Squeezebox Brightness Woes

Is anybody else here finding that there squeezebox is far too bright to be enjoyable for more than half an hour at a time?

Ive had mine for two weeks now, im told repeatedly on the squeezebox forums that its an accurate sounding low jitter piece of equipment and yes there is more detail (resolution) than my CD player BUT its proving to be a Sibilent, ear splittingly bright nightmare in this system:

Ming Da MC34B Valve amp, Bel Canto Dac2 (originally chosen for its smooth warm sound)
wharfedale pacific Evo 30 speakers, Qed silver bi-wired speaker cables, VDH hybrid analogue and digital interconnects.

The amp tends towards brightness but I had it nicely contained (balanced) before ruining everything by buying the Squeezebox.

any recommendations for a decent, warm sounding set of ic's to replace the VDH's would be greatly appreciated.

Ive also noticed that it sounds better late in the evening 11.30pm onwards, but its still too bright imo.


Jack.

[vitalstates]

Hi Jack

I've used mine on the following configs over the last 3 months or so:

WAD 6550 - ESL3 electrostats
EL34 SE - Ariel 6c
- Tannoy Reveal Red
Aura 40 - Ariel 6c
Sony midi stack system(Garden Party)

and none of them sound bright. Hope that helps.

Regards

Ed

[Global]

Hi Jack

As you know, I take an SP/DIFF output from mine to an external DAC-AH. This combo is not in the least bright, at least to my ears. The DAC-AH will cost you less than a pair of high-quality I/Cs and will change the balance more significantly. The inbuilt DACs in the S/B are, I think, fairly 'Industrial Grade' and might be causing brightness in disharmony with the rest of your system.

The rest of my system FYI is a KiT88 amp and Quad 11 speakers.

Mark

[NealG]

I think you're a bit harsh on the DAC there. Sure it's not the most expensive but when implemented correctly it performs exceptionally well. The DAC alone does not dictate the performance, the PSU for instance has a big affect as does the clock and o/p cct. There is a slightly more expensive KE version of the 1748E but as proved by Sean on the SD forum the standard E outperforms the published specs!

I don't find my standard SBII sharp at all, I'm wondering if you need to give it more time to settle in.

Are you running from the analogue outs or are you running it into your Bel Canto?

Also are the VDH interconnect(s) shielded, there have been reports and measurements of some nasties in the upper F range when not shielded cables have been used.

You also might like to investigate a linear 5v supply to replace the SMP wall wart item. Despite measurements proving no difference in distortion or jitter measurements linear vs SMP, everyone who has tried a linear supply report an improvement most notably in smoothness of presentation.

[Steve Grimshaw]

I find this strange, I am running my squeezbox into an external Musical Fidelity A24 dac and thence to the WAD 300b pp amp and finaly to nearly 30 year old Tannoy DC speakers. Sounds fine to me. Have you upgraded to a linear power supply?

Steve Grimshaw

[Global]

Hi Neal

By 'Industrial Grade' I simply mean bulk, inexpensive items. My view of the merits of the inbuilt DAC are simply by comparison with an external DAC which I much prefer, there is nothing per se wrong with the inbuilt DAC and in my system it is not bright, merely bettered by the DAC-AH.
Mark

[NealG]

OK! I much prefer an external DAC as well, A3.24 in my case!

[Andrew]

On the subject of Squeezebox..

I just noticed mine 'umms a bit. No ideas if it's the poxy switcher PSU or cable pickup...ah well another project.

cheers,

-- Andrew