Skunk Wrote: > My system is only circa $1,000- and the Power One external linear > regulated power supply made my jaw drop. The most notable improvement > for me was bass response. I had the hardest time placing my sub, and > always had the gain on the sub amp to max. With the external supply > there is some headroom for the sub amp, and bass is placed where the > recording dictates, not where the sub is sitting. The soundstage itself > became the whole front wall, rather than the area directly surrounding > the mains. I can't locate my mains with my eyes closed anymore, on > decent recordings anyway. Sibilance was reduced to the point of being > able to enjoy cd's I had written off, but with no noticable loss of > high frequency extension. Audience clapping used to sound like it was > coming from 'onstage'. Now it sounds like the audience is behind the > performers on some albums. As you can tell, I can't say enough about > the improvement. The differences between power supplies are more > dramatic than when I went from a cheap Sony DVD player to the > Squeezebox analog out. I spent eight dollars on the surplus power > supply, so I have no reason to *justify* my purchase. > > I use the analog output unmodded, so there is still tons of room for > improvement. I'm even starting to question my desire for an external > DAC. > > However, I can't see how one would worry about a single switching > supply on your mains when there are tons of other devices in most homes > that run on switching supplies. Perhaps it would be different if you had > a dedicated circuit and ground for the system?
Various circuits in my home are indeed on different "supplies" as they have separate fuses. A SMPS right next to my pre-amp simply doesn't seem to be a good idea. Turning off my A/V amp and LCD TV, which for ground loop reasons sit on the same wall outlet, also improves sound. (Which I discovered by accident, so is hardly placebo, as I first wondered why the sound was so much better, and later realised the A/V was off for a change.) It was interesting to hear you heard a difference. My second system keeps getting cheaper. At the moment I have a $30 power amp driving it, and it is superb.. Lots of money is not necessary to have a really enjoyable system. -- P Floding ------------------------------------------------------------------------ P Floding's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2932 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21175 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
