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External linear power supply for Squeezebox Touch

Rodney gold said:
I have 2 SBT's .. had a local guy that was building power supplies for em.he swore his made a HUGE difference...
Anyway , I hooked up 2 SBT's , one with oem supply and the other with his super duper PS...and ABed them
No difference whatsoever between the 2...
I must qualify that tho..I was running in the digital domain only .. not using th SBT's dac.
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that's what i find as well... lucky ears...
 
I am running the SBT using its analog out outputs, and not its digital feed. This I am certain makes it much more sensitive to the quality of the PS. Returning to the CDS3 headunit...if it is stuffed with almost 3 dozen monolithic voltage regulators...then why is it so sensitive to the external power supply? Conventional wisdom would say the entry level XP5-XS 'budget' supply would be equally as capable as the 555PS-DR for several multiples of its price. Or why would a Teddy XPS sound different than the real-McCoy XPS?
Here for instance is a tiny portion of the schematic of the CDS3...and like deep space it is hardly a void of voltage regulators...it is fair brimming with them!
schemo_cds3.png
 
rontoolsie said:
I am running the SBT using its analog out outputs, and not its digital feed. This I am certain makes it much more sensitive to the quality of the PS. Returning to the CDS3 headunit...if it is stuffed with almost 3 dozen monolithic voltage regulators...then why is it so sensitive to the external power supply? Conventional wisdom would say the entry level XP5-XS 'budget' supply would be equally as capable as the 555PS-DR for several multiples of its price. Or why would a Teddy XPS sound different than the real-McCoy XPS?
Here for instance is a tiny portion of the schematic of the CDS3...and like deep space it is hardly a void of voltage regulators...it is fair brimming with them!
schemo_cds3.png
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wow, i have no idea what this is... :eek::eek:. lol
 
slavedata said:
Coincidentally I have just received this kit from China to use on a Pre Box S2 Digital. It's based on an open source dual rail linear supply.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultra-Low-Noise-linear-power-supply-LPS-PSU-KIT-5V-9V-12V-15V-18V-24V/121962363423?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Original design
https://www.amb.org/audio/sigma22/

Seems a touch more cost effective than the original posters concoction.
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did you have a chance to test out the kit?
 
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Had a battery power supply on mine that made a difference. Others have said that the Teddy supply for the SBT also is an improvement.
 
Have a look at the John Swenson power supply for the SB3 and Touch, very simple to build if you have basic soldering and electronic skills.

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I've tried several PSUs, and haven't actually heard any differences using the USB output. I now use a RPi in my main system, so the 'real' SBTs are used for less critical applications now, so I'm happy to use the stock supply for convenience. The SBT runs off 5v but there is a lot going on, so it's current demand is quite high. I've found that some small linear supplies struggle to supply the current required. At one time I tried to keep all SMPSUs out of my system wiring, but I now run a power amp that has a SMPSU, so that battle is lost. My RPi, and the SBT until a few weeks ago, takes its power from a USB hub, that has quite a large 12v SMPSU driving it, and that works well and also powers my ADC as well.

There may possible be some advantage in using a PSU that doesn't inject noise into the SBT or the mains, especially if using the analogue outputs, but I can't honestly say I managed to hear a difference myself.
 
I use one that was bought to power my Brooklyn, but has multiple DC output rails. It also powers my switch, removing two (probably quite nasty) SMPSUs from the system. It certainly has a positive effect on the sound, but whether it is worth the asking price versus spending that money on (say) room treatments is debatable...
 
rontoolsie said:
Returning to the CDS3 headunit...if it is stuffed with almost 3 dozen monolithic voltage regulators...then why is it so sensitive to the external power supply?
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Not claiming that power supplies indeed give audible differences, all those LM317s do exactly nothing about incoming high frequency signals. HF meaning a few tens of kHz and higher. And as fat toroids generally have a high interwinding capacitance ...
 
Some years ago I carried out an admittedly imperfect A/B test playing a ripped CD through my SBT while playing the same CD on my Quad 99 CDP. I could not hear any difference. This convinced me of two things:-

a) The SBT PSU was not causing any problems so I didn`t need to go and make a "better" linear PSU.

b) The SBT DAC quality was sufficient that I didn`t need to spring for an optical cable to run it via the Quad CDP.

Many will disagree and I don`t claim even though it was a few years ago, that my hearing was even then as good as once it was but it has saved me wondering about "improvements" and hey, I just listen to the music.
 
Barrymagrec said:
Some years ago I carried out an admittedly imperfect A/B test playing a ripped CD through my SBT while playing the same CD on my Quad 99 CDP. I could not hear any difference. This convinced me of two things:-

a) The SBT PSU was not causing any problems so I didn`t need to go and make a "better" linear PSU.

b) The SBT DAC quality was sufficient that I didn`t need to spring for an optical cable to run it via the Quad CDP.

Many will disagree and I don`t claim even though it was a few years ago, that my hearing was even then as good as once it was but it has saved me wondering about "improvements" and hey, I just listen to the music.
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Indeed. It never ceases to amaze me the way audiophiles will fall hook line and sinker for techno-bollox if they hear Chinese whispers about it from a few sources... yeah the first person who doesn't know a resistor from a spark plug told the next one etc... that's a Chinese whisper... it does not give it any technical veracity just because 5 people have repeated it!
 
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