Slim Devices Squeezebox with High-End Audio Modifications

[twochaudio]

,,,Dam that sounds good on my pc nice wide sound stage

[crooner2007]

Thank you. Glad you liked it!

[twochaudio]

,I just looked it up,,, Its wireless I keep thinking I will be playing a great track and Hillery Clintion will be in the backgroung telling tails

[kentoldhoj]

@twochaudio no worries... i have a similar setup and it plays crystalclear FLAC files wireless throughout the house. No added noise, no drops.... just pure digital music.

[mgarlo]

excellent music and seems u have well done the improvings of the squeezebox.. what speakers u have in this this system?

[crooner2007]

I am using Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures and matching 2W powered sub driven by vintage Marantz tube electronics. Thanks for your comment!

[twochaudio]

I love the Vandersteen speakers now that is good great price value plus he,s polish I think

[silvershogun]

btw wats the name of this song playing as the soundtrack?

[crooner2007]

Thanks for your comment. The song is "Tema De La Onda" or "Theme of The Wave" in English.

It is by Aldemaro Romero and His Onda Nueva. Remix is by Nicola Conte.

[silvershogun]

kool setup.... kool music.... dude u got taste

[crooner2007]

Thanks man! I try!

[iabhornc]

Awesome music and sound. The right equipment makes a hell of a difference.

[svtcontour]

Man that is so cool. Great stereo and I love your squeezebox mod. I love my squeezebox but I wonder what I'm missing. I sometimes find my lowly Yamaha CD player to sound better - slightly. Maybe I need an outboard DAC.

[crooner2007]

Get rid of the stock switching power supply if you haven't done so already. Next get a good quality DAC. The EAD series are superb, but any quality PCM63 based DAC will make huge difference, IMHO.

[svtcontour]

Hi crooner2007, what do you know or think of the following DACs. I've seen both in really good shape selling used in my area. One is a Conrad Johnson DA-2B Tube DAC and the other is a Musical Fidelity A3.24 upsampling DAC. I also saw a PS Audio Ultralink DAC but I'm guessing its not in the same league but it was about 40% cheaper than the others. I'll also try ditching the swithing supply and get a decent linear one.

[crooner2007]

The Conrad Johnson is probably going to give you a warmish sound, so depending on your system it may prove beneficial. The Musical Fidelity is more modern and accurate. I particularly prefer the older ladder style DAC chips such as the PCM63 and the PCM1704 types. But the Delta Sigmas have made huge strides in recent years. The key is to have BNC connections in the SPDIF, in my experience. You will have to mod the Squeezebox to accept BNC. Well worth it!

[svtcontour]

Hmmm maybe I should go with the Musical Fidelity then because my speakers are slightly warm (old Celestions) and I'm not sure but some people say the Threshold amps were a bit warm but I think its fairly neutral. If the CJ is a bit warm, then I might end up with too much warmth. As for the BNC connectors, wouldnt a good quality SPDIF cable with quality RCA ends do the trick? Some RCA's can clamp on pretty good :)

[crooner2007]

It's not the fit, but actually the design. The RCA plug was never intended for RF and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain true 75 ohm termination impedance.

A nice cable is the Stereovox that features BNC terminations with RCA adapters that can be removed if needed.

[svtcontour]

I see. Ok that makes sense. I assume the BNC is slightly fatter than an RCA so I'd have to enlarge the hole in the back of the squeezebox. I've done lots of soldering before so I could probably swap out the connectors. I'll start first by doing the PSU mod and go from there. By the way, the song playing in your vid is really nice. I dont know what it is but it sounds great. Really enjoyable :)

[crooner2007]

Forgot to say thanks for the great comments and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have about the Squeezebox and possible mods!

[svtcontour]

You're welcome and for sure if I have any squeezebox questions, I'll come bug ya :) I've got two of these things. One for my make shift listening room and one in the living room. Love these things.