Back story This review has been a long time coming. For one, Wayne has been modding squeezeboxes since they started coming out. Time and time again he has invited me over to listen to the various players that have come and gone and each time I decided not to pursue this new fangled way of listening to music. Part of it was sheer self-inflicted ignorance on my part. I didn't want to learn about FLAC or 24/96, or media servers or any of that crap. Not because I'm a luddite, quite to the contrary I am an avid techno-dork. It was more that I was holding on to the ghosts of the past. Namely my Sony XA777ES sacd player and the wonderful music it produced over the years via DSD and redbook. The idea of parting with my relatively minuscule, though not insignificant, collection of Hi Rez was less than pleasant.
Fast forward to this summer. I'm not sure what it was that made me 'go for it' but I saw a SB touch for $200 and just decided to bite the bullet. I bought one, it shipped out, and I promptly stuffed it in my closet for several months.
I finally got around to mentioning to Wayne that I had it. He was kind enough to offer his Touch for me to use along with a Welborne power supply he happened to have on hand. UGH! Game on I suppose. As anyone who's ever moved their entire CD collection over to a server could probably tell you it was a massive pain in the ass. Tantamount to dental work. Of course after figuring out a system that worked for me using a combination of Flac and Apple Lossless I was ready to go.
Bolder modded Squeezebox Touch digital only with Deluxe Power supply with Bybee music rails and Nitro Umbilical.
The reviewFinally I was ready to go. I setup Wayne's SB touch and Welborne PS. It took me about 30 minutes to realize that this combo was not just better than the Sony, it was vastly superior. I mean ridiculously better. Music that I had on SACD sounded worse on the Sony than the very same disc transferred to 16/44.1 sounded on the SB. The Sony is no slouch, as a matter of fact it is a great player. Even stock the Sony is one of the better sources I have heard and owned ever. Yet here I was trying to remember the reasons why I'd put this off for so long... The answer still eludes me.
I lived with the Welborne for quite a while as Wayne was busy with other peoples orders and I was out of town most of the summer so I told him to take his sweet time getting it done as I was enjoying the Touch/Welborne combo very much and didn't see any reason to hurry. The Welborne is a great power supply, it's focused, it's wonderfully alive sounding and has great soundstage, though it didn't do a great job of drawing me into the music. A little hifi-ish sounding. A bit heavy handed with detail. The kind of gear that says to you 'do you hear the f#cking detail? You should be pissing your pants with joy!!!'. Not forward sounding, but trying very hard to sound great, if you know what I mean.
The power supply itself seemed to have a bit of a buzz emitting from the transformer, but from the listening position it was a moot point as no sound could be heard. The color of the thing was pretty heinous, an ugly anodized red color with a big distracting blue LED in the center, but hey, looks aren't everything.
Beginning of August Wayne let me know that my Touch and power supply were finished. I told him to hang on to it and break it in, which he happily obliged. Mid August I made the trade with him and got my new toys, broken in and ready to play. I had him do the Digital only upgrade and the power supply has music rails upgrade and Nitro umbilical. I have to say, Wayne's power supply is kinda sexy in an understated way. Just a black semi trapezoidal box. No blazing LEDs or deals stating what it is or does, just a fuse cap, IEC connector and XLR connector for the PS to the SB on the back of the unit.
I got the new SB set up. I was not expecting much, maybe a little difference between the Welborne in that this PS has the Bybee Music rails. What I got instead was absurdly better than what I expected. Waynes power supply made the Welborne unit beg for a merciful and quick death. It was laid back and oh so analog sounding (not a trait I would attribute to the Welborne supply at all, or any digital source I have ever heard before) It has the amazing ability to make mediocre recordings sound great, not just listenable, but actually great. Bjorks Vespertine which has long been an acid test for sibilance and digititis (a word I just made up for music sounding... well, digital and jittery) was no longer an acid test, but a wonderfully emotional experience which is what the album
should sound like on any system, but never does.
Feists 'A Reminder' track Brandy Alexander is rich and intimately presented. Again it is so laid back and easy sounding through Bolder PS and touch mods. I love this track and it seems to be one of those that sounds great on any system, but I have never heard it sound like this.
Hi RezI have been purchasing a lot of Hi Rez for the SB lately and though 16/44.1 is great, Hi Rez through this setup makes me angry. It makes me wish my entire collection could sound like this. Listening to Peter Gabriel's Us in 24/96 is religious, freaking spiritual. Come Talk to Me gives such a larger than life presentation without sounding like silly international music, which it most definitely can sound like through the Welborne as it lacks the bass punch and fundamental fullness. Marvin Gaye Collection from HD tracks is awesome (get it it you haven't) and through the Bolder Touch I have never heard Marvin like this. Lush full and life like, I forgot to actually analyze while listening and just enjoyed what I was hearing in ways I'd never had before.
ConclusionIt's rare when I have the opportunity to do an upgrade that is in every way superior to my previous equipment. Many of my other reviews I find myself holding back on something, whether it be build quality, some nit about sound quality, or even the way a product looks. With the Bolder modded Squeezebox and power supply with music rails I can find no such nit to pick... None. It is the kind of upgrade that elevates my entire listening experience and breaths life into music that has not impressed me for years. Not to mention the ease of being able to just queue up music at a click, but that's a topic for another time. Wayne has truly outdone himself and more importantly the competition here and I recommend this product without reserve.
SB w/ the rest of my front end.
