View Full Version : Wife immediately heard the difference from another room
magiccarpetride
11-05-2011, 20:23
I know this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but to be perfectly honest, wading through the miles and miles of threads on this topic gives me a terrible headache, so I impudently decided to ask a pointed question:
A friend recommended I get this linear PSU for my Caiman: http://cgi.ebay.ca/MASTECH-HY1803D-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-VAR-0-18-VOLTS-0-3-/360241404257?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e00f9961#ht_2602wt_907 (this was recommended to him by Stan Meister himself). OK, I've ordered it, I've received it yesterday, I like what it does to the music, etc., so back to my question -- can I use this PSU for my Squeezebox Touch? If yes, what voltage should I set it to? (should've asked this before I ordered, so that I could order two and save on shipping; but let's first hear it from the experts).
There are loads of threads about PSU's for SB, Stans DAC, SL-1210/1200 etc.
It still almost in disbelief that you wouldn't immediately want to replace an item that is pulling down the performance of the items purchased! You know I'm talking about the SMPS wall wart right!!!
which SB do you have?
SB1 - 5v pos pin and draws 700mA - 900mA dependant on the display
SB3 - 5V pos pin and draws 700mA- 1A dependant on the display
SB Touch 5v Pos pin and draws approx 600mA
So long as your bench PSU is rated at about 1A you'll be fine.
Now you've experienced the benifits, why not push the boat out and try a PSU designed for audio??
You gotta love the thread title:lol:
dave2010
13-05-2011, 15:04
Can you lock up the voltage, and maybe limit the amps on that PSU? Otherwise I predict that some knob twiddling twit will fry some of your kit! Or maybe you'll just forget which thing each PSU is connected to, with similar effects. Is it really better than the supplied PSU? Take care!
Ali Tait
13-05-2011, 16:56
The amps the supply will output does not matter, the bit of kit being supplied will just pull what it needs. Raising the voltage is another matter!
dave2010
13-05-2011, 19:59
The amps the supply will output does not matter, the bit of kit being supplied will just pull what it needs. Raising the voltage is another matter!Ali
You're probably right, for most kit anyway, though I do wonder if current limiting could provide an extra level of safety.
If you try limiting the current, you will more likely than not degrade the sound. A decent regulator needs to react quickly to changes in load as demanded by whatever it is driving. There will be extremely short spikes where the current drawn will exceed what you see on the display or on a meter. Many boutique regs deal with these transient changes much more effectively than the standard psu's and this is part of the "improvement" that can be heard.
Yes I set the current limiter on my bench psu when I'm testing some mods, but I never limit current when I'm happy it's all stable and back in the main system.
magiccarpetride
17-06-2011, 18:55
I know this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but to be perfectly honest, wading through the miles and miles of threads on this topic gives me a terrible headache, so I impudently decided to ask a pointed question:
A friend recommended I get this linear PSU for my Caiman: http://cgi.ebay.ca/MASTECH-HY1803D-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-VAR-0-18-VOLTS-0-3-/360241404257?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e00f9961#ht_2602wt_907 (this was recommended to him by Stan Meister himself). OK, I've ordered it, I've received it yesterday, I like what it does to the music, etc., so back to my question -- can I use this PSU for my Squeezebox Touch? If yes, what voltage should I set it to? (should've asked this before I ordered, so that I could order two and save on shipping; but let's first hear it from the experts).
OK, since this PSU didn't work out for my Caiman (it somehow drastically killed the bloom in the bass), I've relegated it to the Squeezebox Touch. This time, however, I hit the jackpot. It would appear that the wallwart that came with the Touch is a vile and noisy little bastard, so the moment I've replaced it with this linear PSU, the music just cleared up and acquired a lot of sparkle, crispness and an improved holographic soundstage.
I would strongly recommend this tweak to anyone using Squeezeboxen (in particular the Touch) -- it will make a very audible improvement to the sound quality, as it makes the sound more settled and less nervous. You'll be hearing new details that you haven't heard before, even in songs you're very familiar with...
My 2 cents...
OK, since this PSU didn't work out for my Caiman (it somehow drastically killed the bloom in the bass), I've relegated it to the Squeezebox Touch. This time, however, I hit the jackpot. It would appear that the wallwart that came with the Touch is a vile and noisy little bastard, so the moment I've replaced it with this linear PSU, the music just cleared up and acquired a lot of sparkle, crispness and an improved holographic soundstage.
I would strongly recommend this tweak to anyone using Squeezeboxen (in particular the Touch) -- it will make a very audible improvement to the sound quality, as it makes the sound more settled and less nervous. You'll be hearing new details that you haven't heard before, even in songs you're very familiar with...
My 2 cents...
If it killed the dac, it's still killing the sb! Please, if you want high end sound, stop scrimping on psu's!!! I've lost count!!! Maplin psu's are better than smps but they are still absolute crap! If a dac costs £100, spend £200 on the psu and you'll get an £800 sound! Easy!!!
dave2010
18-06-2011, 06:26
If it killed the dac, it's still killing the sb! Please, if you want high end sound, stop scrimping on psu's!!! I've lost count!!! Maplin psu's are better than smps but they are still absolute crap! If a dac costs £100, spend £200 on the psu and you'll get an £800 sound! Easy!!!
