robw;161456 Wrote: > Hello, > > After plenty of auditioning I have just bought my first hi-fi system - > Rotel RA-05 amplifier with B&W CM1 speakers. I auditioned this system > with the Rotel RCD-02 CD player (and loved the sound), but have decided > to go for a Squeezebox (SB3) as my source. Unfortunately I couldn't > audition the SB3. > > I have two questions: > > 1. Would the sound quality of an unmodified SB3 using analogue outputs > be similar to that of the RCD-02? (I note that both devices use Burr > Brown DACs, but I'm not sure which) > > 2. If I wanted to improve on the sound of the SB3 (and only had about > £200 to spend), would I be better off with a £200 external DAC (e.g. > the Shek D2) or with the Bolder Audio analog mod? > > Thanks for any advice! > > Rob.
Q1: I can't comment on the latest Rotel players, but the general thinking is that the SB3 easily carries its weight with respect to similarly- (and slightly higher-) priced CD players. Q2: I bought a Shek d2 and am very pleased with it. It now rivals my Shanling CD player, although does lack the real dynamic weight of the (£1,500) CD player; I found it a big improvement on the stock SB3. I posted my thoughts on the d2 on this forum a couple of weeks ago. My bottom line is that I now listen to the SB3 much more: previously the CD/SB difference was so great that I only used the SB for background listening; now it sounds good enough to listen to 'properly'. I agree with Tomsi's comments about getting your power and cabling sorted though, but this shouldn't eat too much into your £200 budget. HTH Adam -- adamslim SB3 into Derek Shek d2, Shanling CDT-100, Rotel RT-990BX, Esoteric Audio Research 859, Living Voice Auditorium IIs, Nordost cables ------------------------------------------------------------------------ adamslim's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7355 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=30520 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
