Quickie mods

[corndog71]

While digging through my box of project parts I found a pair of 3.3uF 250V OIMP V-Caps.  I had them in an old Foreplay 2 I have since dismantled.  I wasn't too impressed with them in that circuit but its been a while and I thought I'd give them a second listen in my Quickie. 

I used the Quickie with my Sex amp and AKG702's last night and it sounded pretty good.  Very smooth and detailed.  Bass seemed a bit softer but that could just be the AKG's. I didn't get to listen for very long so I'll work on that more this weekend.

 

[najo49]

I am going to buy a quickie, It will become my headphone amp. I will buy phones to use on the quickie, what phone do you recommend? I am buying the speco 7010 autoformer are these the choice ones for the job.Your quickie looks dangerous, just kidding, but I will try to follow your twisted thinking and spend most of the money on expensive caps. I too, have a collections that will likely be used up. Anyhow give me your thoughts as to how to best pull this off. Jann O.

 

[corndog71]

I really like the Beyerdynamic DT-880 250 Ohm.  They have a really smooth, expansive sound and are very comfortable.  They excel with high def recordings.  I think they even sound a bit better than the AKG 702's. 

 

[4krow]

  Rob, now you've done it-NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! Look at those cans. They don't want to be in the same neighborhood as that average pot. Only GoldPoint will do.

 

[adamct]

FWIW, I don't think it makes any sense to spend a fortune on caps for a Quickie to use as a headphone amplifier. You would be far better served by just building a Crack in the first place, especially if you will be using high impedance Beyers.

Also, it's none of my business, but I didn't like the Beyer DT880s at all. I found them to have a bright, brittle sound. My recommendation would be the Sennheiser HD600s. If you want something cheaper, look for a used pair of Sennheiser HD580s or AKG 240Ms.

Best regards,
Adam

 

[corndog71]

I didn't like the Beyer DT880s at all. I found them to have a bright, brittle sound.

Not to start a pissing contest but I'm wondering what you listened to them with because I didn't get that at all.  I heard them powered by the JDS Labs O2+ODAC with high rez files from Mapleshade records.  The 880's sounded crystal clear with incredibly palpable dynamics.

 

[adamct]

My (partial) equipment list and summary reviews can be found here, in my Head-Fi profile. I says partial because it turns out there is a character limit to Head-Fi profiles. Once I hit that, I stopped updating my profile. The moderators said no one had ever hit the character limit before...  ;D

 

[Paul Joppa]

Pretty sure I've posted this before, but to re-iterate: the Speco T7010 underwent a drastic re-design a few years ago; I have no idea why they kept the same model number since it's different in every possible way. Nevertheless, here are the connections. I would go for high impedance, high sensitivity headphones and the new transformer, given a choice. The Quickie is not powerful, it's just fun, cheap, and sounds good. I'd look for 95dB/mW or greater.

FWIW, high impedance works well with Crack in case one is thinking of an eventual change. Crack does NOT need highly sensitive phones!

 

[Chris]

And FWIW worth also.. EVERY SINGLE word, comma, space and period that was in Adam's post was completely what I was going to say.. No kidding...IMHO, Adam is totally spot on... Beyers were bright and tinny to me also... and  of course..  4K's experience is correct also with the Beyers.. When it comes to what we hear and like?? . we are ALL correct..  And yeah, Crack is the word, and the word is goood...

 

[corndog71]

  Rob, now you've done it-NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! Look at those cans. They don't want to be in the same neighborhood as that average pot. Only GoldPoint will do.

Hmmm... This one was built just for fun.  But you make a compelling argument. ???

 

[adamct]

Just to clarify, my comment was limited to the DT880s, not Beyers in general. I own a pair of Beyer DT990s that I quite like, but they aren't totally neutral, which is why I didn't recommend them above. But if you know what you're getting, they are a ton of fun and highly recommended.

Best regards,
Adam

 

[corndog71]

Just to clarify, my comment was limited to the DT880s, not Beyers in general. I own a pair of Beyer DT990s that I quite like, but they aren't totally neutral, which is why I didn't recommend them above. But if you know what you're getting, they are a ton of fun and highly recommended.

Best regards,
Adam

Were they the 250 Ohm versions?  I think I heard that each version sounded different.

 

[4krow]

  Rob,

No doubt, I like what you've done here. You could call it a sleeper or get 'er done model. The cool thing is, I'm sure that it sounds fabulous. I say this with confidence, since the modifications that I came up with were always audible, and almost all were positive. I was introduced to the Q as a gift. To be honest, I would not have chosen it myself. Now, I am an avid follower.

 

[Chris]

Yes, to be clear also, I was talking about the DT880s exclusively as well....

 

[STURMJ]

I used my quickie to power dt-880s  ( 250ohm) while I was building my crack.  For my tastes the quickie was not quite powerfull enough.  Fine, but  was pretty low volume for my tastes.

 

[charger]

does it really worth to change the stock pot with an Alps 100K  , does it emprove sound?

thank you

 

[Zimmer64]

The alps pot fixed my channel inbalance and improved the sound quality for me. Defenately recommend.

 

[charger]

Thank you I will try

 

[Wanderer]

My recommendation would be the Sennheiser HD600s. If you want something cheaper, look for a used pair of Sennheiser HD580s or AKG 240Ms.

I use AKG 240M with a Speco'ed Quickie.

I think it sounds quite nice BUT - do a search on wiring the Specos for the 600 ohm AKG 240M. Changing the wiring per PJ recommendations gave me just a jot more gain. While the AKGs go loud enough for me they might not please a headbanger. Not the most sensitive 'phones. Qucikie needs the choke mod or PJCCS for acceptable gain.

The specos I have, the older orignal style, do result in a bass roll off below circa 50 hz and pretty much NO bass below 40 hz.  Sounds great with most jazz and pre-1820s classical but takes some of the guts out of big orchestra Mahler or Saint-Sa

 

[charger]

what about blue tack for dumping tubes?  no one tried that?

and another question , i read it's possible to replace electrolitic capacitor with film capacitor in the Q , which capacitor is it ?