copacetic

I use an Audiolab 8000AP, but confess that I simply feed all audio and video (PC,CD,DAB & PS3) to it via HDMI cables which may not meet the 'HI-FI' needs of some. The stereo components feed in via co-axial digital cables. The audio from the Audiolab seems excellent to me, stereo and 7.1 (Musical Fidelity power amps, Splendor speakers) I can't comment usefully on the video as I only have a very cheap 37" TV, but I believe the Audiolab simply passes the HDMI on . Perhaps the newer 8200AP might be worth considering?

Cristi Ciubotaru from Mini-Box.com replied to my request for guidance here on CA regarding a guide that the technologically challenged like myself could follow to get Open UPS power supply working with Chris's C.A.P.S. designs. His reply was encouraging: " Thank you for contacting us and your interest in our products! We will consider this mail and we will study this issue. We are also working at a new version of the OpenUPS which will have batteries and might fit very well to the mentioned setups. Should you need other details, please contact us!" Christi is a support engineer at Mini-Box, so hopefully they can provide a simple guide for us to follow? Fingers crossed...

Nothing from them yet, but that's hardly surprising, with the holidays and all. I suggested that they might post a guide here on CA themselves if they prefer, but if they don't I'll certainly pass on any advice they might offer to me directly, to the CA massive. If you'd like to encourage them further yourself, or simply ask them for advice, the e-mail address do do so is: [email protected] Mentioning CA might be worthwhile if you do this :-)

I've just sent a (somewhat lengthy) e-mail to Mini-Box asking for them to post a 'dummies guide to OpenUPS for C.A.P.S' here on C.A. A simple 'suggested configuration' with parts list/instructions would make OpenUPS much more approachable to simple folk like myself. I have a huge 36V electric bicycle battery that I think would power a C.A.P.S for ages, but without instructions I'm probably more likely to fry something than power anything, so finger crossed for some help eh?

Please ignore my question re' EU availability of the HDPLEX cases. I didn't look closely enough at the HDPLEX site, and managed to miss that they have a "fulfilment centre" in Germany. Prices seem to be the same USD as the US. Does anyone here plan to attempt the OpenUPS approach to power supply?

I'd be interested whether Streamfans' advice helped to provide any solution to the video issue you report. I'm not quite clear though...are you successfully playing HD video or not? This HDPLEX case: HDPLEX H3 Series Looks like it would make a gorgeous (albeit expensive) CAPS case, but I can't find it in the EU at all. Does anyone know where I might order one in the UK/EU? I'd love to get the Red Wine Audio power solution, but it makes the whole package too expensive (for me anyway). If anyone here tackles the OpenUPS approach, maybe they could post an 'idiots guide' on how it's done, in a similar spirit to the C.A.P.S guide itself?, It would be a valuable addition IMO. BTW thanks for all your hard work on the C.A.P.S Chris, hugely appreciated!

Thanks Alain, Your suggestion for disabling the wi-fi card was perfect. There's no noticeable effect on sound quality (yet), but I plan to leave it off, as strictly speaking, I don't need wi-fi. My power supply is an external 19V 3.45A model, and I cant help but think that it should be easier to replace with a linear supply than a conventional PC's supply. My PC is really just a netbook or laptop without a battery or screen, perhaps I would have been better off buying one of these?. Since I've got the net-top now though, I guess I'll just have to make the best of it. I've been trying to find one of those external batteries used for extending/recharging iPads/laptops and the like, but finding something in 19V-3.45A is proving very difficult (and some are very expensive!). I've also recently discovered very contradictory opinions here on CA regarding the advantages of linear supplies versus switch mode. But I'm guessing battery is a safe bet if I can find a convenient or cheap way to achieve it. Once I get the hardware sorted I'll also look into shutting down unnecessary software and installing a better player. I found a (speeded up) Youtube of someone upgrading the RAM in my model to 4Gb, so I now know that's do-able, although it looks like a bit of a pain in the ass. Apparently I could also replace the hard-drive with an SSD, but are there any real gains to be made doing that?, I can't hear the fan or drive at all already, but I do get the very occasional digital 'fart' while listening which is mildly annoying(probably due to lack of software/bloatware 'housekeeping'). I don't suppose anyone could point me in the direction of a guide/guides to trimming the 'software fat' to help me jam my fat old carcass into that audiophile bikini I've been saving up for? Any opinions/advice on the battery approach also very welcome.

Hi Alain, thanks for the welcome and very quick reply :-) The net-top has 2GB and I doubt that it's readily upgradeable as the box is the size of a hardback book and I'm not sure I trust myself to start prying it open. I've spent quite a lot of time browsing the issues round power supplies but haven't found anyone selling ready made (upgrade) solutions. If you know of a place to get a better linear (or other) power supply could you point me in the right direction?. If anyone in the UK has found this type of thing that would be very useful to know about. Any idea if its possible to disable the wi-fi without opening the case?

Long time lurker, first poster. I seek advice/opinion from any prepared to offer it. My system consists of: Music Server(s): e-Machines er1402 Net-top Music Server Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit) Digital to Analog Converter(s): Audiolab 8000ap (via HDMI) Preamplifier: Audiolab 8000ap Amplifier(s): Musical Fidelity XAS100/Sure Electronics DIY 4X100 D class Loudspeakers: Spendor S6 (original front ported model) Interconnects: Ubranded HDMI Van Den Hul RCA DIY RCA Loudspeaker Cables: Tellurium Q Black-front QED silver- centre Unbranded 19strand OFC - rears Power Cables:Unbranded Remote Control(s): Philips Pronto (pretty much only used to control volume/input source on Audiolab) wireless mouse Android Phone/gmote (rarely if ever used) I'm either happy with, (or working on) everything 'downstream' of the Audiolab but I'm very weak on I.T. stuff so I'd like to ask how I can maximize output from the net-top. I'm very keen to keep most of the the functionality of the net-top. I use it for video and audio (HDMI) hooked up to a flat screen tv. I don't have much hi-rez music yet, but I plan to build a collection. Shamefully, most of my listening is done via Spotify, which I use to 'explore' music, which I then buy on cd to play on my Musical Fidelity X-Ray (optical TOSlink-Audiolab). I've discovered that despite the low rez, I really love Spotify as I love listening to stuff which is new to me. I pay for premium spotify and have spent months building up playlists so I'm not really considering MOG as it would be a huge pain to re-create my lists (or would it?). God I wish Spotify would offer a proper high rez option!. Physical media holds no real attraction for me, quality and choice are everything (not necessarily in that order!). I'm assuming that software or power supply changes are all I can do to maximise quality?. Where should I look for replacement power supply's?. Is it possible (and worthwhile?) to disable the wi-fi in the net-top? (I have ethernet). I've read that windows doesn't make the best of audio, but I really can't get my head round Linux etc, so I'd like to do what I can to make the best of Windows. I currently use (and quite like)XBMC for video, and I'm trying to get used to MediaMonkey for audio (can't say I particularly like the interface so far, but early days yet), but could I make better choices?. Anyway, sorry for the lengthy question and thanks to anyone prepared to advise!.