To hard wire or not and go wireless

[Willie B]

Forgive me for this basic question but I cannot find the answer on the forum. I intend to get a squeezebox linked to a dedicated hard drive. A wireless connection would be convenient with the hard drive kept out of the way but I wonder if I would get better sound if I hard wire the SB to a dedicated server in close proximity (e.g. MAC mini or similar). So the question is this - is a wireless connection sonically as good as a wired one?

I am also in the market for a decent amp. I used to have Naim 82/hicap/250 but am in-between systems and using some old basic NAD gear. I like the Naim sound but don't want to fall again for their "upgradeitus" - I was looking at large chunks of money, which I did't have, to marginally improve the sound. Any sugestions around the £1k mark - new or secondhand (Cyrus, Quad, etc). The Squeezebox would be my main source (possibly upgraded in due course - power supply, external DAC etc)

Many thanks in anticipation

Willie

[funkstar]

Wired or wireless will make no difference to the audio quality as the same bits are being sent to the device regardless of the connection method. Some have argued in the past that there may be a differnece because of electrical noise or increased load on the powersupply or something. Not something i would get hung up on though.

For some poeple however, wireless connections have been causing a lot of problems. There is a new firmware in the works that should sort out most of these problems. But bear in mind too that there are many many people that have had exactly no problems with their wireless setups.

[Willie B]

Thanks for info Funkstar - thats good to know

Willie

[jonheal]

I didn't go this way, but the wireless version also includes an ethernet jack on the back, so you can use it either way.

[Skunk]

Any sugestions around the £1k mark - new or secondhand (Cyrus, Quad, etc).

Many thanks in anticipation

Willie

What kind of speakers will you be using? Also, you say SB will be 'main source', do you have a preamp?

I think Patrick Dixon (member here) does naim/sb mods so he'd be one to hook up with. I saw him mention chip amps before, which will be my next experimentation with amplification..

[Willie B]

Current speakers are Naim SBLs but will probably sell and would like Wilson Benesch Arcs in an ideal world (have demmed them ia t dealers and also demmed an older pair of WB floorstanders at home - the latter sounded fabulous when driven by a Naim 72/140)

Am inclined to go down the road of an integrated amp although a 2nd hand Cyrus DACXP/X Power set up would be nice - could then feed the squeezebox via the DAC

Cheers

Willie

[gusi]

Willie,

1) Wireless is more convenient but a bit of a pain to setup if you're not IT savvy. Of all wifi devices I have seen the SB is the easiest to set up though. I'd expect no difference in sound quality

2) the SB3 internal dac is pretty good. It is not far off my cdx. I'd stick with that until your amps are sorted.

3) I have a 52/250, I recently ABed it in my living room against my mates Belcanto integrated amp. The presentation was slightly less forward and warmer but wasn't far off the Naim sound. It had better grip on my speakers than the 250. At 40% from a used 52/250 it is quite a bargain.

cheers
Gus

[Chris OH]

If you want to find your way passed upgraditis in the UK try Avondale Audio.

http://63.99.108.232/forum/showthread.php?t=20904

Chris

PS I have been a cusotomer for 15 years but have no other association

[stevieweevie]

Get the wireless model then you have extra flexibility at little extra cost.

[Willie B]

Thanks - the wireless model makes sense but I just didn't know whether it would give the same quality as a wired version - perhaps my distrust of wireless technology. However, it seems that both are equally good and the wireless version will allow me to store all the music on a remote hard drive.

Thanks again guys

Willie

[JJZolx]

Thanks - the wireless model makes sense but I just didn't know whether it would give the same quality as a wired version - perhaps my distrust of wireless technology. However, it seems that both are equally good and the wireless version will allow me to store all the music on a remote hard drive.
Depends on which definition of "quality" you're using.

A wired connection is inherently more reliable than a wireless one and isn't subject to the types of interference problems that a wireless connection sees. You're much less likely to get dropouts (short spaces of dead air in the middle of a song). I very very rarely have dropouts due to wireless issues with my SB2s, but even those would be eliminated with a wired connection. If that's the type of quality issue that you're worried about, then go wired. Or get a wireless Squeezebox and fall back to using a wired connection if you run into problems.

The other issue you may be concerned about is whether a wireless connection will sound as good as a wired one. As far as whether or not the same bits are reaching the Squeezebox, of that I have _zero_ doubt. However, there are quite a few audiophiles who believe that RFI, including that inherent in wireless networks, causes a degradation in the sound. I've seen a number of people claiming that any wireless devices or other RFI sources in the vicinity of your stereo will degrade the sound. Here's the opinion of one high-end manufacturer:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=general&n=404283

If that's the case, then with the Squeezebox it would be virtually impossible to escape as the wireless card is sitting inside the device itself. It would represent very nearly the worst case scenario for RFI degradation.