Bluesound NODE PSU Upgrade Kits

pearsall001

I stumbled across a few companies that sell replacement built in PS board units & 5V PSU for all the Node units. I'm wondering if anyone else has seen the info & better yet if anyone has given any of them a shot to see if there was any validity to their claims. All the reviews are all super positive but we all know how that goes. The mod is apparently super simple to do in about 20min with no special tools needed.

Here are a few of the companies I read about:

Teddy Pardo Audio / by far the most expensive. Almost makes it prohibitive.


LHY Audio / affiliated w/ Denafrips complete mod incl PSU can be had for under $300.00. Sounds reasonable.


PD-Creative from Poland / price in line w/ LHY Audio

treitz3

What are the costs associated with said upgrade?

Tom

VR3

Op says 300

pearsall001

treitz3 wrote: »

What are the costs associated with said upgrade?

Tom

Teddy Pardo- $535.00 / 85.00 ship
LHY Audio - $279.00 incl ship
PD-Creativr - $258.00 / 60.00 ship

These prices are for both pieces of the mod kit. If you have your own 5v PSU it's a lot less.

jbreezy5

LHY is affiliated with Jay’s Audio, which is no longer affiliated with Denafrips (but used to be).

heiney9

I bought the PD-Creative. It's still in the box as I wanted to run my Node3 in a bit, because when I swap the boards it will void the warranty.

I wanted to break in the L600's before I made the change to the Node 3.

I figured in a couple months I'd upgrade to the linear output board and use my Welbourne Labs linear power supply that worked so well with my old Squeezebox Touch.

I've read nothing but very positive things about the PD-Creative. I bought the kit as soon as the Node 3 arrived. The exchange rate was crazy and the shipping was super fast, well packed and the kit looks to be very high quality.

H9

pearsall001

heiney9 wrote: »

I bought the PD-Creative. It's still in the box as I wanted to run my Node3 in a bit, because when I swap the boards it will void the warranty.

I wanted to break in the L600's before I made the change to the Node 3.

I figured in a couple months I'd upgrade to the linear output board and use my Welbourne Labs linear power supply that worked so well with my old Squeezebox Touch.

I've read nothing but very positive things about the PD-Creative. I bought the kit as soon as the Node 3 arrived. The exchange rate was crazy and the shipping was super fast, well packed and the kit looks to be very high quality.

H9

Hey Brock,

You will be very pleased with the new Node 3, I've had the 2i now for a few years & it has performed flawlessly without even a single hiccup the whole time.

The sound quality is exceptional. I do use an outboard DAC but the built-in DAC in the 2i is by no means a slouch. Your Node 3 has an even better DAC. You'll have fun comparing it with your external DAC.

I've also read the excellent reviews of the PD-Creative Node upgrade. For the asking price I think it's well worth the price of admission. Heck when you consider what we've dumped into cables this is mere chump change.

Man I remember you loved that squeezebox going back many many years. Time sure does fly!

I just might have to jump online & order my own PD-Creative mod. Then we can compare notes 🎶🎶

heiney9

Hi Phil,

Yes, I'm using the same outboard dac as I did with the old Squeezebox. I will probably never use the internal dac in the Node 3. My Eastern Electric Mini Max Plus is modded with DEXA discrete op-amps. Which made a huge, positive improvement.

I really dislike switching power supplies, so I looked and read and felt the PD-Creative was as good as the others but a bit cheaper. I already have a great linear power supply that I used with the SQB Touch. At a later date I may upgrade the power supply if necessary.

I remember the very noticeable difference it made with the SQB Touch even though I was using an external dac. I expect it will improve the Node 3 as well. The install is super easy and the price w/the exchange rate is so ridiculously inexpensive, it's really a no-brainer. (1) PLN = $0.24

I have nothing but good things to say about the Node 3, it's been flawless streaming Qobuz, it sounds great. I am still contemplating whether I want to build a music server. Most of my music and more is available on Qobuz. The few that aren't I may try and put on a USB stick and listen that way. I haven't decided yet........still a work in progress.

These days I have much less time to sit and listen regularly. Plus, I am trying to focus on making a great sounding rig and being a bit less anal about it. The idea is to enjoy it more vs. constantly evaluating everything.

It's a fine line because evaluating and tweaking is part of the hobby and I will always be chasing great sound, but just not as obsessively. It's hard though.......but I'm determined to take a step back and enjoy what I've built while still trying to make improvements.

As an aside: When the Squeezebox first came out I had a Gen 3 player and the hot ticket back then was to try and hunt down and ELPAC linear power brick. I remember finding a used one on Ebay and when I plugged it in, I heard an immediate improvement.

I kept playing part of a track that had a crash cymbal in the background. I'd keep playing that loop in that part of the song swapping the stock walwart with the ELPAC linear. Every time with the linear supply the crash cymbal was so much more defined within the framework of the song. Almost non-existent with the walwart, but well defined within the soundstage with the linear power brick.

That moment 15-17 years ago was when I realized how important an excellent power supply section is in an audio component. It's one of the most expensive parts of a design (when done right) and is one of the area's either completely overlooked or where the cost cutting happens.

