ModWright Transporter

Shazam: "I went to the Slim Devices boards and read enough to see that for many people there wasn't a significant difference between the SqueezeBox 3 and the Transporter - even on a good hi-fi."

I own both the SB3 and TP. YES, the TP is better, and to me, it is worth the difference when you consider the ergonomics, the power supply, the digital inputs, the flexibility and last but not least, the sound. Keep in mind that people pay from $100 to omigod for a fancy power supply for the SB3 alone.

And then there is still the DAC to contend with. While the SB3 is a killer for the money and an easy recommendation for the impecunious audiophile, spending into TP territory does provide noticeably better performance. I generally try to avoid the audiophile vocabulary so I hope you won't ask me to use that, but accept that IMO there is enough difference. Both units are bone stock as I am not much of a believer in mods anyway. I do use a nice VH power cord with the TP though.

To round off the argument (in my mind anyway) about the comparison between mod and stock, and yes I will resort to the ubiquitous automobile analogy here, it's like C&D reviewing say a modded Corvette without much reference to the factory stock one. It just won't fly (or even take a corner!) I am a sometimes reader of 6moons, less frequent than I used to be but have picked up some great ideas from there (eg, Zu), but I do believe that this time old Srajan left something on the altar of journalistic integrity or at least standards.

I agree that not comparing the stock to the mod left the review missing something for me too. For component reviews, comparison to something that is a known is the only way a reader can have a frame of reference. Comparing the Transport to CD players only has so much value since the Transporter is an entirely different animal (file device vs. disk device). Any mod review should ALWAYS be compared to the stock.

For what it's worth, I don't doubt that the Transporter has advantages over the SB3. But for the price, the differences between them seem to be slimmer (no pun intended) than expected. My hope is that the ModWright widens that gap enough to justify the extra coin.

Well, I can say with complete confidence the Modwright is in a completely different league than the stock. I had the stock over a month before I had it modded. There was a 2 day turnaround dropping it off and picking it up, so I'm very familiar with the differences.

The stock is nice, but nothing special. Yes, it's really a great way to listen to music. I much preferred my Sony XA777ES, which was also modded by both Modwright and Richard Kern (parts only.. not tube stage). But I found myself preferring vinyl to the point that I was listening to records 90% of the time. The TP did have less of the digital glare, but tonally paled in comparison to the Sony. For me, there was still a fatigue factor I don't have with vinyl.

The modded is substantially better than stock. Tonally more resolving, better detail without the hard edges. More air around the instruments, which is what I really cherish in vinyl. Bass is well defined.. listening to Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard now. Instead of just throwing out all the usual audiophile phrases, I'll just say I feel a lot closer to the actual performance than ever before. This is very much like the best of vinyl.

I frankly can't imagine anyone hearing the stock vs Modwright preferring the stock.. no way, not even close. I could hear it the moment I fired it up. After about 2 hrs of warm up, seemed to really start revealing it's pedigree. I've only had it for a day now, and from past experience, I know the caps will need time to fully break in. I expect it to get even better. I won't be retiring my vinyl, but it won't be pulling double duty anymore. I'm even considering buying cd's again, which I haven't done the last couple of years.

I don't have any connection to Modwright other than living near him and being a repeat customer, in case anybody wonders.

Jamnperry - congratulations, you are the first reviewer I've read that actually compares the mod to the stock. If you would, please come back and write more after you've had time to sit with some of your favorite recordings. I'll be interested especially about your impressions of fatigue after several days with it.

Also, tell us a little about your accompanying equipment if you would. Are you running it with a pre-amp or direct?

Thanks for your input!

Jamnperry, congrats from me also. It is clear you are happy and I daresay anyone in your situation would be equally happy.

For someone like me though, I'd still want both units on hand for an even comparison, and I would want to not be financially pre-vested in the result (ie, whichever I prefer, it doesn't cost me more than simply the purchase of the preferred product).

By "your situation" above, I meant (1) you were already a MW customer (indicating you had belief in the concept) and (2) you had already spent the money on the TP mod, which *for some people* leads to an expectation that the result of spending the money is positive, and expectation leads to perception, correct or not.

I would love to be able to appear on this forum and say I compared the two in my room with my gear with plenty of opportunity to switch back and forth, without outlay and preferred the MW. Or preferred the stock TP, whichever. But the environment as it is allows one to evaluate the stock TP risk-free, but not the MW.

As a side comment, this audiophilia is a strange disease, in that it makes us want what our peer describes without any concrete reason to believe that it will work the same way for us. Of course, over the years I've been in this hobby, I have been plenty guilty of this myself, but I like to think I am a little more cognizant of my own emotions now, which hopefully leads to a more rational decision, one that is made based on MY environment. This includes but is not limited to: budget, tastes, room, gear, WAF, hearing acuity, type of music preferred, type of presentation preferred, and so on. A quick review and understanding of this list should make it clear that, given the possible permutations, NO ONE can be sure of what a given component will deliver based on someone else's description of it. As such, I read reviews nowadays as entertainment, not unlike light fiction.