DCC Archive Bottlehead Foreplay....

Built and erected (bad Toobe pun).

Goddam! Makes a crappy pair of DIY speakers sound like WOW!! The thick midrange really comes out effortlessly. Electric guitars come right out. Using my modded Dynaco ST70 with Russian soldiers (EL-34's)

Made two boo-boos. Painted the enamel on the wrong side of the aluminum plate (glad, because the look of brushed aluminum looks best, and strongest I think). Other boo-boo was soldering the wrong wires on the selector.

1st test CD: Steppenwolf MFSL. Born To Be Wild/Pusher/Sooke, Sookie. More to come.

Great little pre. Very easy. I'm using my greenie 6189's right now. Microphonic? No. No way.

Mullards next. Merry Xmas to me (took over 8 weeks to come to mee)

Thanks Doc and Co.

Buy one soon! Oh, another detail, it IS only for 3 inputs, but the selector will take another three RCA pairs, you just have to drill more holes in the plate for all 6 input pairs. Pics to come.

 

Congrats Sckott. The UPS truck cometh' finally.
Did you scoop all the up-grades as well?

Hmmm... Maybe become a tube audiophile after all. Soooo hard to part with my Classe' DR-6 though hmmm...

 

If anyone´s looking for vintage European tubes, drop me a line, maybe I can do something for you...

 

Sckott, I think I made the same mistake about the selector switch. With it in one position, I had sound coming out of one channel, with it in another position the sound came out of the other channel. Looking at the selector switch it seemed obvious how to hook it up. But if I would've read the instructions closer, I would've realized I was making a mistake.

I didn't paint the plate on mine. Just sanded down the wood and used a couple coats of Tung Oil on that. I saw the pics of some of the better painted ones on the Bottlehead web site. I'm far better with electronics than I am with painting. I just run some 409 across the plate with a q-tip every week or two to keep dirt and oil off the aluminum. Hopefully that will keep it from oxidizing.

The 3 inputs weren't a problem for me right now. Only using it with a Harmon Kardon CD player. I have some vinyl, but no turntable.
I really want to see whats going on between SACD and DVD-Audio before I make a big purchase for a new source.

I bought the stepper attenuator upgrades but haven't installed them yet. I bought the constant current source upgrade and it kicks butt. More focused soundstage, more palpable texture in the bass, more separation between the instruments.

 

Drew,

That's exactly what happened to me. I ended up just plucking all of what was on the right side and moved everything over one notch clockwize. The only mod I did was the fact that I used gold RCAs (BFD). I used a stain that I used on my LP racks and Den table that really looks good, nice shade of dark wood. My folks gave me a can of Polyurathane, but I don't think I wanna do that just yet. It takes 1-2 days to dry while the stain only took 5 hours and looks sweet. Used a $2 TAC CD player that I fixed this summer, and a Sherwood tuner that cost me all of $8. Using DIY Cat5 for hookupwire, basic DIY speakers. This was for the basement under construction, and was not meant to be an expensive proposition. The Foreplay fits the bill with one of my ST70s just fine. I built it all in one night with no major screwups, but my neck still hurts.

I'm picking up an old tube Scott receiver from a buddy who wants me to hook up his network. After that, I'll do some pictures.

Mullards are in (12AU7) One of them still has strong markings of "HEATH KIT" . Again, like the PH-1, I think I like the 6189 greenies (RCA) better. Glad I bought a slew of them!

MTC.... (More to come)

 

Here's what the preamp looks like finished. Notice me, the *******, painted the wrong side of the plate. That's OK though, because at closer glances, the brushed aluminum looks better than flat enamel.

Here's what it looks like completely assembled. Peek-a-boo! A Heath Kit Mullard! The other one I've had for a while, but the chalk rubbed off before I owned it. The system I'm using is simple and cheap. The Dynaco is the $80 modded one, the CD player I got at MIT's yard sale for $2. An old TEAC 16Bit 8 times CD player with a shortened readout. There's a tuner made by Sherwood I got for $8 in an Ebay, and the hookupwire is different brades of Cat5. The CD player got the heavier braid. The tuner only needs a 2 strand each, and then the amp is wired with a gold plated cable via Rat shack.

The Foreplay has gold RCAs, and was built in a night after the glue and stain dried. That's it...!

**The surroundings are of a basement room in progress. That will not be the final destination of the makeshift cheepie tube system. Actually. I have to move it all away for next week's sheet rock installation.

Saving some scrap wood for another amp soon.

[ December 16, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

 

Sckott, I noticed you didn't use Doc's "magnet wire." Is there a reason why?

 

I ordered it without any upgrades of any sort, and I already had about 80' of hookup wire anyway. It was all about "cheep" and what I had.

I have to admit, it's VERY quiet, no hum whatsoever. I used solid copper 20g and silver berring solder, the kind Doc didn't recommend. I had a high-powered Weller though, a WTCP. No worrying about not being able to make solder flow, and I like the high-silver RS solder.

When I go for the upgrades, I *might* get the magnet wire, upgrades, build a longer box, and cut a top section with more inputs. As great as it sounded, it was just for the basement, as I had 80% of a complete hi-fi doing nothing. After I bumped into a $2 CD player and fixed it for fun, I thought it would be neat to put a few things together for almost nothing.

Next time I mod the Foreplay, it'll be the transformer, sockets, and the rest will be radically different. For now, this'll do, higher than expected!

 

That was a loaded question. I forgot that the standard kit didn't come with it. I wound up not using the "magnet wire." It was to difficult to tin the ends even with a 100 watt Weller Black Beauty. So I just used normal hookup wire as well.

 

That thing is sweet. This week I'm ordering an IC kit (don't laugh). I have a small project in mind for later, provided that all goes well. The last time I picked up a soldering iron was when I rewired my Dive Light 17 years ago. Is a 30w iron the one to get?

 

Depending on the soldering iron and type, sometimes it's all in the tip. I was using a #7, which is a sharp cone shape, and someone told me that that was 700W of power at the tip. I have a #8 (800w), but I'd only use that for tiny soldering jobs like PC boards as that tipe is like a narrow, long point with a tiny flat tip.

As long as it can melt solder like a watery flow, you're in the zone.

 

Nice job. Soon to follow in your footsteps. I ordered the whole deal, but I think I'll build it stock first then upgrade one bit at a time.

By the way, Drew, you can give the chassis a good cleaning then seal it with clear laquer. That should be the end of your oxidation worries.

I have no idea what color scheme I'm going to do mine in...