Palmer psu

[john dolan]

The palmer psu has landed

The Young come as stock with a cheapo switcher psu so I ordered the mcru psu which gives a very nice upgrade but Purite emailed me would I be interested in the palmer battery psu and me being me couldn't say no.

Plugged in and I hit play on the N-remote of Tracy Chapman which is a fav of mine and I know it well and straight away it sounds different and very nice.

The presentation has changed from a little dry but wonderful open sound to warmer fuller very much like the sound of my Gyrodec.

4 songs in now and im a happy camper so its feet up and listen time.

Same dac 3 different psu and 3 different sounds with the stock cheapo the Young sounds a little better than my M-dac and with the Mcru psu a nice upgrade again but with this battery psu its awesome sounds im hearing right now but the palmer does cost the same amount as the Young dac but from what im hearing its worth the extra over the Mcru for sure.

Edit to add a big thanks to Keith at Purite for very good service and it was a real pleasure to deal with him

[john dolan]

Unboxed and straight from the factory I plugged it in and the battery lasted 8 hours before the little red light came on to indicate the battery was being charged and the dac was now running from mains power but I cant say I heard any difference to the sound but I was watching the Arrow tv show on very low volume at the time I noticed the light was on.

After watching the tv show it was time for bed and I set the StreamX to radio 3 and left it running alnight and as I went to make a coffee about midnight I noticed the charge light had gone out but when it went out I have no idea so I don't really know how long the battery recharge was.

Its now 10.42am and the dac is still running from the battery so a full charge has lasted 11 hours so far.

I like how it all works on auto when the battery reaches a certain level the charging kicks in charges the battery and then goes back to pure battery power again while I just sit there and continue to listen.

I can unplug the Palmer from the mains if I wish and run it that way but that runs the risk of damage to the batteries if they run flat and im sure they are not cheap so ill leave it plugged in.

When you listen to hifi you are listening to the psu that's why we Cyrus fans hear improvements when we add a psxr.

The Palmer gives the same kind of upgrade a psxr does to Cyrus kit and im loving the sounds my sytem is making with it. :)

[Gazjam]

Hi John,

Have a Young Dac myself and noticed improvements swapping out the standard switch mode supply.
Interesting you say that it sounded better than the Mdac even with the switcher... :eyebrows:
When I was looking to upgrade my Beresford dac I looked at the Mdac, but heard one and thought it was a bit too hifi sounding for my liking.
The Young ticks all the boxes, even more so with an upgraded supply.

I have this one?
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?55466-Young-PSU-s

I've since been tinkering with it, and fitted a better quality regulator which improved it a bit more.
Its not a battery supply like your Palmer, but my system is powered by a balanced mains setup, which sounds very good, next to no noise floor which (I imagine) a battery supply might do as well?

Know your way round a soldering iron, or know someone who dies?
There's a reasonably easy DIY mod for the Young that improves things a fair bit.
All products are built to a price and the Young is no exception, great as it is.
Just the other side of the DC input is a decoupling cap, a cheap off the shelf high resistance cap that kinda strangles the dac a bit.
Fit a better lower resistance (ESR) cap in there (I used a 25v 1000uf Panasonic FM as per advice) and the Dac got even better. More open, natural sound, easier to follow...you think more laid back but no, there's more detail and dynamics but only when its in the music!
More realistic with greater space to breath is the way I'd describe it.

Well worth a punt when you want to upgrade your Young. :)
Some info here:
http://audiochews.com/index.php?p=/discussion/52/young-dac/p16

The guy who built my PSU, Simon (AOS User name sq225917), tried and recommended this diy mod.
Well worth it in my opinion.



Having the Palmer gives the Dac that "two box appeal" though :)

[Gazjam]

Just noticed, see you have an "Orbed" Gyrodec as well?
Just got back into vinyl after 25+ years...very good. :)