I ordered a BD from Tony, the improvement feeding the P10 (and therefore the entire system) over the 6D is very clear.

I am really glad it also worked for you
Its a pity you cannot use a Ethernet cable to stream its another further improvement

6D is difficult to manipulate

BD is worse

Cannot remember the burn in improvements with the BD but the system did improve with me doing nothing.
BD the main suspect

Nothing much to blog about at the moment, the system continues to sound great and I've been buying a lot of music of late. I can't help nosing around the music section of charity shops, too. It's mostly crap but occasionally you come across a real gem.

Two projects are looming, both aimed at improving Spotify even further. One is to perform the DigiOne power supply split to feed it with separate 5V power from the Pi. The second is to apply Stan's 12V mods to the SEG DAC, for which I'm awaiting the last of the parts.

It's been a busy week, what with upgrading the Caiman SEG and DC-DC converter with supercaps, both very successful mods.

Last night I installed a Coherent unswitched double mains socket, which is silver plated and cryogenically treated. It replaces an older Missing Link socket. I heard an improvement in the 'disappearing speakers' soundstaging and depth. Because it's the master socket, this is a system-wide improvement, my favourite kind

The Coherent website appears to be down at the moment - what kind of prices are the mains sockets Martin?

Much has happened recently and I thought it worth summarising what I've done with the Pi/SEG subsystem to make it sound so incredibly good. Here's a summary of the components as they stand:

Raspberry Pi 3
- Allo DigiOne S/PDIF transport card, modified for separate 5V power (see photo 2)
- Allo case
- Black Ravioli pads (2)
- granite coaster
- modified with underclock and undervolt settings in config.txt file

Beresford Caiman SEG
- Black Ravioli pads (3)
- granite coaster
- Modified by me with Tokin 5.5V supercaps
- Modified by Coherent with various electrolytic and surface mount caps (see photo 3)

S/PDIF Cable
- 1.2m Belden 1694A Brilliance video cable

PSU
- Coherent 5V/15V highly regulated and supercapped PSU
- Coherent 6D power cable
- Coherent 15V DC cable
- Black Ravioli pads (4)
- Granite coaster

Internet
- TP-Link TL-MR6400 4G router
- Standard Cat5 ethernet cable

At this point I'm going to try to describe the sound without resorting to hyperbole.  I have played so much music through it that I cannot list it all, so some general comments.  The system sounds natural, highly musical, punchy and with a wide and deep soundstage that is incredibly vivid on some recordings.  The coherence and fluidity are the best I have ever achieved.  Bass is deep and very tight and my big Ushers disappear like they have never done before.  It's hard to find the words for something that just makes me forget about the system and want to play more and more music.  It is easily the best my system has ever sounded.

All this is when playing Spotify.  I can hear the groans already.  I was going to say that the 320k OGG format is as near-CD as to make no difference, but that's not exactly it.  With many songs that I know well, it sounds better than my Ayre player with better flow and musicality.  Even a couple of albums I have on SACD sound better this way.  It's not perfect and you can hear the coding struggle a little when things get very busy, but by and large it is preferable to playing silver discs.  Since the Ayre was already better than my record playing system, there's no point in comparing with vinyl.

Three things have undoubtedly contributed to this new level of performance:
- Very stable clocking and reclocking and noise reduction throughout the digital chain
- Over the top power supply that provides very stiff 5V and 12V power
- Switching from wi-fi to ethernet cable with a better internet provision

All this is to explain why I have been quiet of late.  Not to mention tired through lack of sleep.  I suddenly have a collection of a couple of million albums and am revelling in one-thing-leading-to-another listening.  It is so about the music!

A final note: the entire subsystem cost less than £1500.  I consider that to be real value for money compared with my disc and record sources.


1. Showing the complete subsystem with Pi top left, Coherent PSU top right and Caiman SEG bottom



2. Showing the modified Allo DigiOne board with DC-DC converter removed and flying lead for separate 5V



3. Showing the supercap and Coherent modified SEG board (apologies for the poor photo)