Squeeze Box upgrades

Thanks Ck. I've been running my SB3 (unmodded, but with one of those Elpac linear power supplies) as a digital source into my (heavily modded) EAD DSP7000 Mk.III. The SB3 does sound pretty great for the money (but not quite as good as my PDT3), and given that I'll be using it strictly as a digital source I'm guessing that either Wayne's or Vinnie's digital mods will be roughly equal. I think that the PS will be a big player in this sort of mod. Between the help I got from both diyaudio and audiocircle I'm in the process of gathering up the parts I'll need to build my own PS on the order of one of his Ultimates or Superiors. (Fortunately I have a little skill in building this sort of stuff.) So for me I guess the question is really whether a digital-modded SB with a kick-a$$ PS can replace my current transport. Time will tell.

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.

Yes, my design is based in part on the info posted by Wayne and others in that "circle" during the evolution of his various power supplies.

The current dilemma is around the argument of massive capacitance before and after the regulator (Wayne and just about everybody else is a fan of big capacitive storage in PS design) versus a smaller capacitance in the circuit. There are a couple of detailed threads in diyaudio where people have indicated regaining the "rightness" of the musical presentation when moving to smaller caps (i.e., 100uF after the rectifiers versus 1000, 10000, or more). In general the thought is that the large caps, while great for low end presentation, tend to introduce a "slowness" or lessening of articulation compared to less overall capacitance. I've heard this before, but it seems that the most well regarded designers of high end equipment lean toward larger total capacitance both after the recitifiers and at the driving end of a PS.