A photo of your Squeezebox setup (please)

[pablolie]

Hi pablolie,

this looks like a decent little system. I especially like the use of the headphone amp. Do you recognise any improvement of the sound quality by connecting the SB3 through the Creek to the AE5 vs. connecting the SB3 directly to the AE5?

Cheers,

toscana

toscana -

indeed I was worried about signal degradation introducing the "middleman" headphone amp into the chain. I was certainly not expecting an improvement.

But no, I hear absolutely no change in the way the AE5s sound. They sound the same, and they're amazing for the cost. The Creek HA makes itself utterly transparent, which is the way it should behave, in my opinion.

And there's a *huge* difference in the quality of the sound coming out of the Grados (as opposed to connecting them directly to the AE5 headphone output). All I have to do to listen to great quality headphone output is crank down the volume on the AE5 to zero, crank up the SB volume to 100%, and set up the volume level manually on the Creek. Sounds very, very sweet. When I do that, I would say I come within 90% of the quality of my home system when listening through the Grados, which given the differential in cost is simply mindblowing.

So connecting the Creek amp was a great thing to do, even though of course I'd prefer the SB3 to have a better heaphone driver.

I don't know - am I the only one that would gladly pay for a $600 version of the SB3 with upgraded DA and headphone parts? Amazing as the Transporter is, I just prefer the elegant little box approach of the SB3.

[toscana]

toscana -

indeed I was worried about signal degradation introducing the "middleman" headphone amp into the chain. I was certainly not expecting an improvement.

But no, I hear absolutely no change in the way the AE5s sound. They sound the same, and they're amazing for the cost. The Creek HA makes itself utterly transparent, which is the way it should behave, in my opinion.

And there's a *huge* difference in the quality of the sound coming out of the Grados (as opposed to connecting them directly to the AE5 headphone output). All I have to do to listen to great quality headphone output is crank down the volume on the AE5 to zero, crank up the SB volume to 100%, and set up the volume level manually on the Creek. Sounds very, very sweet. When I do that, I would say I come within 90% of the quality of my home system when listening through the Grados, which given the differential in cost is simply mindblowing.

So connecting the Creek amp was a great thing to do, even though of course I'd prefer the SB3 to have a better heaphone driver.

I don't know - am I the only one that would gladly pay for a $600 version of the SB3 with upgraded DA and headphone parts? Amazing as the Transporter is, I just prefer the elegant little box approach of the SB3.

Thanks for the info. I am currently planning to set up a small system for my study room and am looking at a similar setup.

toscana

[pablolie]

Thanks for the info. I am currently planning to set up a small system for my study room and am looking at a similar setup.

toscana

I think I can guarantee you will not be disappointed, in fact I think you'll be just as impressed as I still am. ;-)

[haunyack]

I think I can guarantee you will not be disappointed, in fact I think you'll be just as impressed as I still am. ;-)

Sell it!
What if he does not like it?
Can he "think" he "can guarantee" he "will not be disappointed"?

.

[iPhone]

Here's the bedroom system...

Are those cutting boards with half inch pipe through them for the stereo stand? Very creative if the answer is yes!

[iPhone]

Main system:
SB3->Bryston BP25DA->Bryston 4B SST->Wilson Watt Puppy 7

Headphone rig (see post #555 in this thread for a photo):
Transporter via XLR->Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp->Balanced AKG701s & Sennheiser HD650s

muski

Good thing that "The Time Atlas of the World" and "Chinese Propaganda Poster" are not on the best sellers list and everbody wants to borrow them or you might lose your equipment rack and some WAF all at the same time. LOL

Nice system and we males have to do what we have to do to have our audio and our toys.

[iPhone]

my ghetto temporary situation:
axiom m22ti's
axiom ep600 (the neighbours love me)
panasonic sa-xr70
2tb infrant ready nas (serving up the love)

that looks like a beautiful system skunk.
_sam

Hello Sam,

Shouldn't that read "Garage Setup" not Ghetto setup? (Smiles) Bet it really "Booms" out of there!

[muski]

Good thing that "The Time Atlas of the World" and "Chinese Propaganda Poster" are not on the best sellers list and everbody wants to borrow them or you might lose your equipment rack and some WAF all at the same time. LOL

Nice system and we males have to do what we have to do to have our audio and our toys.

Thanks... WAF in extremis, indeed.

Although I wish I could wax eruditely on the acoustic isolation and damping properties of the Time Atlas of the World (in particular, the relative mid-bass tightness of the of the pre- vs post-Soviet breakup editions), in fact the damn books are just too big to fit anywhere else...

[SteveCresswell]

Here's my setup.

Home designed and built 6AS7 retro 50s style "George Jetson" push-pull valve amplifier
Fostex single driver speakers and Squeezebox 3.

Beresford TC7510 Mk6 DAC can be seen below Squeezebox.

Steve

[slimkid]

Here's my setup.

Home designed and built 6AS7 retro 50s style "George Jetson" push-pull valve amplifier
Fostex single driver speakers and Squeezebox 3.

Beresford TC7510 Mk6 DAC can be seen below Squeezebox.

Steve

Wow. That's what I'd call a real beauty. Comparable only to hand crafted cedar strip canoe. (Coming from Canadian, it says a lot )