Hey fellas,
Recently I was given an opportunity to have my SqueezeBox (SB3) modded by Wayne at Bolder Cables.
What I hear is pretty darned impressive to say the least. So, I'm telling my friends here and at HawthorneAudio about my first few weeks impressions.
Here's my story:
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I've been drooling over the Hot-Rodded SqueezeBoxes of my fellow St. Louis
"Gateway Audio Society" brethren for a couple years now. Recently Wayne of Bolder Cables approached me about being a beta tester for his latest round of upgrades to the SB3. Well I've had my beloved stock SqueezeBox (SB3) for about one year so you can guess how long I had to think about that one.
Of course I expected a "bit" of a difference. At least enough of a difference to justify the going rate of several hundred dollar modifications to a three hundred dollar piece of consumer electronics. In fact, I expected a little
more than a "bit" of a difference honestly.
Well, as it turns out, that little mod he performed, which we're calling the New
"Enthusiast Full Mod" has rejuvenated what was becoming a relatively boring music collection. The difference I experienced was not subtle by any stretch of the imagination, mind you, but an eye opening revelation I've not heard in my system in a while.
The most recent favorites added to my music collection have been Keb' Mo'
"Just like you", Lyle Lovett
"Joshua Judges Ruth", and Hope Waits
"Self Titled".
So, with these albums at my side, I set off to see what audible differences I could ascertain.
With the Keb' Mo' and Lyle Lovett I noticed better stereo separation, like the band players where further apart on stage, and I was sitting in first row, center seat. My room had been transformed into a larger room with the speakers further apart than I had ever heard before. Further apart than they could possibly be given the limited width of my stage. Not a small feat for something as simple as some new "gadgets" in a Squeezebox. The total square footage of my front wall is just under 100 square feet, but the sound I was hearing was filling it beyond it's boundary's.
A side note; On Lyle Lovett's piece, "
Baltimore", I can't say I've ever noticed the "mouth noises", the subtle lip smacking you don't hear very often. Unfortunately, with changes such as these, there's no way for a direct "A/B" comparison, but as one of my (recent) favorite songs, I can't believe I've not noticed this little tid-bit of content before. I'm usually actively searching for such morsels of "neat stuff". Was it there before the mod? Not sure, don't think so, but it's there now and I've just noticed it for the first time. Just like Lyle was sitting in the same room.
Session number two: It's time to torture my wife.........
The (almost) ever willing assistant that's my extra pair of ears when I ask (beg) her to. Using those untrained ears, she was able to quickly recall past torture sessions when I forced these very same songs on her. The words she used to describe the new sound in our room where, "
The music is more full. If audio had pixels like video does, the mods that Wayne did gave it more pixels".
Hmm, interesting analogy, very accurate description in my opinion.
I did indeed notice a much quieter background on the Hope Waits tracks, overall a much cleaner sound. The phrases "blacker background" and "larger sound stage" occurred to me while listening as the space behind the speakers seems to have expanded just as they did with Lyle. For critical listening, I tend to have my eyes closed and the rooms lighting dimmed. More than once I found myself peeking with one eye, just to regain a perspective on where the speakers are, as I occasionally felt I was no longer in a room, but sitting isolated in a large field with nothing around me. Simply stunning the sensation I was experiencing. As thrilled with my system before the mods, I'll have to be honest and say I was slightly skeptical at exactly how much I was going to gain with the modification. I expected a cleaner, more pure sound, due to the higher quality components in the signal path. But what I wasn't expecting was for the mods to make the room larger. Color me impressed as this most certainly raises the bar. An unequivocal improvement over a couple weeks ago when I last heard the unit.
The internal modifications Wayne performed on the SqueezeBox have set in stone my belief that a discless PC based music server is a rock solid viable option for high quality music reproduction and will forever be the main (most likely
only) source of music in my system.
I give the modifications my highest recommendation as they are truly
several steps above the factory sound quality. With the gains in clarity, "cleanliness", background and soundstage, I'd never be happy with a stock SB in my system, as these improvments are simply too large to ignore.
Making a comparison between the factory power supply (PS) and the modded PS is laughable.
If it were possible to have a greater difference between night and day, well, that's the difference between the lightweight plastic walwart and the "heavier than a brick" PS that Wayne built. Using the factory PS, the SqueezeBox is most certainly not a viable component in the audio chain. The sound is dark and muffled. The soundstage is non-existant as is any "magic" whatsoever. I recall the first day of being a SB owner. Carefully unpacking it as to not get any fingerprints on the display face, I couldn't wait to hear the first song. Oh, I was so proud and so happy to
finally have the much revered SqueezeBox. In less than 60 seconds of the first song, I was ready to pack it up and ship it back. It was the worst sound I'd heard in my system, EVER. Quickly I was on the phone with a fellow St. Louis audio buddy asking what I had done wrong. It was at this point I learned just how important getting rid of the factory power supply really is. It's not a "tweak", it's a necessity. Period.
Specs, Component used for evaluation, and other bits of useful goodies:"Enthusiast Full Mod". "What is it", and "What do I get":
The main improvement of this mod over the previous generation is the installation of the voltage regulator on board. For a time, this option was limited to the digital only version and the regulator was installed in another box.
Main things are removing all caps from the board, upgrading caps to BlackGate, Panasonic FM and Sonicap Platinum. Rewire DAC chip to run direct from DC input. Add regulator for clock/buffer run off direct DC input, true 75 ohm (cable and connector) output on digital section. Upgrade analog output connectors (at slight extra cost over retail price).
Power Supply:
It has the cryo-treated ACME Audio Silver plated IEC, fuse holder and fuse in the AC line.
This PS has two stages of filtration. One before the rectifiers and one after. This removes quite a bit of noise from the line. It also should do a very good job of isolating the DC. It uses a choke as well as the main transformer. Did I mention it was heavier than a brick?!
System components;
USB external hard drive, all tracks in FLAC format. Wirelessly transmitted via "2wire" brand router to the SB3. A Harman Kardon AVR645 serves as the DAC and preamp feeding analog signal to a 40wpc Jolida 202-A tube amp for frequencies over 80Hz to a pair of HawthorneAudio 15" Silver Iris Coaxial drivers in a DIY baffle. Frequencies below 80Hz are rerouted through a Behringer DCX2496. Content between 80Hz and 40Hz run to a 225watt plate amp that powers twin 15" HawthorneAudio Augies in DIY baffles. All content below 40Hz runs to a Legion LSA900 amp that provides 800watts to four more 15" Augies in infinite baffle.
Cables and wiring;
- Power cable is a Nitro Plus with Oyaide Rhodium plated ends.
- 3' Nitro DC cable from power supply to the SB3.
- Cheapo optical cable from SB3 to Harman Kardon AVR645 to keep the signal digital as long as possible without having multiple A/D/A conversions. Also, I'm unaware of how to compensate for the phase inversion (with my equipment) that the mods cause.
- "OneAC" power conditioner for the SB3.
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So there you go. The list of internal mods is a bit over my head. Not sure what all that does.
But the end result
is like butter. aa
Wayne,
You 'da man.
Bob
