Finally arrived! Small Compact Amplifier for SB3

[mglaudiolabs]

Hi,

I'm excited to announce that we finally completed development and testing of our compact amplifier,
specifically designed for SB3 / computer-as-source audiophiles.

Key features of our "Symphony" integrated amp:

- Efficient Class-D power amplifiers based on UcD technology
- Built-in linear power supply for your Squeezeboxes
- Remote control sharing with SB3 (Vol+/-, Standby)
- Integrated active preamp with PGA2320 chip
- Optional built-in DAC board with Wolfson WM8740 converter
(BNC/Coax, USB and WordClock inputs)
- Dedicated power supplies for amp, preamp and DAC
- German engineering, handcrafted

We wanted to allow SB3 users to get a linear power supply and nice DAC
right out of the box. Hope you like our efforts. Current pictures on
www.mglaudiolabs.com are only prototype pics but we will have new pictures
up shortly.

Looking forward to your comments!

Regards,

Michael
MGL Audio Laboratories, Inc.
www.mglaudiolabs.com

[totoro]

Are you planning on doing a ucd400 version as well, or as an option?

regards,
Micahel

[mglaudiolabs]

Yes, we're planning a high-power UcD option for March. It needs some testing and a more powerful PSU.

Regards,

Michael
MGL Audio Laboratories, Inc.
www.mglaudiolabs.com

[totoro]

Cool. What are the modifications you do on the se version?

I'm assuming you use the AD version of the ucd modules only on this version?

[Pale Blue Ego]

It's very encouraging to see other audio products being designed with the Squeezebox in mind. Here's hoping this cottage industry takes off.

[mglaudiolabs]

We have totally customized the UcD amps, even in the Basic version (includes replacing/adding surface mounted parts, too). In the SE version we add several add'l tweaks that brings out the best in them. As for the AD input buffers, they're in the SE edition - yes.
We have found that they did not make a huge improvement over the stock buffers after applying our tweaks but a few sonic differences were still noticable. I think it's no problem to add AD buffers to the Basic version, too for a small fee - if desired...

Michael
MGL Audio Laboratories, Inc.
www.mglaudiolabs.com

[jjazz]

Looks like a great product. Does it have the ability to automatically power down (auto sensing) for a hidden type set up?

[Bob Bressler]

very cool. what is the lead time?

[mglaudiolabs]

@jjazz:

Symphony doesn't automatically shut down or enter suspend mode
as of yet (firmware release 1.12) - although you can enable standby using
the SB3 or the Symphony remote. However our software is upgradeable.
We will certainly add this feature in 1.13. Firmware in the amp can be easily
upgraded by the customer.

@Bob Bressler:

Lead times are currently between 3-4 weeks. We have just started making
the first batch of amplifiers. From February we anticipate lead times of 2 weeks
or less. It always takes a few days more because every amplifier is tested
several times before shipping.

Michael
MGL Audio Laboratories, Inc.
www.mglaudiolabs.com

[)p(]

Very interesting! I have been looking into a ucd amp for my squeezebox and this looks like a great one box solution.

What does the free digital output modification you mention on the website contain?

I would prefer the ucd400 version. If I buy the current one now can I upgrade later to the ucd400 version? And if so at what cost?

peter