EtherRegen basic setup questions

Nice looking kit.

Does the etherRegen ever get hot with that weight on it? For such a little unit, it does get tricky to place it, at least on my shelf.

I use an Sbooster + Ultra on my ER and the improvement was quite noticeableā€¦

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Thank you!

The ER gets hot, with and without that weight :wink:

I ordered that 10 oz Copper Cube 999 for 25 Euros on eBay to hold down the very light unit. As some thick Ethernet cables are connected, it really helps to grip the ER to the ground.

The cube also takes on some heat (it gets pretty warm, but not hot), so it should help a tiny bit with heat dissipation, too. There are some more advanced solution where ppl placed/glued bigger, heavy heatsinks on top of the ER - probably the best solution.

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This is my current predicament (see what I did there?)

When I built this custom rack, it was back in the days where each shelf got one big box. Nowadays, I have so many little boxes that, missing in this picture, the UpTone LPS that drives the etherRegen is one shelf down behind the DS DAC.

I might consider another Pardo or Farad to drive the etherRegen, but without another rack, I just donā€™t know where Iā€™d put it.

First-world problems.

You can also see why I was curious about the weight. The stiff Wireworld ethernet cable tends to move the etherRegenā€¦ wherever it wants.

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If you put a nice polish on the bottom side and then add a thin layer of silver heatsink paste between it and the regen you will get a better cooling effect.

I am thinking about buying a box that is made for computer server racks. Itā€™s basically a black box that is rack mount width, sometimes has cooling fans, and can be filled with this little black box and that little black box but looks like just another big box. That or an HDPlex power supply.

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Update on my experience with the ER.
Did not hear a significant difference from the Bridge II alone.

Used a higher end Pardot LPS.

This statement confused me.

Would you mind clarifying your experience for ā€œusā€. Did you mean to report that adding the EtherRegen did not make the performance of the/with the Bridge II input sound significantly better (or worse)?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry. I was not very clear.

I meant to say from the Bridge II alone without the ER in the signal path.
Might have been a hair more bass extension, but honestly very very close.

I am experiencing more discernible differences using USB to a Matrix into the i2S input.

No, apology necessary. That is what I thought you were trying to convey, but I wanted to make sure there was not some other kind of configuration/signal path factor(s) relevant to the comparison being made.

Thanks for sharing your observations.

Best regards.

For those of you that have direct experience with the kit, did you settle on a particular Ethernet cable for the last segment into your streamer or DAC?

I have chosen the AirLens (AL) for my streamer (at least for now) and I am willing to make a relatively reasonable investment into a solid Ethernet cable to connect to the AL from the ER B Port.

My ā€œbestā€ EtherNet cable is currently the WireWorld Starlight, which is connected between the AL and a GigaFoil LAN Isolator.

This caught my eye on Hi-Fi shark this morning:

My current cable is a WireWorld Starlight.

All suggestions and thoughts welcome so long as you have experimented with the ER and Ethernet cables.

TIA

You should be fine with your Wireworld cables. I try a lot of Ethernet cables. I am not convinced spending more than $300 for an Ethernet cable offers any benefits I can hear. As you know I am not shy about buying very expensive cables. I just do not hear any difference between them when I try. Maybe they help more with lower cost gear. I donā€™t have any if that in my main system.

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I have the system (mostly) reconfigured with the EtherRegen.

I like what I am hearing, but I have more fiddling and listening to do.

Would be interested in hearing more from veterans that have bothered with an external clock and power supply upgrades for the EtherRenā€¦

I think a better power supply is an essential upgrade for the EtherRegen. I got an Sbooster (on Alā€™s recommendation) and really like it. I am sure there are better, but I have not been compelled to improve any further. Sorry, I do not have any experience with clocks.

(Edit: misremembered the power supply I got ā€“ I checked and itā€™s an Sbooster.)

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Thank you for the reply.

Scott

I run mine with an Sbooster power supply with great results. I also have mine grounded to a Synergistic Active Ground Block along with everything else in my systemā€¦

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Results in differences you can hearā€¦?

Thanks.

Iā€™m using an Uptone Audio Js-2 power supply on my Etherregen, with After Dark clock/power supply and Inakustik Ethernet cables. Kinda messy in the rack, but it sounds very good. I think the power supply is the most important.

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Thanks.

Care to share the nature of the improvements you may have heardā€¦?

A good used power supply upgrade is something I would consider.

It has been a while since I started tinkering with the EtherRegen. I was going to try a Farad power supply, decided to try the Js-2.

After adding the JS2 My first impression was of the proverbial ā€˜black background ā€˜, quiet music was more presentā€¦and sustain/decay was cleaner and clearer. The JS-2 has been very reliable, I had an Uptone LPS-1 that croaked after about a yearā€™s use.

Every little bit helps :grinning:.

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