I just emailed Vinnie at Red Wine and he's not doing SB mods anymore. I
was just going to have him mod mine next month. Are there any other
mods out there beside Bolder that anyone can recommend?
--
msiebach
msiebach's
I think Aberdeen might be offering SB mods now, but is there a reason
why you would not consider Bolder mods? I spent a considerable amount
of time on audiocircle reading about and asking questions on both
company's offerings. I decided on Bolder's digital mods (no Bybees) and
am very happy with
tonyptony;132113 Wrote:
I think Aberdeen might be offering SB mods now
What's that, hacksawing the DAC off the board?
--
Skunk
Skunk's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2685
View this thread:
tonyptony;132113 Wrote:
I think Aberdeen might be offering SB mods now, but is there a reason
why you would not consider Bolder mods? I spent a considerable amount
of time on audiocircle reading about and asking questions on both
company's offerings. I decided on Bolder's digital mods (no
I opted for the Bolder mod, and was lucky to compare their mods against
a stock SB3 (I have 2, one for the family room). I did the digital only
mod, and spent way too much for Bolder's power supply upgrades. The
digital mod is minimal, it adds a Nextgen digital output and a few
other doodads. I
P Floding;130906 Wrote:
...I believe an SB3 with a few hundred dollars worth of mods should be
able to compete with any high end transport (as a transport!). So if
you don't need the analogue out, etc, etc, it makes perfect sense to
modify an SB3.
I didn't realize until now that you were
blackbear;131054 Wrote:
I'd be curious to know if anyone has compared such a mod versus unmodded
with different DACs.
I have, and it sounded considerably better in every case (including with
a Benchmark DAC1).
--
Patrick Dixon
www.at-tunes.co.uk
Patrick Dixon;131088 Wrote:
I have, and it sounded considerably better in every case (including with
a Benchmark DAC1).
Thanks, that is interesting.
--
blackbear
blackbear's Profile:
CFP wrote:
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more money
because the improvements would be so small.
Oh no, I think I've just been mistaken for an audiosnob.
Well, how about
Robin Bowes Wrote:
CFP wrote:
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a
cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more
money
because the improvements would be so small.
Oh no, I think I've just been mistaken for
CFP wrote:
Robin Bowes Wrote:
CFP wrote:
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a
cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more
money
because the improvements would be so small.
Oh no, I think I've just been mistaken
blackbear;130430 Wrote:
Speaking for myself, I came in with an open and curious mind and left
conviced by Sean that upgrading the internals of my SB3 is not worth
the money and effort. Should I find the SB lacking in sound quality as
I upgrade the rest of my gear, I'll go the external DAC or
Thanks for your input, SoftwireEngineer.
In fairness to Sean, he didn't say that the SB3 couldn't be improved
upon. As I understood it, he said that in order to improve it in a way
that made reasonable sense in terms of cost/performance, one would
really know what one is doing. And even then, the
blackbear;130430 Wrote:
Speaking for myself, I came in with an open and curious mind and left
conviced by Sean that upgrading the internals of my SB3 is not worth
the money and effort. Should I find the SB lacking in sound quality as
I upgrade the rest of my gear, I'll go the external DAC or
Patrick Dixon;130425 Wrote:
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more money
because the improvements would be so small.
Usual forum stuff - everyone comes in with fixed opinions and leaves
with
P Floding;130827 Wrote:
That's the wrong conclusion!
...
There are no rights or wrongs here, only opinions. I simply stated
mine.
P Floding;130828 Wrote:
With the Transporter geting ready to ship he would way that, wouldn't
he?
Not neccessarily. SofwireEngineer is correct in his
highdudgeon wrote:
CFP Wrote:
Telling indeed.
Bingo. Ditto. Amen.
I don't understand what either of you are getting at?
R.
___
audiophiles mailing list
audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com
http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more money
because the improvements would be so small.
Usual forum stuff - everyone comes in with fixed opinions and leaves
with exactly the same fixed opinions, having
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
...
Usual forum stuff - everyone comes in with fixed opinions and leaves
with exactly the same fixed opinions, having convinced no-one else in
the meantime ;-)
Speaking for myself, I came in with an open and curious mind and left
conviced by Sean that upgrading the
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
I suspect one of them thinks it's 'telling' that SD design to a cost,
and the other that SD don't think it's worth spending any more money
because the improvements would be so small.
Oh no, I think I've just been mistaken for an audiosnob.
