Caiman PSU

[StanleyB]

None in stock till the end of the month. Send me an email to reserve one.

[Marktdac]

Thanks Stan have sent u an email via ur website ,when u get them in stock can u send me a paypal invoice and i will pay ASAP

Mark

[chrism]

Just had another look at the voltage to the Caiman. I am feeding it with 15v at the output from the PS and have read the voltage at the 10k input cap and found that it is 14.3v. The 0.7v drop appears to be due to the diode infront of the cap. On this basis the 16v cap appears to be well inside it's 10% margin.

Trying my new linear supply out and shocked at the difference it is making to the sound of the Caiman over the Maplins bench supply I was using. Absolutely fantastic!

Regards

Chris

[Shanedudddy2]

Can u please explain what you did? I am a little confused?
Are u using linear power supply instead of the regular power supply?
Are you bypassing the opamps? can't tell exactly whats going on in the pic? /moron lol

[chrism]

Hi Shane,

Not sure if it's me or Rich that you are asking the questions to.

Rich has done the opamp bipass and I have been dabbling with linear power supplies.

The linear supply that I am now using is a torodial trafo, 10,000 uf smoothing cap and LM317 regulators in series (first one set at 22v and the second at 15v). This gives 15v and 1A at the output. The trafo is a really quiet little beauty.

The sound from the Caiman with this supply is detailed, beautifully smooth and very enjoyable. The bass has taken a leap forward as well over my previous cheapo linear and really powerful and authoritive when needed.

Got me grinning!

Regards

Chris

[roscoeiii]

Chris,

Is the improvement over the stock Caiman you described in comparison to the early non-Caiman optimized power supply or the specifically Caiman PSU?

[chrism]

Hi Roscoeiii,

I bought a Caiman without one of Stan's supplies (before the new one was available) as I don't like switchmode types (they seem to upset my other equipment on the same dedicated spur).

All of my observations are between my own linear supplies , the first one being a Maplin's bench supply that I have been tweaking and the latest being a purposely designed one.

So sorry but cannot comment on how good Stan's latest switchmode is but I can say it is at considerably less cash than the linear one I have currently got (even though it was a kit).

Regards

Chris

[lovejoy]

Apologies if I didn't explain the picture very well, I guess it doesn't tell the whole story.

What the pic shows is that instead of the op-amp on the output, I have bypassed it and taken the analogue output straight out of the (Wolfson) DAC chip into a good quality capacitor to get rid of any DC offset the DAC may produce. I've then lifted the leg of the phono socket off the circuit board to disconnect it and soldered the other side of the capacitor to that - hence cutting out the op-amp circuit.

The other thing the picture shows is the removal of the input capacitor - not something to recommend doing unless you're going to use a linear power supply, but if you do go linear, this makes a big difference as linear supplies don't like to have to feed large caps.

It's incredible how much scope there is for tailoring the sound going with a linear supply. Up until today I only had a 4000uF cap after my transformer. Today I replaced it with a 20000uF cap and if there's anything that produces cleaner, faster, tighter bass than this on the planet, then I've not heard it.

To re-iterate what others have said though - I believe the BEST sound you can get from a 7510/20/Caiman comes from a linear supply rather than a switch mode, but to get it, unless you've got the bits lying around and you can build one yourself, you'll be paying as much, if not more than you did for your DAC in the first place. The Caiman PSU is *VERY* good, a lot less hassle and a fraction of the price.

[MartinT]

Stan - I'm very late to this thread but am sending you an e-mail now to reserve a new PSU for my Caiman. Kicking myself for not scanning the threads more closely.

[StanleyB]

Stan - I'm very late to this thread but am sending you an e-mail now to reserve a new PSU for my Caiman. Kicking myself for not scanning the threads more closely.

They have all been sold and the offer closed. The official stock will hopefully arrive at the end of the month or the beginning of December.
The only item that has the Caiman power supply at the moment is the UK and EU stock, and those are going very fast out of the door.