2005-11-07-00:12:29 dwc:
> I haven't done careful listening comparisons. I use my external dac and
> I'm happy with it. :)
Yeah, I'm kind of in that boat. I've just always been running SBs
into a digital in of my Arcam AVR, because I chose the Arcam for the
pleasing quality of its D/A, and because with a digital source it can
send some bass off to the sub.
I found, though, that the SB2 sounded better to me if its bits went
through an Apogee Big Ben (especially after the Big Ben got the one-cap
power supply upgrade suggested by Maui Dan months ago on another forum
far away). The sound of an un-Big-Benned SB2 with no internal mods to
the SB2 only sounded a teensy bit better to me when it was fed by a
Bolder linear power supply.
My new SB3, though... I believe that the SB3's digital out, when the
SB3 is being fed by that selfsame Bolder linear, is noticeably less
likely[1] to cause me crankiness of the ears. Maybe in this context
(digital out, quiet 5V in), the linear 3.3v regulator we've heard about
shines? Is the 3.3V supply particularly intimately involved with the
digital path of the SB?
Early times yet, more listening to do, but I suspect I may be less
likely to bother feeding this puppy through the Big Ben.
[1] "Noticeably less likely" doesn't imply it was ever actually
terrible, of course. Straining for subtleties is what we
audio-obsessives DO.
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