[Wayne1]

I have just started work on a new mod for the SB3

It will involve replacing the case with a much larger one.

With the large case, there now will be room to mount the power supply inside. This will remove the need for long DC cables.

There will now be enough room to install a separate linear power supply just for the digital section.

A re-clocking circuit could also be used.

Different options for the analog section can now be used. I will be trying a buffer circuit built into the same case.

A tube analog output could be installed.

This is my first, feeble attempt for the faceplate. The next version will be made by someone who knows how to work wood.

[fu_man]

The next version will be made by someone who knows how to work wood.

hey  good  efforts  Wayne - visuals  always  help....  If your looking for  someone that  can do killer  enclosures  I would recommend  Louis Chochos!

[Charles Calkins]

Wayne1:

 KILLER!!!! Looks like you are on the right track.

                             Cheers
                             Charlie

[mcgsxr]

Mr Omega does some excellent work, but I have to stand up for my local guru - Daygloworange!  A wizard with wood!

Wayne, I am sure that this concept is a winner, for many reasons I bet lots of folks will want to consider an option like this.

Nice job!

[dem626]

Now we're talking!  Kick that Transporters ass for good!  I'm only kidding, but this does really look promising.

[Daygloworange]

I'm already on the case(or re-case, as it were)!      I'm working on digitizing the SB 3's measurements in CAD right now. Wayne has given me a lot of freedom on how to do the faceplate.

What we're looking at doing for the Bolder rebox will not look like Wayne's prototype. We will be removing the existing plexi/aluminum faceplate entirely and rear mounting the SB3 display behind custom made smoked plexi in a CNC machined wooden faceplate.

We will be using exotic and figured woods (to be determined). The Bolder logo will be on the faceplate (we're looking a number of really trick custom options on this).

Wayne really wants to do this right, and this effort will have a high caliber look.

Trust me. 

Cheers

[Wayne1]

Denny is already working on making the rebox Squeezbox look fantastic!!.

My pitiful efforts were just to make sure the SB3 can be mounted in a bigger case.

Now that Denny is on the job, the new mod should have even better visual appeal.

This project will include contributions from many AC vendors. Hugh Dean's thoughts have been sought out on the power supply. He has mumbled something about a new line stage design.

I have consulted with Jim Hagerman about his HagClock and an analog tube stage.

There should be lots of options to choose from to have the SB3 sound as good (or better) as Denny is going to make it look.

[jrebman]

An all-star crew all the way around (nothing against Louis, he does impeccable work too.)

One last annoying question:  any dimensions yet?

Wayne/Denny -- would there be room in there for a 5" x 10" circuit board and a low profile, off-the-shelf 24 volt power supply?  Room on the front panel for a headphone jack?  I have an idea...

-- Jim

[bpape]

I'm already on the case(or re-case, as it were)!      I'm working on digitizing the SB 3's measurements in CAD right now. Wayne has given me a lot of freedom on how to do the faceplate.

What we're looking at doing for the Bolder rebox will not look like Wayne's prototype. We will be removing the existing plexi/aluminum faceplate entirely and rear mounting the SB3 display behind custom made smoked plexi in a CNC machined wooden faceplate.

We will be using exotic and figured woods (to be determined). The Bolder logo will be on the faceplate (we're looking a number of really trick custom options on this).

Wayne really wants to do this right, and this effort will have a high caliber look.

Trust me. 

Cheers

Sounds like a winner Denny/Wayne.  Good luck.  I'd be happy to put one in my rack to show it off to other potential customers aa

Bryan

[Daygloworange]

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys.   

Yeah, a clean look, and with all the parts inside one housing, eliminating long runs of cables, and interruptions with connectors, making it sound even better,

Ya gotta like that!   

Cheers

[kbuzz3]

ve been tossing around getting a cpu server and transport (in stages) for a month. Being a cpu idiot, im leaning towards a music valut all in one storage system. Now thanks to wayne i have yet another front end transport option to ponder!!!! mmmmm

-Transporter>modwright upgrade?
-SB3> pace car> dac?
-Sonos>pace car>dac?
-SB3>bolder digital and PSU?
-Duet- >>????
-now the rebox

when will it end!!!!  If i did not have thousands of CDS lying around i might just give up and use the Sony PS1 for 30 bucks.....

