Refurb'ed Squeezbox Touch on eBay?

audiocr381ve

Looks like a pretty good deal at $200 shipped. Would you guys take the risk? I'm sick of booting up the PS3 to play music and sick of digging through CD's. Where are the best deals for these?

teekay0007

There's also other NEW ones listed (from Tiger Direct) on ebay for $275 shipped. It also says in their listing that it includes a 2-year hardware warranty. I don't know if this is a good deal or not since I'm just starting to get my interest going on these.

Can some of the SB Touch experts tell us what's up with these things?

Is this something that I can load all 700 - 800 of my CDs somewhere and have easy access to them to my home stereo?

Do you have to have a network receiver to be able to use this?

Does it get "lossless" music files to your stereo?.......etc...........etc :question:

polkfarmboy

SB is just for streaming your cd's from a laptop or hard drive. I use mine to find radio stations and play all my spotify playlists. New sb's are only around $245

zingo

I have good success with referb'ed products. If it comes from the originating company and has a warrantee, you are good to go.

Syndil

teekay0007 wrote: »

Can some of the SB Touch experts tell us what's up with these things?

Is this something that I can load all 700 - 800 of my CDs somewhere and have easy access to them to my home stereo?

Do you have to have a network receiver to be able to use this?

Does it get "lossless" music files to your stereo?.......etc...........etc :question:

You rip your CDs to a storage location (generally a computer or a NAS), and the SB Touch plays them over the network from that location. If you rip your CDs to FLAC, which is lossless, it will play them lossless. You don't need a separate network receiver to use a SB. The SB handles the network part and has its own audio outputs for connection to any receiver.

polrbehr

I only have a Duet, but I absolutely love the fact that every CD I own was ripped to lossless, and is now neatly boxed up in a storage closet. And, i was able to remove my old 110 disc changer from the 2 ch mix as well, though i do keep a SACD player around just in case...

There is also the added benefit of having the ability to use outside devices to control all the SB functions (iPod, iPhone, Android-equipped tablet, etc.) just in case you don't like the remote.

steveinaz

It will change the way you listen to music.

heiney9

polkfarmboy wrote: »

SB is just for streaming your cd's from a laptop or hard drive. I use mine to find radio stations and play all my spotify playlists. New sb's are only around $245

No it's not JUST for streaming cd's. As you say, it can stream internet radio stations of which there are literally thousands upon thousands as well as any of the internet streaming audio services.

As Steve says it will change the way you listen to music. For the discerning audiophile, like myself and several others, I use it with an external dac (you don't have to) and I use an expensive linear power supply all which improve performance if you choose that route.

H9

rromeo923

I have been waiting to pull the trigger on a squeezebox myself. I should have done so a few weeks ago as the new price was $229. I remember seeing them under $200 last year around christmas. The refurb on ebay does not come w/warranty (you can purchase separate for $31.99 1yr).

There are new ones available at $239. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-930-000090-Squeezebox-Touch/dp/B002LARRDA/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&m=A1C03Y6ZPMTBUD&qid=1338818438&s=generic&sr=1-23

I have never bought from this company so can't vouch for that.

pearsall001

I'd be hard pressed to go used when new with warranty is only a few bucks more.

heiney9

If the refurb isn't direct from Logitech or even Amazon, I'd pass. I would only buy refurbs from the manufacturer. Chances are it is fine, but with no warranty why chance it for $50 or so.

Just my .02c

H9

gdpeck

steveinaz wrote: »

It will change the way you listen to music.

+1000

AsSiMiLaTeD

I'd just spend an extra $50 and buy it from Amazon

Drenis

Get one. You're going to kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

rromeo923

What type of range does the squeezebox touch have for wireless?

heiney9

rromeo923 wrote: »

What type of range does the squeezebox touch have for wireless?

Whatever the limitations are for your wireless router. I have taken my Squeeze Radio out on my deck, granted it's not that far away. Whatever typical wireless distance is for your router.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Brock, how is the Squeezebox Radio? I've been thinking about getting one for the bedroom, curious what the sound quality is like.

audiocr381ve

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'd just spend an extra $50 and buy it from Amazon

Did exactly that. It'll be here tomorrow.

