Power supply upgrade

[Kurt]

"Mine is a full blown stand alone powersupply with a large tranny, and large caps and regulation circuitry that hold it at 5V no matter the load, up to a full 2amps continuous."

Plus it looks really cool! ;-)

[richidoo]

Plus it looks really cool! ;-)

Make no mistake, I did not infer that it looks good.. It looks like crap unless you hide it in a case, or if you (or your wife) is a electronic geek and can appreciate the beauty of exposed circuitry. See attached pic of my setup with the PS.

It is open frame, so it is a PC board with a 3 sided alum box acting as heat sink. The other 3 sides of the box are open to the wind and any stray conductors like fingers that may get to close and make sparks fly! WAHOO!! I did it twice yesterday measuring it to fit a box before I realized my tape measure was shorting something on the PC board at the edge of the heat sink. It carried on with no problem. Yikes!

Variable inputs are not auto sensing, you have to wire mains to the appropriate transformer inputs for the input voltage. Default wiring is for US 120V input.

The problem with tweeking your system to a level where power supplies make an obvious difference is that many well-loved older recordings just don't live up to the potential of the system. You can suddenly hear deficiencies in the microphones and recorders as well as recording technique on the older stuff. I find I am buying a lot of new music to get a modern digital recording of stuff I listened to on LP, cassette and CD for years. Of course the older performances are often better than the new, but thankfully there is still lots of good music being made in all styles. I do wish Leonard Bernstein was just now at the peak of his career and was being recorded with modern equipment. Charlie Parker too for that matter!! Food for another thread maybe...
Rich

[P Floding]

Audiophile forum,
Thanks for the tip to upgrade power supply from stock. I knew something wasn't quite right with SQB since it didn't really pop as everyone here said it should. So I swapped in a 16 watt linear PS that I had lying around. I can't believe the difference. I am playing wavs, ripped from CD using EAC. The dynamics, clarity, timing, everything is literally doubled in improvement with the bigger PS. It is simultaneously more delicate and refined while having much bigger and ballsier power in mid and bass. It is not subtle at all. You don't need golden ears to hear the difference and it is so cheap to upgrade. The SQB3 plus a good PS upgrade has superior performance to $1000+ dedicated CD players. I have not listened to players that cost more than that, but it is better than any at dealers that I have tested at home with my system before buying SQB. I am so happy with my decision to buy SQB instead of stand alone CDP.

Anyone interested in getting the best sound from their system should upgrade the SQB power supply before you make any other tweeks to your system. Mine is a full blown stand alone powersupply with a large tranny, and large caps and regulation circuitry that hold it at 5V no matter the load, up to a full 2amps continuous. This is what accurate dynamics require - CURRENT. It even has remote sense to monitor voltage at the device, but I have not used that.
Thanks again!
Rich

It would be very interesting if someone with a linear power supply -someone who thought it made a big difference- tested plugging in the SMPS right next to the linear (just plugged in, not actually driving the SB). Did the sound degrade at all? (Don't forget to test with the SMPS driving the SB as well -just in case there was some placebo going on ealier..)

To make the test more valid the SMPS should really have a load attached (another SB?).

[rkeeney]

Audiophile forum,
Anyone interested in getting the best sound from their system should upgrade the SQB power supply before you make any other tweeks to your system. Mine is a full blown stand alone powersupply with a large tranny, and large caps and regulation circuitry that hold it at 5V no matter the load, up to a full 2amps continuous. This is what accurate dynamics require - CURRENT.

This may be a stupid question for which I ask your forbearance. Are you connecting via RCA out (analog) or one of the digital options? The reason I ask is that if I am connecting to an external DAC (via digital optical out)how does available current affect the digital stream?

Rob..............

[Funkmaster]

I'm new to this forum and just this past week received my Squeezebox 3. I've done alot of reading here, learning a great deal, although sometimes finding it difficult sorting though all the different opinions. So here's my find on a ps and was wondering if anyone would care to comment on it being suitable or not.
From www.hosfelt.com, click on adapters, then click on 5 - 24 VDC Regulated AC-DC Adapters, then the second one down, LZUS1501AT from LZR ELECTRONICS.

[occam]

Funkmaster - Its probably a switching supply, not a linear supply preferred by many. The '100-250vac' is indicative of a switching supply.

[crooner]

This may be a stupid question for which I ask your forbearance. Are you connecting via RCA out (analog) or one of the digital options? The reason I ask is that if I am connecting to an external DAC (via digital optical out)how does available current affect the digital stream?

Rob..............

Excellent question. I don't think a better power supply would affect the digital output much.

[Skunk]

Oh yeah. I have a wired=only model(3), so doubling what's needed would probably still only be about 1.5 according to this: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/v...771&highlight=
Thanks sleepysurf, for pointing that out in the Linear wallwart thread.

Seems, in my case, the 3 amp HB5-3 would be at least quintupling what|s needed for most idle and playing instances < full brightness.

Would there be any harm of overdose? If it stays cool, is it cool?

[tonyptony]

The PS I am using is Power One model HTAA-16W-A. It is an open frame unit that is designed for benchtop electronics work as it has 3 different voltage taps.

Rich, I just got a SB3 but have been following the PS threads here and on audiocircle for quite a while. I have a bunch of linear suppplies at home (I'm an engineer for a living, so I have a basement full of odd stuff), but most use the relatively old LM723 linear regulator. This is not the best regulator in the world from the purest audiophile perspective. I was wondering which regulator is used in the Power One.

[BeerCan]

My power one hb5-3/ovp-a uses the LM723 regulator. Is there a better regulator that is pin compatabile that could possibly be used as a drop in replacement?