The All Purpose Advice Thread - Part 2

Not necessarily but I'd have to run a new cable and pull a bunch of cable trenches(?) apart. The aes is already there I'd just have to swap connectors at the ends.

 

So, some of you may have seen I've been quietly trying to get a loaner going for an interesting Soulnote/Superscope amp (link to the interest check thread here), and it sounds like we're going to be getting one in!

The vendor I'm working with, had a question for the forum, especially any Soulnote owners:

You mentioned some of the forum members use or have used Soulnote products, and my question is, were they able to find service support (parts) in the US if it was needed? I would be interested in knowing who these companies are.
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So if anyone has any insights, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Pinging folks I know who own or have owned Soulnote ampts:
@driftingbunnies @Maverick2108 @Puma Cat @AdvanTech and @SoupRKnowva and the taco-fi crew.

 

I never owned a Soulnote product, so I can't speak to their support or service infrastructure. I had the Soulnote D1N DAC in for review for a time. A superbly-engineered, beautifully-made, and wonderful-sounding product. It had all the lovely musical qualities that my LampiZator Baltic 3 DAC had without the hassle of tubes.



If I were looking for a standalone DAC, amp, or a nice integrated, I'd definitely be considering their products.

 

Absolutely dumb question so asking here before I do anything too silly.

My Modi MB2 died from what seems to have been a massive power surge a few days ago and now I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting on a response to my email to Schiit, but in all honesty with the cost of shipping stuff back and forth I'm probably going to have to replace the thing wholesale is all.

I'd like to take steps to prevent similar things from happening in the future. Because this is a really old house the electrical wiring likely isn't up to code, and in hindsight the Modi MB2 was plugged into one of those power strips that terminated in a 3-prong connector, and so was connected to my wall via an adapter similar to this:



I believe this is far from being best practises.

I got a pretty basic Cyberpower UPS because this seems like it's more likely to prevent further failures from happening, but the problem remains that all the outlets in my room are 2-prong and I'm having to use a similar adaptor as the above to plug the UPS into my wall.

Unless I shell out a fair lot of money to fully redo the wiring in the house, or more realistically convince other family members that this is gonna be something worth investing in, would converting my wall outlets to GFCI ones be sufficient, or at the least any better than using an adaptor? Also, would it makes sense to go:

PC + audio gear > UPS > isolation transformer > wall

... as an added layer of protection against particularly large power surges? I was informed by someone that the 450 joules suppression the UPS is rated for, while better than what I had before, is still far from ideal in event of massive surges e.g. during a lightning storm.


For as long as I've been a playback gear nerd please do keep in mind I remain a massive idiot about the mechanics involved, so apologies in advance if I say or ask anything particularly daft

 

Sorry to hear that. Re: surge protectors, a ZeroSurge would probably be better than that CyberPower. ZeroSurge is sold under a variety of names.

The other thing to consider is to run just a new line from your panel to your listening room. That should be cheaper than redoing the whole house.

 

My desktop listening space is just my bedroom tbh, so it's well away from the panel. Still ought be worth looking into, though the walls are all concrete so may be a proper pain in the bunghole to get sorted.

 

GFCI will work as a sufficient ground, you said that the CyberPower was all that you could get at the time. Those two changes should help a lot. Despite there being better alternatives, pulling wire through a finished house is very difficult and depending on the construction type of the home can end up doing a lot of things that will add repair work to the bill. With the GFCI you will not need the two prong adapter.

 

Serious/not-serious idea. Get one of those solar-rechargeable RV power stations.

Something like one of these:
https://us.ecoflow.com/products/river-3-plus-portable-power-station

 

With how much "luck" I've been having with electronics randomly dying I may as well, honestly. Using my mic interface for headphones since the MMB2 died and I honestly feel my ears have been spoilt rotten lmao, this just feels a bit of a shrug in comparison at least as far as my preferences go.

 

GFCI outlets will not protect equipment against power surges. They for safety to prevent people from getting electrical shocks when there is a ground fault, such as in wet and outdoor locations.

Look for outlets that have an integrated surge protector (different from GFCI).
https://www.google.com/search?q=surge+protector+receptacle

 

No they won't, but he has a UPS after it and an ungrounded receptacle. GFCI will work as it's own ground, not surge protection.

 

Why do you disagree?
Edited: oh I see, because I blanket statemented they won't stop a surge, they do that! Sorry! GFCI, ground fault circuit interrupter will trip for a surge but are really for safety against fires and electrocution. Is that why you disagree @TheloniuSnoop ?

 

It's pretty much what Sofa was saying above, I do have a UPS in line now (whereas I just had a power strip in its place before, which is what my Modi MB2 was plugged into when it got fried) which I feel is going to be at least *somewhat* better at handling power surges. My main concern was the fact that it wasn't properly grounded in this current configuration which, in hindsight, may have been exactly what caused me issues in the first place.

I did a bit of reading over the last few days and am aware of what the explicit purposes of GFCI and AFCI outlets are, but I'm just trying to play it safe(r) without needing to redo my entire home's electrical system which would be a MASSIVE undertaking. Mainly just hoping that this will help with keeping my gear alive in the future.

 

Huh?

 

You respectfully disagreed with my earlier post and I just wondered why.

 

Me? In this thread?

 

LMAO it was the post where Sofa quoted Metro. Might have been a misclick, happens with me all the time tbh.

 

Question - is there any other (small footprint/budget) cd transport out there to consider besides the Shanling CR60? Or even older vintage kinds to consider to look for in the used market (under 300)? I have an itch to play cd's again... Thanks!

 

not sure on how they stack up against the shanling, but smsl pl100 and moondrop discdream are supposedly decent and can both run as transports for less than 300

 

This is awesome. Will probably take a flyer on the SMSL PL100; it looks pretty solid for the price and will work better for where I want to put it (can't use the clamshell type loader), but the front disc loader is perfect. I actually looked at this before, but when I saw it had the Cirrus DAC, I automatically assumed it was just a regular player only, though I heard the SQ is pretty good for the price point.

Thanks again for the suggestions! Really appreciate it!