Squeezebox trouble

I've posted this over in the tent as well as I am at a loss.

Ok so I bought a squeezebox from the nice guys at thehomecinemacentre in Edinburgh along with my new telly (top guys to deal with too). I've had the SB running in the kitchen all week and love it. It's been connected up to my teac cd-h255 and has been blasting out the 'shpongle', 'Klaus Schulze' and Led Zep.

Problem:- I noticed straight away that as soon as it is plugged in (difficult as it comes with some freaky two pronged doo dah that I had to weasel into the socket ) the DAB radio becomes disabled and looses signal completely.

Anyhow as I was considering another SB for the big system in the living room I connected it up to try it out. Amazing, really amazing. I decided to do an AB comparison with a couple of tracks so stuck on the minimax cdp........no sound through the left channel.......WTF. Unplugged the SB and sound is back.

Any ideas?
Amp: Icon Audio 40i

 

sounds odd ?

can you be more specific on the connections you have made

 

Ok I just bunged the two pronged plug into the socket and connected up the ic's to the amp. The SB plays fine but when I switch over to play the cdp there is no sound from the rleft speaker. Pull the power out of the back of the SB and the sound is back.

Also am I right in saying that the SB should come supplied with a UK adapter as well as the two pronged one I got?

 

the psu will be a switch mode universal jobbie - the 2 pronged plug will mean that there is no earth connection which if your amp has some dodgy wiring which a'la naim makes the ground connection via the source may mean a world of crap.
try getting the shop to swap the sbox for another one to see if it does the same thing however the faults you are getting seem pretty random you might also want to try your local catholic church.......

 

My SB came with a UK adaptor. What you describe is odd... I would offer to lend you my adaptor, but my linear psu is on loan to ChrisPa...

I've had some entertainment with grounding lately, trying to get my balanced monoblocks working right without humming - I'm in a whole world of hurt regarding dodgy leads, dodgy connectors, etc...

Is your SB branded Slim Devices or Logitech (the newer SB3s are the latter)?

 

Mine is a Logitech SB..only arrived last week.

 

I don't like the sound of running a us psu into a uk mains .....

I'd............... STOP STRAIGHT AWAY ....as you may be putting twice the voltage through the psu than its designed for ?

A simple linear psu will outperform the standard wall wart by a wide margin ..imo

but dev's right the shop has supplied something not quite right.

mine was uk 3pin too ......

your connecting the sb3 to the amp via rca ic's

when you switch the amp selector the cdp only plays via one speaker [L]....

unpluging the dc power of the sb3 brings the R channel back .....

thats weird ...

 

Generally switch modes are designed for wide voltage input range (100-240V typ), but I would agree with Zanash that fudging a US or EU two-prong into a UK socket is a bad plan.

 

Cheers guys I knew it was bad voodoo but couldn't wait to try [looks embarrassed] I'll give the guys a call. Should be easily sorted.

 

Quote from Sean Adams - Slim Devices CEO-

If the dealer doesn't sort this out for you I think I have one here, perhaps Zanash or someone could confirm that the wall wart is labelled UNIFIVE model no.USK300520.

I'm using a linear supply for both mine - and if you think it sounds OK with the wall wart just wait till you get one too

Jim

 

OK so where do I get a linear psu from, how much etc?

 

I haven't waded through the thread, but you should find something here-

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=20855&highlight=linear

There will be other, older threads as well I'm sure - it's a contentious issue.

The man himself (Sean Adams as quoted above) is adamant that it makes not a jot of difference.

There may be some milage in the idea that actually, that it is the reduction in hash that the stock switch mode ps spews out, that then affects the rest of the system, which is eliminated and gives rise to the improvement.

I think this has been covered before....

The offer of the wall wart stands - PM me if you need it.

Jim

 

I found the linear supply to make little difference in my system, but I used the SB as a digital source into a DAC. In ChrisPa's system we found it made a quite substantial difference when using the analogue outs.

Maybe sometime I'll do some measurements on it...

Anyway, I could give you the bill of materials for the psu I built which would cost you about £50 in parts, plus milling a PCB and putting it together (Takes about 5-6 hours, mainly doing metalwork). Otherwise if you were to cross my palm with silver I could make one for you - Dev has one of mine. You can see mine here

 

there easy to build ...pm for the part numbers ....

you can fit in any case you like then !

 

my wall wart is a phhong model psc11r-050 rated at 300mamp +5vdc 2amp max.

sounds roundly average..!

 

Yep, you have definitely been supplied the wrong part. All electrical goods supplied in the UK must be fitted with a 3-pin plug. It may be an innocent mistake but the dealer must put it right.

From Trading Standards:

 

I've only recently got my SB which, as Isaac says, is Logitec branded

The standard PSU in the box comes with two sets of mains 'prongs' - a UK type and a US (though prob european) two-prong; you can swap the mains prongs over...
Have another look in the box and see if the UK prongs are there

Isaac's linear PSU....
excellent
I go with all Isaac's comments

Chris