I have a modded Zhaolu - all the available mods from Eddie Wu except the clock upgrade, plus I upgraded the internal cabling, changed the connectors and put in a proper IEC receptacle.
I also have a SB2 and SB3 that I have modded. The mods in the SB2 are - linear supply with voltage sensing, Blackgate 'big ass' cap, output IC removed and bypassed with Auricaps, 5v filtration at input via Blackgate (as large as I could fit in. The modified SB2 with analog outs beats the Zhaolu hands down - primarily through very noticeably lower noise floor and better control all over. Note I connect the SB2 to the Zhaolu using vhaudio Pulsar cryo'd. The modified SB2 beats the SB3 simply by having a better tonal balance - the SB3 sounding brighter, whether from the digital outs or the analog outs. The only meaningful difference in the mods is that I can't fit the same 'big ass' cap in the SB3 as I can in the SB2. Frankly I think you really need to spend more like USD2000 for a DAC to better the modded SB2, amazing as that sounds. I have had various DACs in the system to verify that, such as the Lavry Blue, a couple of Meridians, Benchmark, Stello (which I find sounds a little cool and lacking tonal colour by the way), and a few others I am struggling to recall. -- Jenks ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jenks's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3413 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24200 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
