wires at the bottom of the PCB. but after I took the photos I screwed the board back down and now there's another issue.  I started hearing static and crackling when I tried playing music and now no audio is coming out of the headphone output at all.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

What I thought was an extra wire is simply a mistake.  One of the two black wires in your first picture needs to go to the other "O" terminal on the other side of the board.  This miswire will combine both of your channels.  Whoever built this did not perform a voltage check when it was complete, that's for sure!

I let Eileen know that you will need to send this kit in for repair since you don't have a soldering iron available to complete these repairs on your own.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Yes it does. I'm using a 4-pin XLR cable with my 6XX and a 1/4" adapter.

If you pull the right RCA cable out of the amp, no sound should come out.  Can you confirm this?