As they say....let you belive in interesting times...Since the cost of memory has fallen and the audiophile brains have embraced cpu music,  i believe we are in for a wave of audio innovations not seen in a decade or two.....frustrated with choice but happy to be along for the ride

go wayne

[slow_down]

Can you share any info/thoughts on preliminary pricing?  How would this work for those who have and those who haven't done any mods yet?  I've got a stock SB3 with an ELPAC that you modded, and have been thinking long and hard about making the leap sometime this year into the analog or full mods.

[Wayne1]

Sorry for the delay on answers to questions.

The box I put the first unit is is 12 x 12 x 4. This is barely large enough to fit a single power supply. With all the stuff I would like to be able to fit inside a case, it will need to be much larger. I would like to see it 17 x 12 x 4 at a minimum.

I really don't know what pricing is going to be. The faceplate has to be designed first. Then the cost of designing the plate has to be determined. Then deciding how many will be made. Then packaging, shipping and duties. Then the cost of installing the SB into the faceplate. Getting the chassis, cost of chassis, machining of chassis, packaging for faceplate and chassis, installing the faceplate and SB into the chassis with whatever other parts.

This is not something that will be done overnight. It will be a long haul. A very rough guestimate of the faceplate and chassis would be $500.00. That could end up being off by quite a bit. That would just be for the parts. No mods. A completely tricked out SB in a new box with high end power supplies, clocks and tube stage could end up over $6000.00.

I have some clocks on order and a preliminary tube line stage. It will be a couple of weeks before I get all that assembled and hopefully working.

[TomS]

I wouldn't even call that a SqueezeBox at all.  More like a high end wireless tube DAC that  just happens to use a salvaged SB board/logic for the data receiver and maybe display. 

I think most everyone realizes this is long term, not an overnight sort of deal.  Good luck with the project and thanks for the insight into development.  Very exciting!

Tom

[Folsom]

Wayne maybe you should just contract someone or figure out how to make your own receiver piece that works like a Squeezebox, start from scratch? I know you can do it if you want too.

You could just sell entire units without the middleman, and keep everything alive if M$ buys out Logitech.

[mcgsxr]

An interesting suggestion, to in house the whole thing, but at the price point and expected volume we are talking, I suspect that it will remain cheaper to simply buy an SB3 and break it down for the parts that matter.

And as for MS buying Logitech, do you think that would derail a product like the SB3/Duet/Transporter etc?

Ah heck, now we are veering off topic, sorry Wayne and Denny.

[JEaton]

And as for MS buying Logitech, do you think that would derail a product like the SB3/Duet/Transporter etc?

Yes.  Derail would be putting it mildly.  The Squeezebox is a fairly low cpu-power device for which everything is done at the server.  Microsoft would likely throw every line of open source software in the trash and create a similar device with more intelligence that works with only Media Server.  You can also expect that any Logitech engineers currently with the project would leave.

[BRN]

I have a question about the need for a display when using a Squeezebox controller. Can the display be removed form the SB2/3 and eliminate a noise source? I had to use a wireless Ethernet device for my Bolder SB2, because the internal wireless card was adding noise during playback.

[JEaton]

I have a question about the need for a display when using a Squeezebox controller. Can the display be removed form the SB2/3 and eliminate a noise source?

Yes.  And no.  It would be functionally similar to the Squeezebox Receiver half of the Duet.  With the controller you don't need the display for playing music.  But it wouldn't be the same, as the software won't identify an SB2/3 as an SBR.

The big problem you'd have is that unlike the Squeezebox Receiver, there's no way to configure an SB2/3 using the Controller.  To do the initial SB2/3 configuration or to later change something like a network setting, you have to use the IR remote while being guided by the output shown on the display.

Shouldn't turning the brightness down to 'off' accomplish much of thes same thing as removing the display completely?

[Wayne1]

I have a question about the need for a display when using a Squeezebox controller. Can the display be removed form the SB2/3 and eliminate a noise source? I had to use a wireless Ethernet device for my Bolder SB2, because the internal wireless card was adding noise during playback.

The noise created by the wireless card and the noise created by the display are two different things. The wireless noise will still be there, display or no display.

Part of the noise created by the display is involved with the 55 volt switching supply. This will be removed in the Receiver. The receiver will still use the same wireless card used in the SB2,3, and Transporter, I believe. If you use wired ethernet, the wireless card will not receive any power, so no noise.