External Power Supply

[gtubes]

I have always been fascinated with the extreme examples of dedicating a power supply to an additional device or box. ASR Emitter power supply comes to mind..

I recently added an external power supply to my Caylx 24/192 32 bit Dac. I waited until it was reviewed in 6Moons to make a decision whether or not to bother. All I can say is I am a believer, it is amazing the difference. You don't have to break the bank to make a SIGNIFICANT difference.

Edit - been listening all day in shuffle mode, so hitting many tunes I am very familiar with. The music never sounded like this, wow.

[jdandy]

Greg.......Same here, but with a turntable. I read enough about the speed stability improvements using the Never Connected design external power supply with my Michell Gyro SE that I bought it to start with, rather than upgrade at a later date. I am very pleased with its performance.

Of course, the fully independent dual channel C1000C external power controller on my McIntosh C1000P preamplifier is an incredible engineering accomplishment, too.

[JJinID]

Greg - great post, and I am also on board with the fact that an upgraded power supply can make a huge difference. I just received my Squeezebox Touch back from Bolder Cables. Owners of the Touch would be absolutely amazed at the difference an upgraded linear power supply makes to the sound of the unit (both analog and digital out) over the stock switching little wall-wart power supply that it comes with!

I'll be writing up my impressions of my modified Touch with the new PS once I have broken it in...

[gtubes]

Dan, great idea actually for a TT. And the mc1000c was also on my mind when I wrote this thread.

Jeff, absolutely let us know how you make out with the Squeezebox, interesting.

[audiot servant]

Originally Posted by mc602

I have always been fascinated with the extreme examples of dedicating a power supply to an additional device or box. ASR Emitter power supply comes to mind..

I recently added an external power supply to my Caylx 24/192 32 bit Dac. I waited until it was reviewed in 6Moons to make a decision whether or not to bother. All I can say is I am a believer, it is amazing the difference. You don't have to break the bank to make a SIGNIFICANT difference.

Greg +1 amazed

I was keen on hearing the Calyx external power supply but spending $450 on power upgrade on an $1800 DAC I wasn't exactly so keen... so I wanted to hear for myself and I took a friend with me who knows nothing about audio to nod in the right places and make me feel better about buying a plain black box.

Every time we switched over to the CLPS it was just night and day... extra weight and authority (the bass just took on a new life), reduced noise floor and the separation of instruments is much more fleshed out... the Calyx swapped out from having an elegant, rhythmic, detailed kind of sound (if ever so slightly dry presentation) to being so much more confident with real drive and deep fundamentals and with the mids much better supported and sweeter... it was like it grew an extra pair of you know whats... my friend looked at me totally shocked by the difference an external supply could make... I was a bit too... we agreed that it made so much sense and saves upgrading to another DAC... I walked away with the equivalent of a major component upgrade and a sympathetic shopping buddy to boot.

There is not so much difference between mid and high end DACs IMO so where did all this extra sound quality come from... I'm also starting to think that with DACs that there is so much performance lost because the inherent noise of digital electronics that it makes power supply isolation so critical and that a way forward is with external power supplies... a phenomenal and surprising gain Making allowance for the whole varying milage thing an external supply for digital is worth a listen if a linear PSU is an option for your DAC.

[gtubes]

Graham,

I understand your point about spending more money on top of the Dac cost. Interestingly enough Caylx will be including this same power supply (I believe), with all units shipped moving forward in 2012.

I have you to thank for chasing it, you recommended it to me some time ago!

[bakerman]

Originally Posted by JJinID

Greg - great post, and I am also on board with the fact that an upgraded power supply can make a huge difference. I just received my Squeezebox Touch back from Bolder Cables. Owners of the Touch would be absolutely amazed at the difference an upgraded linear power supply makes to the sound of the unit (both analog and digital out) over the stock switching little wall-wart power supply that it comes with!

I'll be writing up my impressions of my modified Touch with the new PS once I have broken it in...

Add me to the list of believers. I've been using a Bolder PS for my Duet for a few years now. There were many naysayers that didn't think it would make much of a difference. I find that the background is much quieter and it really helped in tightening up the bass.

[Rmac]

Would this be advantageous to use with a pre-amp?

I wonder if that would add detail to all components.

[audiot servant]

Originally Posted by mc602

Graham,

I understand your point about spending more money on top of the Dac cost. Interestingly enough Caylx will be including this same power supply (I believe), with all units shipped moving forward in 2012.

I have you to thank for chasing it, you recommended it to me some time ago!

Greg - It was one of the best DACS under the Playback Designs, Weiss and Berkely level before the upgrade... now between the 24/196 (even though it does 32/196???) with its new linear power supplies and their new reference DAC (think that it's called the femtoDAC) they are having a go about getting to the next level at Calyx... really good you found going to external supplies a great outcome as well... I figure I can now happily put off any thoughts of upgrading the DAC for some time... at least till maybe the next gen DSD units are out in a couple of years.

Graham

[Audioseduction]

I'm also a huge fan of external power supplys as both my Pre-amp and DAC has them.