Linear vs Switched mode PSU

[Edward]

Edward, you need to be careful that you have taken one persons opinion and turned it into a statement of fact.

Oh, I did not realise I was making a statement of fact, just summing up my understanding in as few words as possible.

Anyway for me this discussion seems to have arrived at a point where my takeaway is that generally linear PSUs are 'better' than switching PSUs for audio stuff - because they are generally better built. So, perhaps, a LPSU will give me an improvement in sound?

[Gazjam]

Oh, I did not realise I was making a statement of fact, just summing up my understanding in as few words as possible.

Anyway for me this discussion seems to have arrived at a point where my takeaway is that generally linear PSUs are 'better' than switching PSUs for audio stuff - because they are generally better built. So, perhaps, a LPSU will give me an improvement in sound?

Avoid switchmode supplies if you can, in consumer level hifi they are normally built down to a price (or indeed, the whole feckin thing,...by committee)
As Jez said, it takes a lot of work to get a switchmode supply to sound good, so best to spend a wee bit more and hit the sensible middle ground.

[Pharos]

I think engineering is an art, and there are some very good people who illustrate this; T. De Paravacini, and Nelson Pass for eg, both of whom 'push the envelope'.

Electronics uses science to innovate and implement designs, which, when they are demonstrably successful and good, become folklore as established designs and tend to become regarded as science.

Oscar Wilde said that all art is quite useless, and that anything which is useful cannot be art, and this I really take issue with.
Engineering solutions to me can have immense beauty in form and function.

[Edward]

Avoid switchmode supplies if you can, in consumer level hifi they are normally built down to a price (or the whole feckin thing by committee)
As Jez said, it takes a lot of work to get a switchmode supply to sound good, so best to spend a wee bit more and hit the sensible middle ground.

Ah thanks for that Gaz. Yes very happy to pay a wee bit more to hit the middle ground. Jez originally advised me that I would not hear any difference by moving to a LPSU. See post #1 of this thread.

[Gazjam]

Ah thanks for that Gaz. Yes very happy to pay a wee bit more to hit the middle ground. Jez originally advised me that I would not hear any difference by moving to a LPSU. See post #1 of this thread.

Jez knows his stuff for sure, and as he (rightly) has said before,,, power supply is important.
The mains power supply is where your music comes from, dont compromise!

[bumpy]

... 'cos obviously on the subject of electronics, the opinions of accountants, brick layers, bakers, solicitors etc etc who have read a few "Hi-Fi Answers" magazines and been on hi fi forums for a while are equally valid to those of electronic engineers specialising in audio electronics for decades who design and repair hi fi equipment professionally.... I guess if you were ill you'd enlist the help of some bloke who saw the first 3 episodes of "Holby City" rather than a doctor? Obviously their opinions on medicine would be equally valid....

You couldn't make it up.

Being a scientist by profession I am well used to consulting with experts thanks.

In seeking an expert to design a good sounding bit of Hi-Fi for me, I would not turn to one who is incapable of hearing differences between mains cable or interconnects.

Other people may not be concerned by this, and that's their prerogative.

[walpurgis]

Surely a scientist would want to investigate the potentially unlikely scenario of mains cables making a difference?

[southall-1998]

You lot really crack me up sometimes!

S.

[Infinitely Baffled]

but, instead, how about a bake off? Switched vs Linear. Jez is invited, of course.

Great idea! Or what about this ... we could paint a door and all watch it dry.

For heaven's sake, listen to the music not the power supply.
IB

[Arkless Electronics]

Ah thanks for that Gaz. Yes very happy to pay a wee bit more to hit the middle ground. Jez originally advised me that I would not hear any difference by moving to a LPSU. See post #1 of this thread.

That is still my advice. The particular application you want to use it for is not even very sensitive to its power supply.