[Wayne1]

Comment removed

[Frihed91]

My experience with squeeze box was not at all positive.  The sound was just awful compared to my AN Dac to BC  integrated to Quad speakers.   We fiddled and fiddled, but it always sounded like toy-box music in comparison.  It got slightly better when we bypassed the squeeze box and sent the digital signal through a signal converter (USB to SPDIF) box to the DAC via cable, but the differences were still telling.

Anyway, that's not a route i am taking again.

Good luck

[Double Ugly]

3. When modded by Red Wine Audio they're supposed to sound better than the RWA modded Squeeze Box.

Don't paint all SB mods with the same brush

What Wayne said. 

I've owned top-of-the-line SB2s and power supplies from RWA and Bolder, and in my system, the two were worlds apart.  Suffice to say I'd be shocked if RWA's Olive surpasses the performance I'm getting from my Bolder SB2 and Ultimate PS.

My experience with squeeze box was not at all positive.  The sound was just awful compared to my AN Dac to BC  integrated to Quad speakers.   We fiddled and fiddled, but it always sounded like toy-box music in comparison.

Was your unit modified?

[95bcwh]

3. When modded by Red Wine Audio they're supposed to sound better than the RWA modded Squeeze Box.

Don't paint all SB mods with the same brush

What Wayne said. 

I've owned top-of-the-line SB2s and power supplies from RWA and Bolder, and in my system, the two were worlds apart.  Suffice to say I'd be shocked if RWA's Olive surpasses the performance I'm getting from my Bolder SB2 and Ultimate PS.

My experience with squeeze box was not at all positive.  The sound was just awful compared to my AN Dac to BC  integrated to Quad speakers.   We fiddled and fiddled, but it always sounded like toy-box music in comparison.

Was your unit modified?

Bolder's "Ultimate" mod cost 3 x as much as RWA mod, I would be REALLY surprised if it doesn't sound better than RWA modded SB3, and even RWA modded Olive.

The question really comes to individual assessment of price/value ratio on how you spend your money. And again, nobody can tell you if the difference is "day and night" except you have to hear both of them at the same time yourself. One person's "day and night" difference is another's "12am to 1am" difference.

[avta]

Hello Radiator:

Carlman made the same comments to me about a year ago(?) re using a computer based system. At first I didn't know what he was talking about. After reading numerous posts on the Circle and doing some online research/price comparisons I bought a Squeezebox2. I'm using it with a wireless internet connection which has a Netgear Rangemax router. I have Comcast cable internet. ( Very quick and reliable ) For the first 9 months or so I used a Windows based pc system and a free program called Exact Audio Copy to "rip"(extract data) from cd's into computer files in a format called " flac" ( free lossless audio codec...  i think ). It took some time to set up the program but there is lots of online help. Once up and running it was quite easy to rip cd's to an external hard drive I had bought and play them through my system which is made up of a Norh aca 2b tubed preamp ( $400 ), an old Pass Aleph3 solid state amp, and Magnepan 1.6 speakers. The sound was markedly better than anything I'd heard in my home and considering the relatively modest costs of the equiptment I've been very happy. There are occasional glitches with the Squeezebox but nothing too serious. Things like loss of internet connection. I recently bought a used Apple Mac Mini computer on Ebay($400) and have been using the software that came with it ( iTunes ) to rip and play music. I find the Mac based system very easy to use and the sound is equally good. I hope my experiences will help you decide. If you go the computer route be assured that you will get lots of help on Audio Circle if you need it.

Guy

[lcrim]

My experience with PC based audio has been equally positive.  I use a Squeezebox in my bedroom system and a USB device in the living room both using separate DACs and fed by the same laptop w/ a storage drive attached. 
I'm a network engineer and the software learning curve wasn't a big deal for me personally but I've helped numerous others to get things straightened out and because of my work have learned to consider how the user group is impacted by change.  I honestly feel that if you found your way this far, you can handle it.
One thing has occured to me re: PC audio and that is the rate of change and the view forward at an upgrade path.   The improvements in about the last year or so, make me cautious about getting too deeply invested in any single format path.  The comparatively small investment I made to achieve really good Redbook playback may be completely superceeded in the near future by playback methods utilizing I2S for example.  Yes, PC audio value is enormous and IMO obsoletes CDP's but could also be very last year overnite.

[JLM]

Wayne,

My comment was comparing RWA modded Olives with RWA modded SBs.


As I can't hear the difference between battery and enhanced A/C mode I wouldn't do RWA battery option for a SB again.  As I understand RWA has made improvements regarding the batteries to be user replacable, better secured, and simplier switching charge/use modes that had all cost me in shipping damages with the SB and Clari-T.

Note my house is newly built in a small rural subdivision, no heavy industry nearby, underground service with our own transformer, all new appliances, three dedicated circuits for the audio each with cryo'd hospital grade Hubbell receptacles with a combined/separate ground.  So A/C here is nearly ideal.

