New Paul Hynes SR5 Power Supply

[DSJR]

Without sounding too negative BUT I would RATHER spend my money on a well built and good looking piece of equipment, that is built to CE and EN standards and passes all electrical regulations and knowing I have a good 2-3 year warranty THAN buy from someone that builds from a shed that is not regulated in any way, buys a standard box from RS, does not finish it well and the box may be lethal to my kids! But then that is just me.

Back in the bad old days, that would be very true, as more people had higher disposable income (such as yourself )

Today, less people are interested in good audio equipment and it appears that many of those that are, don't have the funds available to indulge some manufacturers' pension funds (many owners are in their mid fifties upwards). DIY is coming back, just as it was in the 50's and early 60's...

I mean no disrespect to those here who can easily afford to justify well made and expensively finished products, but not all of us can, and the likes of Paul Hynes are doing us a good service IMO.

[MartinT]

Switching power supplies are simply a technology choice, they can sound better or worse than linear supplies, depending on their implementation. I wouldn't get hung up on it since you still need to hear a piece of equipment in your system to be able to make a proper choice.

For information, my Chord power amp uses a highly complex switching power supply. After many years of ownership, I have yet to find a power amp I prefer.

[Techno Commander]

I should point out that the word "shed" was meant in a figurative sense and not a literal one.

Having said that, a friend of mine has a 600 square foot shed which is used for the manufacture of 4 layer SMT boards. It is quite stunning and very comfortable, especially at the "lounge" end.

[Reid Malenfant]

PS Audio has a switching audio amplifier and its simply a different animal & I did not care for its sonics.
Some computer power supplies do seem to also use a switching device.

I think someone has mentioned previous to me that not all amps sound the same & not all amps with SMPS sound the same

Chord have a very good reputation, though i can't honestly recall ever hearing one, another top rated amp would be the large Halcros'. These use an SMPS along with power factor correction, this enables them to work with any voltage on the planet & still give the same performance.

I think you'l find that virtually every PC uses a SMPS, though in all honesty they really aren't very high quality at all, even if the have the afore mentioned PFC as well. I used to do a lot of work on switching supplies in a couple of jobs i had. Mainly testing & repair but with some design work & i can tell you for a fact that a PC supply thay outputs say 500W total & costs less than £50 is going to be very cheaply made & will rely on a rather large fan to stop it exploding

A good 200W SMPS with low noise output & good regulation with a couple of voltage rails is likely to cost at least £200 over a production run of at least 200 units. There is far far more to take on board when designing one over any linear PSU to attain good performance.

With the kind of power supplies Paul is designing & building & the power range involved there is really no point in going the SMPS route as i know he'd not be able to get the same performance fullstop. SMPS is about efficient supplies & not ultra high performance quiet supplies (quiet as in low noise)

By the way, off topic a second...

I happen to own a Citation 16 as well, it has the usual faulty connections to the terminals on the PCBs which is causing some hf oscillations. I'll get round to stripping it & rebuilding it some time as it was a true bargain. I'm also jealous that you have a pair of AR9s'. I always used to drool over the things in magazines but never ever heard a pair simply because i was too young Well done for fixing a pair up, why the hell they used foam surrounds on the bass drivers i'll never know

[Citation16]

Thanks Mark for the info on the switching power supply. Their seems to be no end to tweak a system...

As for the Citation 16 - I have 5 of them - some 16a and 16's. One is actually used for spare parts at this jucture. Another, I am rebuilding...
In any case, if anybody is interested - you can get a fully rebuilt & upgraded Citation 16 from Pat at audionut66@comcast.net. He is just about THE expert on the Citation 16. You can either buy one fully rebuilt, modded & upgraded from him or get the parts with instructions. He also dabs in Musical Fidelity and SAE and other stuff...

The AR9 speakers are still around on Ebay from time to time - for example just now I found a listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ACOUSTIC-RESEARC...-/400141466632
Then you buy a speaker refoam kit and fix it up, rewire it & change the binding posts and internal extra bracing, etc...
But the price varies and some incredible deals come around for the AR9.

But we have veered off topic of the SR5 power supply, such is the way of a discussion board and often of any conversation...

[DSJR]

AR9's are just too big-n-beefy for most UK built rooms sadly, but a mate in the US uses them with a Hafler pre-power and loves 'em to bits.

[MartinT]

I've finally received the SR5-21 and have got it running without any bother - Paul kindly fitted mine with a 5/2.1mm chassis socket so that the Timestep'd Techie plugs straight in.

With such a big brute of a PSU you might be tempted to think that all the benefits will be in the pace and rhythm area but not so. The first thing to strike me is how clean and pure the treble is; I believe I made the same observation when Marco brought his SR5 over. There is a strong sense of effortless and natural musical forces at work with a spacious soundstage and low noise floor. Focus is superb and it is even easier to point to where instruments are playing, an interesting exercise if done with the eyes closed.

Bass extension, rhythm and tonal stability are all quite excellent leaving the accuracy of the centre hole in an LP to define any remaining wow. The PSU appears to 'get out of the way', leaving the natural dynamics of the arm and turntable to do their thing; in my case the combination of AT/DV/Technics makes fabulous music with real-world dynamics and brings alive many albums I had thought of as dull.

A wonderful final piece of my record playing solution. I will leave things well alone now and spend my money on acquiring more great LPs. Lined up for playing are 180g pressings of Rickie Lee Jones, Dire Straits' Love Over Gold and Paul McCartney's Band on the Run.

Highly recommended.

[Spectral Morn]

Any chance of some photos Martin ? Please......


Regards D S D L

[chris@panteg]

Congrats ' Martin , sorted then .

How much is the SR5 ?

[MCRU]

Does Paul do a budget PSU for paupers like me?