I'm going to be using my Channel Islands VDA-2 DAC. Is the power supply upgrade for the Squeezebox necessary when the unit isn't doing the analog conversion? If so, why? I've seen power supplies for the Squeezebox being sold from Channel Islands & Valab (on eBay), are their other places I should know about?

Also, can the Squeezebox play hi-rez files?

I should have pulled the trigger on one of these years ago...

heiney9

Yes, an upgraded linear power supply for the SQB does make a difference for analog and digital.

If you are using an external DAC then it will pass whatever that is capable of up to 96kHz. Did you go to the Logitech site and read about this before you bought it?

Also there is a forum at Logitech for the SQB where alot of info is given.

H9

audiocr381ve

heiney9 wrote: »

Yes, an upgraded linear power supply for the SQB does make a difference.

If you are using an external DAC then it will play whatever that is capable of up to 96kHz. Did you go to the Logitech site and read about this before you bought it?

Cool. And no, I did not.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I would get the PSU from CI, I would avoid Welborne labs entirely. The one from CI is very good and reasonably priced, there's also a good one from overseas I think that's very highly regarded.

Avoid Welborne labs. Many people (myself now included) have had issues with them. I'm not going to get into it here, but you can find plenty of info online about them.

heiney9

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I would get the PSU from CI, I would avoid Welborne labs entirely. The one from CI is very good and reasonably priced, there's also a good one from overseas I think that's very highly regarded.

Avoid Welborne labs. Many people (myself now included) have had issues with them. I'm not going to get into it here, but you can find plenty of info online about them.

What issues did you have? They are slow, but they build a great product and it works, but they are slow and don't respond to emails all that quickly. The CI is similar and I believe they have better customer service.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I don't exactly know what the issue is to be honest. I have their PSU on the Touch in the office and I have issues where the screen doesn't hold it's brightness, it kinda flickers slowly going dim to bright. I thought it was fried, but tried hooking in the regular PS and then my Bolder modded one (the one I got from you actually) and it works find with both of them. I've isolated the issue to the power supply itself.

I have called and sent emails over the last couple weeksn and have not been able to get a response, talked to somebody one time and they said someone would call me back and no return call. Very frustrated with their CS. So I did some checking around online and have found that I'm not the only one with this experience.

maybe it's the holidays or whatever, but two weeks with no real response seems kinda unreasonable. Maybe I've been spoiled by Polk and some of the other companies I do business with...

heiney9

No, I agree their CS is poor. I think the issue gets resolved eventually, but I have stopped recommending them. At the time I bought my Touch they were the only one's offering a PS upgrade for the Touch and while the shipping was slow I didn't have an issue with them. Another Polkie who ordered at the same time (4 of us ordered at the same time) had his CC charged twice and it took a couple weeks or more to get it all squared away.

H9

rromeo923

Well I pulled the trigger on this too. Getting sick of having to listen to flac files thru laptop soundcard.

chandler9a

Shane, Let us know if you decide to go with the CI VDC-SB for your squeezebox. I am using the Channel Island VDA2 with the VDA1 power supply and plan on getting the SBT very soon. Not sure how all this power supply upgrade stuff works but if your gonna do it, may as well do it right I guess.

teekay0007

Lots of good info here. The Squeezebox Touch seems like the way to go, but to be sure I am understanding this thing right:

- I first load my CDs as FLAC files or Apple Lossless files, on my laptop hard drive?
- Then, the SB Touch will stream these files to my home stereo using my home internet network router? Is it best to use the optical/coax connections from the SB to my receiver?
- Does the SB work better if it is hardwired to my router? Is this even one way this can be operated?
- Does the computer need to be powered up and running SB software to be doing this? If so, can the computer be used for other purposes simultaneously?
- How much room would I need of free hard drive space to store approx. 800 CDs in a lossless format?
- Does the SB Touch have a not-so-good remote? If so, what's the best way to control it?
- Do I need a separate DAC? I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 AVR (with 192K/24-Bit DACs) that Onkyo was yammerin' about "Top line of Burr-Brown DACs for clear sound" when I bought it.
- Can the SB Touch screen contents be displayed on my TV?

