2. amps-preamps
  3. 126606-2100

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
383 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
7,050 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.
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