anthonynchandler
Member
I took some time to finish the Moreplay upgrade I started a month or two ago; changed out a capacitor that had been bulging from previous inept soldering probably!
To be honest I was not expecting much, but like the Crack Speedball upgrade the whole unit just came into a completely different space.
The upgrade seems to give the soundstage much more depth and separation, but what I notice most is that there feels like more power getting to the amps and the speakers, which may be from the extra 6db gain?
The sound is almost my ideal mix of 1970s tube with a clean 1980s solid state feel. I have the Moreplay running into two Pass DIY Amp Camp Amps as monoblocks and out to Klipsch Heresy IV speakers. I added a Mission SW76 subwoofer I found at a thrift shop and replaced the power caps on (not perfect for hum, but it was an experiment to see how a sub fills out the Heresy weak low end).
With the sub on it is pretty swanky, and with it off the feel is less lows, but still warm and controlled. Timbres are great and clean. With something like Hall & Oates on cd it is lush, while a recent Deutsche Grammophone release of Ozawa's Ravel on vinyl is almost ethereal and swimmy.
This kit has been so much fun and frustration over the year's patient build. I truly love these Bottlehead products and will soon be itching to see about a phono preamp build for Christmas or 2026. I have a Pro-Ject TubeBox I from 17 years ago and I expect that an Eros might be an improvement, but who knows?
The next paint colour for the chassis plate will also be a topic of serious debate. The pale blue for the Crack and the John Deere green for the Moreplay has me pondering either a Miami Vice pink or maybe some candy apply flake insanity.
Anyway, this is a worthwhile upgrade for sure in my opinion. I have really appreciated this forum helping me in the building processes. I have learned so much about point to point work over the past two years of kits.
To be honest I was not expecting much, but like the Crack Speedball upgrade the whole unit just came into a completely different space.
The upgrade seems to give the soundstage much more depth and separation, but what I notice most is that there feels like more power getting to the amps and the speakers, which may be from the extra 6db gain?
The sound is almost my ideal mix of 1970s tube with a clean 1980s solid state feel. I have the Moreplay running into two Pass DIY Amp Camp Amps as monoblocks and out to Klipsch Heresy IV speakers. I added a Mission SW76 subwoofer I found at a thrift shop and replaced the power caps on (not perfect for hum, but it was an experiment to see how a sub fills out the Heresy weak low end).
With the sub on it is pretty swanky, and with it off the feel is less lows, but still warm and controlled. Timbres are great and clean. With something like Hall & Oates on cd it is lush, while a recent Deutsche Grammophone release of Ozawa's Ravel on vinyl is almost ethereal and swimmy.
This kit has been so much fun and frustration over the year's patient build. I truly love these Bottlehead products and will soon be itching to see about a phono preamp build for Christmas or 2026. I have a Pro-Ject TubeBox I from 17 years ago and I expect that an Eros might be an improvement, but who knows?
The next paint colour for the chassis plate will also be a topic of serious debate. The pale blue for the Crack and the John Deere green for the Moreplay has me pondering either a Miami Vice pink or maybe some candy apply flake insanity.
Anyway, this is a worthwhile upgrade for sure in my opinion. I have really appreciated this forum helping me in the building processes. I have learned so much about point to point work over the past two years of kits.
