2. amps-preamps
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Bottlehead vs. Audionote Kits

Recently completed my second Bottlehead kit. I've now built a Crack headphone amp with Speedball upgrade and an Eros phono-pre. I couldn't be more delighted with both. First the challenge and fun of building has been a truly invigorating experience. The on going fun of tube rolling is great. Finally, both kits just sound terrific. I believe that I'm getting reasonable SOTA at a bargain price.

So here's my question. I'm thinking about building a SET amp for my second system. Do I go with Bottlehead Stereomour II with 3 1/2 Watts at $1,429.00 or Audio Note Kit 1 with 8 Watts at $2,325.00?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Would love to hear from folks who've built or heard either.

Thanks in advance,

Alan

adeep42
dbtom2
382 posts
 
@adeep42

Congrats on this.

Curious dabblers like me like to know the benefits and pitfalls of DIY. I'd love to do this someday.
reubent
6,939 posts
 
I built a pair of Bottlehead Paramours many years ago and really enjoyed the experience. Mine turned out really fantastic aesthetically and they sounded very good powering a pair of Reference 3A MM De Capos. Maybe not enough power for someone who listens to large scale orchestral music in a medium - large room, but they worked great for me.

Sold them here for a profit (bought the kit on closeout sale). Kinda wish I still had them, but that ship has sailed.....

Can't really help you with your choice, other than to say it would be pretty cool to have 4 Bottlehead boxes (HP, phono, pre, power) sitting on the shelf. 
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I've built a Crack and a Quickie preamp. The process is lot's of fun and the products sound great. I never would've guessed the elcheapo Quickie would sound as good as it did. 

I had trouble with my crack build and the support from Bottlehead forum was amazing. Mine turned out to be a faulty tube socket which was fixed by blowing a bit of air in the tube holes. 

No experience with Audio Note; they seem a bit pricey to me.
adeep42 OP
118 posts
 
Thank you all. Totally agree BH and the BH community via the forums are helpful and great. Fabulous how people will help you diagnose problems. 

Still hoping to hear from some ANers.

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,280 posts
 
I may be wrong but in the low wattage SET amps, wouldn't 8 watts be a better choice than 3 1/2 watts?  What are your speakers and how efficient are they?.  I would think that  with low powered gear, every watt is precious.
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