Wow long post......lol

H9

P.S. Next purchase will be a new Pass Labs amp. I love my Aleph, but there have been some advances or rather new discoveries at Pass Labs. XA25 will be the next amp.

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/pass-labs-xa25-class-a-stereo-amplifier/

dromunds

Pretty impressive review of the XA-25, even preferred it to the Mac tube monoblocks overall!

heiney9

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dromunds wrote: »

Pretty impressive review of the XA-25, even preferred it to the Mac tube monoblocks overall!

In a small way it's an evolution of the Aleph 3 & 30. All the reviews make it sound like a special amp. As far as I know there are no other topologies out there like it. If I hadn't had a dental implant, huge car repair and a few other higher misc expenses this year I probably would already own one.

Already replenishing/adding to the audio fund after the purchase of the L600's, which was such a killer deal! As well as a great decision.

H9

pearsall001

Great review of your new amp that's coming! All things in good time. Don't forget to keep looking under the sofa cushions for spare change...it all adds up.

I'll be ordering the mod shortly. The website says they are on backorder.

txcoastal1

I owned the XA30.5 a few years ago and was just reading reviews last night as a possible alternative for @rebelsoul as a pairing for his Canary pre

Brock, looking forward to your future reviews

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/197751/canary-c800-mk2-two-piece-pre-any-good-and-is-it-better-then-a-recapped-carver-c-19#latest

VySer

Sometimes it's worth looking inside Scammers like Teddy Pardo don't bother too much to construct their "high-end" LPSUs.. Here is what I found when I opened my 12V PSU, which I bought directly from Teddy Pardo. Share, beware and stay away from such high-enders.

stangman67

VySer wrote: »

Sometimes it's worth looking inside Scammers like Teddy Pardo don't bother too much to construct their "high-end" LPSUs.. Here is what I found when I opened my 12V PSU, which I bought directly from Teddy Pardo. Share, beware and stay away from such high-enders.

So you signed up, and then found a post about a LPS in order to post this? Probably a better way to go about it, but what you have there is impressively infuriating

stangman67

Edit: Didn’t see OP was initially considering Teddy Pardo. I would hope this was a one time type of thing as that is some predatory stuff going on

heiney9

I have the conversion board here that I will be installing myself (from Poland) and I already have an LPS that I've used for years.

If the above story is true, it just goes to show people will go to any lengths to deceive and rip people off.

H9

treitz3

heiney9 wrote: »

If the above story is true <snip>

Key words here.

Tom

stangman67

It certainly seeeeems like a fabrication or that the product did not come from Teddy Pardo itself. The board looks right and in line with other Pardo products, I looked around to see if I could find any other places that this guy has posted and I came up with nothing.

Competitor trying to gain business? Who knows

heiney9

I am skeptical that it is a real Teddy Pardo product.

H9

treitz3

I just got done emailing Teddy himself and alerted him to this thread. I suspect that this is a competitor as well, TBT. In fact, that was my first thought.

I didn't find anything anywhere that would suggest that this is true.

Tom

VySer

There is no need to write to Teddy Pardo, because I have done so many times and got only this reply. I should mention that I have bought two other PSUs from them, which were made properly.

stangman67

Ok so what is the problem with the answer? Companies aren’t always perfect and they offered to make it right, so you are going around slandering them? Makes perfect sense……

VySer

If you look carefully, you will see that the bottom of the PSU did not even have a hole for the transformer mounting screw. The locations of the diode bridge and electrolytic capacitors are empty and have never been soldered.

VySer

For comparison I have attached a picture of my other Teddy Pardo PSU. I have no complaints about it.

VySer

Dear stangman67, no matter how hard you try, you can't accidentally make such an "inperfection" for 414$... I don't want to prove anything, but I think I have the right to expose this deception. I must warn the audiophiles, whom I respect for their hobby, their contribution and sharing their knowledge. Unfortunately, those who have verified their doubts with their own work and experience and who have the facts will never find common ground with believers.

treitz3

Interesting development.

Tom

stangman67

I guess I’m a bit confused. So you bought three PSUs brand new from Teddy Pardo when? Recently? And you received two as pictured above as expected and the third has a laptop power supply in it?

From the answer they posted the product has been discontinued for 9 years, so did you purchase it used or new and when? That will clear up a lot here. I get that the product is a complete sham but you should provide some details on what happened here.

We can all agree that product should have never left the factory, whether it be 9 years ago or today but a little context would go a long way here

-Zach

VySer

To be clear, I bought this 12V masterpiece on 4 February 2014 [Order #4823]. I did not use it until this year. When I decided to use it to power my audio PC, I decided to take a closer look... The other two double 5V PSUs I bought on 22 January 2019 [Order #100005085]. They are made properly and I have no complaints.

stangman67

Cool. So they made a crappy product nice years ago. Haven’t heard a negative thing about the company other than you so they must have sorted their ways. Either way interesting. I’d take them up on their offer to replace it

stangman67

Still smells fishy, still think there’s more to this story. Tom would be interested if you get a reply from them

VySer

I would like to end this thread by adding a letter to which I have received no reply and have done what I think is right.
I believe I have answered all the questions of the esteemed forum members. I wish that when you open your PSU you will not find such engineering marvels 😉