Sorry for the long post, but it is the synthesis of much perusal of this forum, along with SB info available on Audio Circle, Head-Fi and Audio Asylum forums. (My Asylum moniker is "activeM&Kman").
I'm a new SB3 owner, and the WiFi server concept has me sold. With about 2 weeks of use now, however, I must say I find the sound of the SB3 to be rolled off at the top end, and to be rather constrained throughout all frequencies. As I've read the forums, some folks have had similar opinions, and of course, some have the exact opposite, saying the SB3 is too bright. What a surprise from audiophiles. I'll have to admit I have not heard a huge variety of CD players, but in general I actually like the harder, in your face sound that digital can provide. I am not a tube-sound guy at all. Rolled off and bloated is not my cup of tea, but that is sort of how the SB3 sounds to me. My previous players were both lower end Sony ES units, whose sound I enjoyed. My vinyl rig sounds brighter than the SB3. My hearing is very good at upper extremities -- yes, I do hear 20 kHz. I do not hear much cymbal shimmer or proper crashes with the SB3, and snare decay is truncated. Saxaphone lacks the proper bite. I also see a lot of live, electric jazz and rock shows with good seats. My vinyl rig can reproduce the sound of live music. Even cranking the volume up does not get the SB3 to come alive (and my system can crank some volume ;^) My system is also very revealing, from top to bottom. The vinyl rig I mentioned is a Sota Nova vacuum tt, with a Graham 2.2 arm, and Benz Ace high output cartridge. My preamp is a Bryston BP25MC with built in MC and MM phono amp. Balanced cables run to M&K pro studio monitors (~ 350 watts in each) and subwoofer (400 watts), via an M&K crossover/bass controller. The system plays clean as a whistle even when I crank it to (way) over 100db in the sweet spot. I moved to the boonies so I can CRANK my stereo! My first thought was to swap the SB3 for a Transporter. As I read opinions of the TP, however, I get the impression it also has a tube-like character, although much clearer than the SB3. This sure is not what I am looking for, based on the SB3 sound. I'll admit I didn't want to spend $2K now, but I'm willing to now that the SB3 has me hooked on the concept. I do prefer the one-box solution, plus I know the TP has additional inputs and just darn looks cool, as well. I've also been reading descriptions of the sounds of DACs, to see what else I might try. Several solid state units around $1K sound promising. The pro audio world offers the Benchmark, Lavry DA10 and Apogee MiniDAC, characterized with revealing pro audio sound. The Channel Islands VDA2 and possibly improved power supply is also in this range, and while the descriptions I read tend toward the tube-like side, I have a soft-spot for designer Dusty Vawter as I have old Audio Alchemy (analog) gear still cruising in my office system. I still have about 2 weeks to play around with the SB3. I guess I'm looking for "swap it" or "keep it and get a DAC" advice, and why, based on the description on the kind of sound I like. Any comments on the above DACs is appreciated, as well as any other suggestions. FYI, modding the SB3 or tube DACs are not an option. Thanks, desertrat58 from Joshua Tree, California, USA. -- desertrat58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ desertrat58's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9431 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=31533 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