Ian
You might be right about the audio from the SB, but I think Alex is only using the Touch as a digital transport, so the effects of the PSU which you refer to may not show up.
Not sure if Alex really wants to play around with this to check. At this stage I might just believe he's found a combination which works for him.
jantheman
18-06-2011, 06:35
Power supply, power supply, power supply. I had this drummed into me many years ago. A decent power supply can cost much more than all the electronic tweakery in a box. It can also have the greatest effect on the sound that comes out. All the fancy circuits are of no use if the power they are being fed is under par.
This is one of the main reasons I went for the Moon Dac. No faffing around upgrading, its all there, in the box and ready to rock and roll.
StanleyB
18-06-2011, 07:29
It is possible to use a very basic external PSU and a higher quality internal PSU circuit in order to get a high quality power supply result. I experimented in the TC-7510 with that idea, which I called Virtual DC. It worked quite well even though it was very simple. But with many of these ideas, it is not clear if they can be patented, and protected. The Chinese would quickly copy it once perfected.
magiccarpetride
20-06-2011, 17:45
Ian
You might be right about the audio from the SB, but I think Alex is only using the Touch as a digital transport, so the effects of the PSU which you refer to may not show up.
Not sure if Alex really wants to play around with this to check. At this stage I might just believe he's found a combination which works for him.
I would say that the PSU that comes with the Touch is the weakest link. Seems like it's very easy to improve upon it, even when replacing it with a cheap ass dedicated PSU. I'd venture out to say that anything may be better than the PSU that ships with the Touch.
Try it, you'll immediately hear the big improvement. For example, when listening to the Beatles "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" (a super frantic, super noisy and busy track), I can now finally hear many never before heard details, even brand new instruments, that are totally buried in the mix when I switch back to the PSU that came with the Touch. That little wart is noisy as hell!
Reid Malenfant
20-06-2011, 18:15
Why is it that people just don't understand that at the end of the day they are listening to a power supply? :scratch: The PSU feeds the kit & if it's poor then the results will be, if it good then it'll give the equipment a chance to shine :)
Off topic, but, I love the photo of the cat in your avatar. The exposure and colours are spot on, as is the composition :¬)
Thing Fish
20-06-2011, 18:29
'Wife immediately heard the difference from another room'
What the hell was she doing out of the kitchen?...:lol:
'Wife immediately heard the difference from another room'
What the hell was she doing out of the kitchen?...:lol:
:lol:
What the hell was she doing out of the kitchen?
Just come back from the off licence with his beer?
magiccarpetride
20-06-2011, 18:56
'Wife immediately heard the difference from another room'
What the hell was she doing out of the kitchen?...:lol:
Trying on the sexy lingerie she bought for my eyes only.
magiccarpetride
20-06-2011, 18:57
Why is it that people just don't understand that at the end of the day they are listening to a power supply? :scratch: The PSU feeds the kit & if it's poor then the results will be, if it good then it'll give the equipment a chance to shine :)
Would a bank of car batteries hooked up together improve the quality?
Reid Malenfant
20-06-2011, 18:59
Battery supplies are the lowest noise, no two ways about it ;) If you can't get the voltage you are looking for then try a bank of NiCd or NiMh which have different volts per cell than lead/acid.
anthonyTD
20-06-2011, 19:34
Battery supplies are the lowest noise, no two ways about it ;) If you can't get the voltage you are looking for then try a bank of NiCd or NiMh which have different volts per cell than lead/acid.
I agree to a point,
However,
batteries tend to have a similar problem as capacitors ie; they dont have a low enough impedance at all required frequency, although the higher the current capability of the battery, the better.
Anthony,TD...
Reid Malenfant
20-06-2011, 19:45
I was actually thinking noise wise Anthony, though someone (Trichord) manufactures a PSU advertised as NCPS (never connected power supply) where i believe the normal main storage capacitor is connected to a second one but only when the rectified secondary voltage is lower than that stored on the first capacitor. Thus avoiding mains born noise being injected into the regulator.
I acually haven't investigated battery impedance at high frequencies, so i'll defer to your better knowledge.
anthonyTD
20-06-2011, 19:56
I was actually thinking noise wise Anthony, though someone (Trichord) manufactures a PSU advertised as NCPS (never connected power supply) where i believe the normal main storage capacitor is connected to a second one but only when the rectified secondary voltage is lower than that stored on the first capacitor. Thus avoiding mains born noise being injected into the regulator.
I acually haven't investigated battery impedance at high frequencies, so i'll defer to your better knowledge.
hi Mark,
yes Trichord has been producing this type of supply for some years now,
and its a very interesting aproach, although i believe that Graham has fine tuned the design since its first incarnation.:)
Anthony,TD...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.