Bottlehead Forum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Bottlehead Forum ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Finished my Foreplay III

Posted by Marshall W (A) on April 20, 2005 at 07:38:52

Well, almost. I still need to glue in blocks on the base for chassis hold-down screws, add the rubber feet and repaint the bell cover on the tranny since it got a bit scuffed during the build.

All the resistance and voltages checked out the first time with no smoke. I put in the RCA Cleartops that came with the kit (my favorite 12AU7), hooked it up to my XM radio and CD player and Dynaco Stereo 70 and let her rip.

So how does it sound? Well, I can’t honestly say it sounds dramatically better than my modded FP II. I did notice a definite improvement in front to rear soundstaging over my FP II, which is great since I’ve always thought that was a weakness in my system before. Of course, I realize it’s not fully broken in. It sounded kind of rough for the first 45 min. or so and then seemed to smooth out. I am sure it will continue to improve with more running time.

Oddly enough, the cleartops sounded too bright to me. I know they have that reputation, but they are definitely the best sounding tube for my FP II, even beating NOS Telefunkens. I pulled the cleartops and replaced them with a pair of NOS Tungsrams, which seemed to decrease the brightness some.

I also noticed the popping of the input selector that others have mentioned and have seen the posts regarding adding resistors to the ground terminals on the switch. I do have a question regarding that though. Is it necessary to add a resistor to each ground terminal? Wouldn’t it work to simply tie the grounds together and feed them all through one resistor to terminal 28? Probably a stupid question, but I don't really understand all the theory behind this stuff.

All in all, this has been a very satisfying project and I look forward to getting the Foreplay III into its “permanent” position and spinning some vinyl!

Thanks Doc for another great product!

What? Did I hear someone say "C4S" for the FP III? ;> )

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---