How much more euphony one can hope for also depends on the quality of the converters. Already during the first examination of the Fibre Kit , it became clear that the set consisting of a media converter and its own linear! With one of these two power supply units, the Fibre Kit sounds even better. The view into the ADOT converter: the names of some components have been removed. But before I loop the second ADOT in my system, I would like to briefly discuss the various applications for fibre optic cables.
The technology was developed to be able to transmit electrical signals, such as those of Ethernet connections, over very long distances without loss - depending on the SFP adapters and suitable fibre optic cable, up to kilometres should be possible.
Not necessarily what music lovers need in their homes. When streaming locally stored music files, however, it has also been shown that the complete galvanic isolation of the audio components from the Internet benefits the playback quality. One possibility, of course, would be to rigorously dispense with a connection to the Internet and thus to streaming portals such as Qobuz or Tidal and to set up a separate network just for digital music reproduction. This is exactly what I did in my listening room.
But thanks to galvanic isolation through simple media converters with selected SFP adapters, high-quality power supplies and audiophile Lan cables between the converters and the router or Lan switch, I can now access streaming services without compromising the playback quality of locally stored files.
In my setup, a fibre optic cable of 20 metres overcomes the distance between the two converters, as the router is located in a different room than my system for good reasons. The duplex single-mode conductor thus bridges a distance that is considerable for electrical conductors, but negligible for optical conductors, and ensures complete galvanic isolation between the Internet and the network that the switch, the NAS and the streaming bridge form.
Shortly before putting this rather euphoric statement on paper, I wanted to try out the scope of sonic possibilities with the two external hybrid power supplies. No matter which power supply I switched on first, as soon as the second one was added, the green LED above the minus sign switched off.
In order not to endanger either the SG or the power supply units, I stopped my experiments and concluded the testing procedure. The SBooster power supply units feature a plastic housing: neither this nor the negative pole of the direct current are connected to the earth of the mains.
I then tried to find out why the Soundsmith did not work with the Ferrums. A friend of a colleague and owner of a Strain Gauge had reported that an additional power supply with a Y-cable to the two sockets of the Soundsmith preamp had not worked for him either.
With two SBooster power supplies, however, everything ran smoothly and he liked the sound of his Strain Gauge even more. Eventually, on the website of the Dutch power supply specialists, who have their gear produced in Bulgaria, I then found a special set with two SBoosters, each of them providing 24 volts. So I called Wiebren Draaijer, the developer of the power supplies and head of SBooster, to find out which kind of particular circuitry lets his designs harmonise with the SG He assured me, however, that the SBooster recommended for the SG boasted no special features.
As with all models, the negative pole of the direct current is not in contact with the earth of the mains. In this case a Y-cable can't work of course. The Strain Gauge as seen with its SG preamp supply unit.
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