> Before I go in depth about how the SB3 sounds, there are a 
> couple of things that you will want to know first regarding 
> the stock unit. First, the stock switching power supply is 
> woefully inadequate for the critical listening that we 
> audiophiles do. Fortunately, a cheap easy substitution 
> of a $7, 5 Volt 1.5 Amp (regulated) wall wart brings a 
> significant gain in resolution

So let's see.  SlimDevices puts in time and effort carefully
engineering their product. They measure the resulting product and it
looks pretty good. 

A writer does no measurement at all.  He "knows" that a switching power
supply is terrible and guess what, he finds it to be "woefully
inadequate".  And a cheap and cheerful linear power supply that costs $
7 produces a "significant gain".  This outcome doesn't surprise me but I
think some skepticism is warranted.

Some questions to ask about a replacement supply:

- Does the transformer hum?

- What is the level of ripple and other noise on the 5V output?

- How reliable is this power supply?  How good is the quality control?

- Has anyone actually tested the replacement power supply to see how it
performs.  Has anyone tested a SB with the standard power supply against
the replacement power supply?  (I mean something more rigorous than just
listening before and after the change and "hearing" a big difference.)

High-end audio writers love to find tweaks to write about.  They rave
about veils being removed but a bit later, the tweak of the day is
abandoned for something else.  Follow their advice and you have a
grab-bag of tweaks they stopped using long ago.

Bill


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