Thanks, in advance, to anyone who can shed any light on any of these items.

audiocr381ve

chandler9a wrote: »

Shane, Let us know if you decide to go with the CI VDC-SB for your squeezebox. I am using the Channel Island VDA2 with the VDA1 power supply and plan on getting the SBT very soon. Not sure how all this power supply upgrade stuff works but if your gonna do it, may as well do it right I guess.

Will do, Aaron. I will eventually get the upgraded power supply for both the SBT AND VDA-2. I can't wait to hear what the VDA-2 does with hi-rez stuff on the new PSB Synchrony One's. It's about time that I spent some good money on my sources.

My system has been getting a LOT of attention lately

audiocr381ve

teekay0007 wrote: »

Lots of good info here. The Squeezebox Touch seems like the way to go, but to be sure I am understanding this thing right:

- I first load my CDs as FLAC files or Apple Lossless files, on my laptop hard drive?
- Then, the SB Touch will stream these files to my home stereo using my home internet network router? Is it best to use the optical/coax connections from the SB to my receiver?
- Does the SB work better if it is hardwired to my router? Is this even one way this can be operated?
- Does the computer need to be powered up and running SB software to be doing this? If so, can the computer be used for other purposes simultaneously?
- How much room would I need of free hard drive space to store approx. 800 CDs in a lossless format?
- Does the SB Touch have a not-so-good remote? If so, what's the best way to control it?
- Do I need a separate DAC? I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 AVR (with 192K/24-Bit DACs) that Onkyo was yammerin' about "Top line of Burr-Brown DACs for clear sound" when I bought it.
- Can the SB Touch screen contents be displayed on my TV?

Thanks, in advance, to anyone who can shed any light on any of these items.

Dude! That's a lot of questions!

1. Yes, load your music (whatever format, doesn't have to be lossless although that's the best option) to your computer (laptop or desktop, whatever)
2. Yes. Install the software, make sure your internet is on and you have wireless router (if going wireless)
3. I'm assuming being hardwired will increase the speed of the SBT, but I doubt you'll have any performance gains sound quality wise
4. Yes the computer needs to be powered on to access your music library. Yes you can still use your computer while streaming music
5. Buy a 1 TB hard drive, the more space the better and it's best to have room if you want to expand that 800 CD collection
6. Don't know about the remote but their are several ways to control as mentioned above
7. No you don't need a separate DAC and the SBT supposedly has a decent one built in, certainly enough to enjoy some good tunes. But if you'd like to spend money on one, be my guest. Try running the SBT with out the Onkyo's DAC's and then with them. Whichever sounds best is the one to use
8. I don't know about TV connectivity

Whew!

teekay0007

Thanks, audiocr381ve, for your helpful input.

I guess what I'm really interested in here is a way to get super-easy access to all the music on all of my CDs without having to dig through racks, shelves, closets, drawers, cars, etc. :eek: And, even more importantly, it needs to sound as good as it does from the original CDs. I've been less-than-thrilled by the sound of some other streaming audio (ie. Pandora) and the supposed "CD-quality sound" of the Direct TV audio channels sounds pretty "thin" when played through my home stereo.

I want to load the CDs in the most lossless (dense) format no matter what the storage requirements are since once this ripping process is done, I'd be very tempted to get rid of all, or at least a great deal of my CD collection. Also, I'd like the stored format to be the best available for later upgrades to the now-existing Squeezebox playback capabilities. I suppose it might also then be a good idea to maybe get an extra external hard drive to store a backup copy of all the ripped CDs. Then, I'd be much less likely to go completely mad when my laptop got stolen, spilled on, or otherwise damaged beyond repair. :twisted:

Anybody know approx. how many CDs I could store in a lossless (FLAC, Apple Lossless) format on about 600 GB of free hard drive space I have? Are there any rules of thumb to make that conversion (ie. an hour of music per 50 - 60 MB) for estimating how much storage would be needed?

Syndil

It can be set to be either variable or fixed.