[Radiator]

Hello Radiator:

Carlman made the same comments to me about a year ago(?) re using a computer based system. At first I didn't know what he was talking about. After reading numerous posts on the Circle and doing some online research/price comparisons I bought a Squeezebox2. I'm using it with a wireless internet connection which has a Netgear Rangemax router. I have Comcast cable internet. ( Very quick and reliable ) For the first 9 months or so I used a Windows based pc system and a free program called Exact Audio Copy to "rip"(extract data) from cd's into computer files in a format called " flac" ( free lossless audio codec...  i think ). It took some time to set up the program but there is lots of online help. Once up and running it was quite easy to rip cd's to an external hard drive I had bought and play them through my system which is made up of a Norh aca 2b tubed preamp ( $400 ), an old Pass Aleph3 solid state amp, and Magnepan 1.6 speakers. The sound was markedly better than anything I'd heard in my home and considering the relatively modest costs of the equiptment I've been very happy. There are occasional glitches with the Squeezebox but nothing too serious. Things like loss of internet connection. I recently bought a used Apple Mac Mini computer on Ebay($400) and have been using the software that came with it ( iTunes ) to rip and play music. I find the Mac based system very easy to use and the sound is equally good. I hope my experiences will help you decide. If you go the computer route be assured that you will get lots of help on Audio Circle if you need it.

Guy

Hi Gary.  I am curious about something you said in your message.  You mentioned the loss of internet connection as a "glitch".  I wouldn't think the internet would be necessary for the squeezebox to work.  Certainly your local area network would be needed, but the internet suprises me.  Can you elaborate on that?

[Radiator]

Glad to see folks still throwing information out for me.   

Was unaware that there are other groups out there to mod these things.  Still considering, but really expecting to go this way.  Have to acquire some new hardware first, though....like a new PC.....time for an upgrade anyway....

[Double Ugly]

Bolder's "Ultimate" mod cost 3 x as much as RWA mod, I would be REALLY surprised if it doesn't sound better than RWA modded SB3, and even RWA modded Olive.

Is it "REALLY" surprising that Bolder's "Basic" PS and mods outperformed RWA's best, and that it wasn't close?

I mentioned the Ultimate only because that's what I'm currently using.  I haven't compared the Basic or Ultimate with the Olive or any other RWA offerings because (1) I haven't been afforded the opportunity and (2) I'm not sure what it would prove.

YMMV

[zybar]

I am in the same camp as Jim interms of the Bolder modified units being the way to go.

Outside of the experimental version Wayne sent me (I was perfectly happy being the lab rat), all of Wayne's versions were better than the RWA modified one via the external battery supply. 

I have had the basic to the ultimate and each upgrade was well worth the money and clearly improved the sound.

Killer sound at a very reasonable overall investment.

George

[95bcwh]

Bolder's "Ultimate" mod cost 3 x as much as RWA mod, I would be REALLY surprised if it doesn't sound better than RWA modded SB3, and even RWA modded Olive.

Is it "REALLY" surprising that Bolder's "Basic" PS and mods outperformed RWA's best, and that it wasn't close?

The problem is, Wayne is so busy with orders that he doesn't even have any prototype left for people like me to ask for a 30 day home-trial. Hence to you, the difference could be "day and night", I'm glad that you've found your money well-spent. But I cannot say that until I have the chance to hear it, for me, $1000 is a bit too much money to spend on a "one-way ticket" to a new land.

[zybar]

Bolder's "Ultimate" mod cost 3 x as much as RWA mod, I would be REALLY surprised if it doesn't sound better than RWA modded SB3, and even RWA modded Olive.

Is it "REALLY" surprising that Bolder's "Basic" PS and mods outperformed RWA's best, and that it wasn't close?

The problem is, Wayne is so busy with orders that he doesn't even have any prototype left for people like me to ask for a 30 day home-trial. Hence to you, the difference could be "day and night", I'm glad that you've found your money well-spent. But I cannot say that until I have the chance to hear it, for me, $1000 is a bit too much money to spend on a "one-way ticket" to a new land.

So start out slow and just get the basic supply and mods.

George

[avta]

Radiator:

It's not necessary to use an internet connection. You can connect the Squeezebox directley to your computer but with an internet connection you also have the option of listening to numerous internet stations that are pre-programed into the Squeezebox or adding your own stations. You could listen to jazz from Paris or classical music from Los Angeles. The Squeezebox comes in both wired and wireless moddels..the wired only one is slightly less expensive..but less flexible in my view. All in all a lot for the money.

Guy 

[95bcwh]

Bolder's "Ultimate" mod cost 3 x as much as RWA mod, I would be REALLY surprised if it doesn't sound better than RWA modded SB3, and even RWA modded Olive.

Is it "REALLY" surprising that Bolder's "Basic" PS and mods outperformed RWA's best, and that it wasn't close?

The problem is, Wayne is so busy with orders that he doesn't even have any prototype left for people like me to ask for a 30 day home-trial. Hence to you, the difference could be "day and night", I'm glad that you've found your money well-spent. But I cannot say that until I have the chance to hear it, for me, $1000 is a bit too much money to spend on a "one-way ticket" to a new land.

So start out slow and just get the basic supply and mods.

George

George,
   Thanks for the suggestion. While I can afford $1000, I just cannot justify to my wife to use $1000 for experiment.
   I don't like to start out small and slowly upgrade, because in the long run it will cost me more money than going straight to the $1000 solution.
   So I'm holding out on the digital source for the time being, I will experiment with other pieces in my set-up, starting with power amp, preamp (as I can find plenty of products allowed for 30 days home trial), and hopefully one day I can manage to get a prototype of Wayne's ultimate power supply!! 

    barry
   

[Radiator]

Radiator:

It's not necessary to use an internet connection. You can connect the Squeezebox directley to your computer but with an internet connection you also have the option of listening to numerous internet stations that are pre-programed into the Squeezebox or adding your own stations. You could listen to jazz from Paris or classical music from Los Angeles. The Squeezebox comes in both wired and wireless moddels..the wired only one is slightly less expensive..but less flexible in my view. All in all a lot for the money.

Guy 

Ah, I see.  Thanks.