Anyone does it? I happen to have two SB2s, both fully battery modified by RWA. The first SB2 has been playing as stand-alone player or transport in the upstairs 2-channel system. The second one has mostly been used for headphone listening, but lately I found myself less and less often listening to cans. I guess the main setup has become better sounding or at least as good as the cans.
Yesterday for a kicker I started moving the second SB2 downstairs into the HT system. All speakers are single drivers, Denon AVR5700 receiver, ModWright Sony 9000ES, REL sub. Ran to the Fry's electronic store and got a BNC to RCA adaptor, connected the SB2 to a coaxial digital input in the back of the Denon. Digital cable is 1.5m Canare 75 ohm. The system is located in the family room, one side open to dining and living room, other connected to kitchen and nook, so you can see it covers quite a large area.
Not to waste the SB2 analog out, I quickly made an IC pair of CAT6 and RadioShack RCA plugs and connected the SB2 analog out to the received.
Now to the sound. I have to say up front, this is the best sound that has ever come out from my HT system. For the 1st time I am able to truly enjoy CD tracks from Diana Krall's Love Scenes, or operatic soprano Anna Netrebko. Diana sounds breathier than ever, with nicely long decay at the end of a musical sentence. There's a snap and good bass impact to the accompanying instruments around her voice. Anna sounds like she's singing full-throat on stage.
The second day (today), the setup sounds even more promising, I guess due to the more breaking in of the newly home-made IC and rarely used Canare cable/new adaptor. Impressions based on switching back and forth between digital and analog connections. In the digital mode I listen to the Denon's internal DAC which seems to sound a bit more brilliant and extended. Yet the analog mode sounds a tad more relaxed, sometimes even a bit closed in which could be cable related. Lower voltage has to be compensates for by pushing up the volume a few notches.
Good news is, both outputs are very enjoyable and will impress a lot of guests, I imagine. Considering the very humble power condition (Monster HTS2000), home-made ICs, longer than 1m digital link plus BNC adaptor, Denon internal DAC, I'm very happy with the sound the the SB2 has brought to the HT setup.
My non-audiophile but keen eared wife, upon hearing the new setup while cooking in kitchen last night, remarked, "This sorta sounds colder than the upstairs one which sounds, um, warmer." Me, I agreed with her mostly, yet I found the SB2/HT sound more open and brilliant, not sterile or strident at all. Definitely cool and clear.
