Squeeze Box upgrades


So far I have found two places that upgrade the SB3.Red Wine Audio and Bolder Cable.Which one has the better offer?I'm not to sure on battery power source or Panasonic and Black Gate.
gellis1

Showing 4 responses by ckorody

The answer is most likely the SB3 will sound better. There is nearly no doubt that a modded one will.

Fair question is why. Basic reason is that a soundcard is part of a computer environment which is a lousy place to do audio. There is a lot of unshielded equipment, switching power supply, drive motors, fan motors plus any amount of RF and EMI, and a very uncertain ground.

By removing the data from the computer environment by Ethernet or 802.11 or USB the analog signal that is created tends to be much cleaner because the DAC or SB is isolated electrically and mechanically from the computer.

I am not a PC guy but two other considerations in a PC are managing to do audio while avoiding the dreaded k-mixer which further degrades the signal, and cost. The audio cards that are built well enough to isolate the signal seem to be in the $1K range - much more then a lot of options.

This is a very rich topic to explore. You may also want to run a search on posts on the Audio Asylum PC Forum
Hi - I have both and they are both very fine units. BTW I have just learned that my RWA is obsolete since it has the Auricaps - if you read the Squaare Circle post, you will see that Vinnie mentions the difference in caps as the most plausible explanation for the difference in sound... (I got to add the battery into that)

I guarantee you will be delighted... And that you will like dealing with both Wayne and Vinnie. Each has their bent and special skills. Vinnie is more the engineer with a whole line of stuff he has designed and a real focus throughout his line on battery power which sounds awesome.

Wayne is a modder who gets a great sound, he used to do the Mensa Art DI/O DACS and he is an expert on power supplies. He also makes some exceptional cables and is big into Bybees which he will add to anything you ask him to.

If you are real tight on space I would think carefully about the RedWine only because that battery is a bit of a clunker. Definitely demands a place to call home that you can easily get to in order to switch it on and off. Vinny will gladly make an extended cable to 6 feet or so so you can position it more conveniently...

Both take a 100hrs+ for the caps to run in but you can just set them on a radio station and fuggedaboutit...

Toss a coin - this is one of those rare win wins

best,
ck
I have a very early version of Wayne's modded power supply. Actually I sent him a SB1 to look at about a year before the SB2 came out and he got seriously into it.

Anyhow the mod is done inside an upgraded linear wall-wart case (as opposed to the new case he sticks everything in now). Wayne added the niceties later but after some discussion advised I just stick with what he had built for me. Given that I have the unit on a mid-fi system I am resisting the urge...

The units do sound different. Both are offer tremedous detail and are smooth with no glare. I think a more meaningful comparison is to my fully modded TriVista DAC using a USB or Toslink source... The sounds are different but its pretty damn close and the DAC is 5x$...

I've been trying to avoid being the source of a comparison since I have not tried to A/B my units - something simple like put them in the same room into the preamp LOL or done any listening with other knowledgeable ears... I simply have one in the bedroom and one in the living room. And the DAC rig in my office.

The Square Circle post described the difference as the sonic signatures of the caps used by each... to my ear the Auricap Vinnie uses are airier and have a bigger stage but he quit using them in his newest rev so most likely there is a new set of differences... Of course as it turned out, I am playing the Red Wine through a pair of Wayne's Nitros so who know where the magic really is LOL

This is a no lose deal especially at the price - as Lkdog suggests, a lot of folks will be happy with the SB straight out of the box which has got be the value of the decade. Easy enough to start with a stock unit and then send it out if you need more from it. In which case do spend the $20 to upgrade the wallwart - may be all you ever need.
Be interesting to see what you think - I was thinking about my reply this morning and the point I failed to make is that this is really a paradigm shift of sorts. The size of the unit, the fact that you do not have to physically store and handle all the media, the simplicity of the whole thing is really very different then a cdp or turntable or tape deck.

Then add the Internet dimension, the radio, the random access

The fact that the sound for most people is comparable if not better means that this is about something more then just replacing one kind of media transport with another. It's a new way of doing things.

BTW - I think if you have the chops to build your own Power Suppy I would go with the Bolder since Vinnies whole thing is about the battery.