--
CFP
Speakers:
CFP Wrote:
Telling indeed.
Bingo. Ditto. Amen.
--
highdudgeon
SB3-Nuforce 9.02-Harbeth Monitor 30s/Skylan stands and Quad ESL-988s.
Simple and satisfying.
highdudgeon's Profile:
nelamvr6 Wrote:
So what took you so long to answer? :D
Well, that's a pretty good answer, and I gotta say it's not too common
in my experience that the CEO of a company will be up late checking in
on customers questions.
Kudos!
Listening to my (bone stock) SB3 right now. That K DAC
What's up w/ electronics catching on fire lately?
Don't forget to add some Bybee filters while you're in there soldering!
--
Skunk
Skunk's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2685
View this thread:
blackbear Wrote:
The stock SB3 has less than 100pS jitter on the coax output. Have
anyone seen measurements on any of the modded versions?
We did some J-test plots for the SB+ vs a stock SB3
http://www.at-view.co.uk/sb2_jitter.htm
Jitter isn't just a number so xxps is not always very
seanadams Wrote:
It's been covered before, but basically we already get the data sheet
specs of the KE grade by using the K, so it's unlikely to make a
cost-effective improvement. It is quite likely that they are the same
part - it's common practice to mark different grades or speeds of a
blackbear Wrote:
One could argue, though, that at 10 cents, ANY improvement would be
cost-effective.
Not really. It's like putting a grapefruit shooter on an Acura, or
upgrading your plug wires, or all the other hundreds of ways you can
pour money into it for little (or quite often
seanadams Wrote:
...
The system as a whole is designed from the start for some level of
price/performance, and it can't be greatly exceeded by swapping out a
few parts. Sure, if you really know what you're doing you might be
able to squeeze out a fraction of a dB here or there, but it's
seanadams Wrote:
Not really. It's like putting a grapefruit shooter on an Acura, or
upgrading your plug wires, or all the other hundreds of ways you can
pour money into it for little (or quite often negative) benefit.
The system as a whole is designed from the start for some level of
Patrick Dixon Wrote:
I can't speak for RW or Boulder, but
a) Improving the basic clock stability of the SB3, and
b) Optimising the SPDIF output circuitry, by better matching it to 75
Ohms and equalising signal rise and fall times
both reduce jitter at the external DAC and have a
blackbear Wrote:
One other thing that puzzles me:
One of the common SB tweaks is to replace the stock D/A chip
(Burr-Brown PCM1748) with the KE edition of the same chip which has
slightly better specs. As far as I can tell from TI's website, the
price difference between these two chips
nelamvr6 Wrote:
You know, that is a damn good question!
It's been covered before, but basically we already get the data sheet
specs of the KE grade by using the K, so it's unlikely to make a
cost-effective improvement. It is quite likely that they are the same
part - it's common practice to
seanadams Wrote:
It's been covered before, but basically we already get the data sheet
specs of the KE grade by using the K, so it's unlikely to make a
cost-effective improvement. It is quite likely that they are the same
part - it's common practice to mark different grades or speeds of a
blackbear Wrote:
Exactly which property of the digital output interface and signal are
these mods supposed to improve?
I can't speak for RW or Boulder, but
a) Improving the basic clock stability of the SB3, and
b) Optimising the SPDIF output circuitry, by better matching it to 75
Ohms and
Here's another: seperate DAC. Oops, that was two words.
While I can understand the rationale behind the analog SB mods, I am
curious about the digital mods that have performed by RWA, Boulder
etc. to their SB's when they only use the digital output.
Exactly which property of the digital output
I love mine but it is a RWA SB2 not SB3. I was tempted by the Bolder
mod as well as the RedWine but bottom line from all the comments I've
read there is not much difference between the two in terms of sound
quality. However, RWA has one thing that was really big for me, it is
battery powered.
I have the latest version of the RWA SB3, and it is the best sounding
digital-source Ive ever owned. Plus, Vinnies customer service is
second to none.
--
boybees
boybees's Profile:
Transporter.
--
highdudgeon
SB3-Nuforce 9.02-Harbeth Monitor 30s/Skylan stands and Quad ESL-988s.
Simple and satisfying.
highdudgeon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2195
View this thread:
I've owned my Redwine modded SB3 since april and am delighted with it.
This is the latest full mod with the upgraded op amp. Since I've never
heard a stock SB3 I couldn't give any comparisons. You might want to
check a thread on the Audiocircle forum
38 matches
Mail list logo
