@Xymox are you still rockin the modded s33? Is it still stable and performing well for you?I got distracted because of new gear.. I now have a CH Precision L10 and some M10's in place driving the YG XV's. I wanted to get this all in place to really have a good platform to evaul changes.. So I will get back to this shortly..
The router and modem with all the mods has proven to be 100% uptime and very stable. WHich sure makes sense with the insanity level of the right kinds of caps for this application.
@Xymox are you still rockin the modded s33? Is it still stable and performing well for you?
Would love some more detailed pictures of the solder points for attaching those caps, I would be interested in doing the same to my S33.
A list of the used capacitors would be great as well! (I also use mouser)
Just to compare the before pics from your PreModPics.zip and then the modded pictures in the thread it looks like:
On the back side:
2 audio caps from the large trace area to the lower side of C301
1 audio cap from the left edge of the C367 Cap to the large trace area.
3 audio caps from the large trace area to something? maybe you scratched the shielding of the board and soldered them there?
On the front side:
1 audio cap attached in parallel with C277 (this one is actually really hard to tell, C213/C214 may also be involved, I cant tell from pics)
2 audio caps attached in parallel with C202
1 audio cap in parallel with C230
1 large audio cap at C129
1 large audio cap at L103? (seems it also has wires connected to it? maybe for the fan your adding?)
well thank you Kingrex.. OMG you took a Lyncole class, wow that must have been cool. Yes Benjamin Electric is just crazy cool. https://www.benjaminelectric.com/index.htmlXymox is way beyond most everyone who posts on these forums with his understanding of the inner workings or modems, routers and switches. He is also way beyond most all when it comes to building out an entire power supply to an audio/video room. He is a person I would call a mentor of sorts to me. He got me to take the Lyncole grounding class. And he led me to an incredible manufacturer of custom panels and industrial filters. And I too have noted in his posts that he does not say the improved stability of packs will make the sound better. Its just verifiably more stable.
Your welcome. I like passing on my experience.Firstly, thank you very much for your discussion threads here, Xymox.
I had to delete some of this to get the msg under 1000 chars for posting.
In further discussion about internet connectivity in general and any improvements that could possibly be achieved using various "audiophile" ideas and approaches, they also recommended against using an LPS for a modem for which a SMPS was supplied -- suggesting that SMPSes are "faster" than LPSes and that today's modems require that level of responsiveness from their power supplies. They said that present-day wall-wart SMPSes are far better made than in previous years and that any "noise" they might introduce -- whether physical or electrical -- is far less nefarious than the potential degradation of performance from a too-slow power supply.
All of this is to preface my question to you of whether, with your combined experience in analyzing the performance of modems and routers and also critical music listening, you can appreciate the logic in this statement. I can't ask you if you agree because much of your discussion threads are focused on the poor (messy) measured performance of SMPSes and the modification of devices to take LPSes instead, so your underlying assumption is obviously that digital switching power supplies can always be bettered -- at least in technical performance -- by linear supplies.
I would greatly appreciate hearing your comments on the streamer manufacturer's advice from your perspective. I am now at a loss as to whether to use the "supplied supply" (sorry) or my LPS to power the modem. Also, now that it appears I shouldn't use one of the audiophile ethernet switches according to the streamer's manufacturer (even if I employ it between my modem and eventual wifi/ethernet router, which the streamer's manufacturer claims will have no ability whatsoever to "improve" any parameter of the internet packeted signal itself and likely will have very little if any effect upon any digital system noise or jitter), I will need a suitable wifi/ethernet router to run out of the modem and before the streamer. I don't need anything like the Mikrotik -- only perhaps two or four ethernet ports at the most along with built-in wifi, which doesn't need to be super sophisticated because I don't do any gaming or wifi music streaming. (I only need wifi for general consumer-level laptop connectivity in a small apartment and iPad control of the music streamer.) Is there any particular simple current-technology wifi/ethernet router that you have measured and/or listened to with good results? I apologize for the long message but I'm hoping that your followers (which will now include myself) will benefit from some of the experiences I've related. Thank you very, very much. AC>
( Xymox - I had to delete some of the msg to get under the 1000 char limit )
Let me close here with a word on my own audio point of view. I'm not a "bits is bits" or "all amplifiers sound the same if they perform well on the test bench" (Stereo Review) kind of guy and I don't necessarily take the streamer manufacturer's word on ethernet matters as gospel (even though I'm heavily invested in his products). We all know that many things that shouldn't necessarily make a difference actually do make a difference and we don't always understand exactly why; and, in fact, in my experience everything matters. I have an extreme system and I've spent lots of money on both traditional upgrades and freaky tweaks. Some things that should have (or were touted to) wrought major improvements turned out to do relatively little or even be detrimental and some things that were almost quixotic in their concepts have actually produced substantial and meaningful differences in system performance or room response. Hang around audio long enough and you can't help but experience this. I can certainly grasp that separating out the modem from the ethernet and wifi routing could make a big difference and I'm going in that direction. I'm also willing to try one of the well-regarded "audiophile" ethernet switches (with appropriate LPS) or perhaps a router/switch like the Linear Solution or Waversa, and I trust your statement that this brought one of your larger gains in streaming performance. (Alas, I don't have a "data closet" to "put a filter in"; but I do have two dedicated power lines running from my central panel to two audio-dedicated duplexes for my system with certain RF resonance treatment devices treating these lines.) Anyway, one thing should be clear to everyone who has tried to improve their system's (and room's) performance over time: every system and room combination is different from every other and what works or sounds good in one place may or may not do the same elsewhere. Not everyone wants to spend their entire listening life A/B'ing black boxes all the time but a certain amount of experimentation and trial and error are healthy and essential to finding a sound you can settle on being happy with for a reasonably long period of time before your next itch to upgrade something. Thanks again. AC>
I sell a lot more of these now. I take a SqD NQ panelboard and completely strip it. I completly break it down, polish it, deox it, then start building it back up. I toss evey piece of aluminum and replace with cooper. I even source $17 a piece Ilsco long barrel compression lugs. I go so far as to polish off the tin plating on all copper to copper contact surfaces. Tin is a horrible conductor. Then I damp the rails and can and put it all back together.well thank you Kingrex.. OMG you took a Lyncole class, wow that must have been cool. Yes Benjamin Electric is just crazy cool. https://www.benjaminelectric.com/index.html
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