Colton1553552741 Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 Have been looking at putting together a little regulated PSU to replace the switched wallwart that came with my Arcam rDac. Have looked at the following options: SuperTeddyReg The σ11 Regulated Power Supply I've had experience putting together PCB's before, my father is an electrician so I've been exposed to this sort of stuff. Any thoughts on the above, or suggestions or where else to look? Would like to keep the total cost of this around $150. Cheers,
Owen Y Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 I've no experience sorry, but keep us advised on progress. Could be useful one day.
Ernie1553552694 Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 I do believe AJ has some experience in this area. Username: ajst2duk. He might chime in, or you could send him a PM.
TheBlueMushroom1553552749 Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 I'm in the process of playing with the Jung super regulator: http://tangentsoft.net/elec/opamp-linreg.html (bottom of the page) Some of the o11 stuff looks pretty interesting, also, tho Circuit board prices are defintely reasonable.
x-large1553552716 Posted November 2, 2010 Posted November 2, 2010 Check out Twisted Pear Audio, they have some kits available and seem to be well regarded in forums. Unfortunately I haven't any experience with them so can't comment directly. Worth checking out though, prices seem to come in under your budget, dependent on shipping of course. If you're not concerned about a proper PCB you could get some prototyping board and components from Jaycar or Dick Smith and make something up you find on the internet. Might be a cheaper way to go if you're concerned about the cost.
Colton1553552741 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Posted August 8, 2011 So with the favorable exchange rate I bit the bullet and ordered a Twisted Pear Audio PSU kit. I've yet to begin assembly. Here's how the kit arrived along with a couple of other bits and pieces to finish it off. The transformer. The case which is about as small as one can go with the above kit. And finally the DC connectors and IEC plug. Special mention to Clothears for the sleeving. The black tube will feed the power light to the front of the case from the LED on the board. Still need a small piece of 2mm aluminum as a base, any ideas where I could get this? Will try to get the board assembled this week. Cheers,
ajst2duk Posted August 8, 2011 Posted August 8, 2011 Nice one - I just saw this thread. I have made up a couple using Teddyregs for an amp (T20u) and a tivoli radio. Good power supplies do make a difference, especially in terms of a lower noise floor
Colton1553552741 Posted August 13, 2011 Author Posted August 13, 2011 Spent yesterday afternoon putting everything together. Here's the power cable between the PSU and the DAC. It's just standard hookup wire with a smaller gauge ground twisted around. Ended up being a lot thicker than I was hoping for and was a bit of a struggle to get the connectors on. The unit assembled, still need to sort how to connect the power LED to the front, the light tube thing is designed for 3mm LEDs and the kit came with mm. Elected not to use a small aluminum base insert as was restricted with the height of the heat sinks. Not as clean but just as effective. There's not a lot room for much else and it was a bit of a tighter fit than I was expecting. And the back of the case with the input and output sockets. Powered it up and adjusted the output voltage to match the DAC and had no issues. Just need to tidy a few things up and it will good to go.
Owen Y Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 Good work. A full report on any sonic improvement, in due course plse!
Colton1553552741 Posted August 14, 2011 Author Posted August 14, 2011 All finished and ready to go. Base. And here it is next to the rDac. Running it now and will report back findings...
KevinO Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 Yet again, you DIY fellas earn my utter admiration. I'm glad you guys post on what you get up to ; I always enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations and , especially , the sonic changes your efforts bring. Well done. On a slightly different tack , but somewhat related , has anyone played around with changing/replacing the wallwart that comes with the P75 phono stage?
Guest Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 This is supposed to be suitable for the P75. Overkill ? http://welltemperedlab.wordpress.com/
KevinO Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 Hadn't seen that , Michael. Thanks. Overkill- yep , probably , $ depending . Just an idle query , my P75 is sitting in its box.Haven't used it in quite a while.
Guest Posted August 14, 2011 Posted August 14, 2011 $600 Not bad for a turntable upgrade but a bit pricey for an $800 phono stage. http://totallywired.co.nz/news.html
Luckiestmanalive Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 KevinO;155048 wrote: Yet again, you DIY fellas earn my utter admiration. I'm glad you guys post on what you get up to ; I always enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations and , especially , the sonic changes your efforts bring. Well done. That goes for me too! Really nice work well documented - we get to enjoy the satisfaction of your efforts vicariously. It is much appreciated!
little blue penguin Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 luckiestmanalive;155072 wrote: vicariously The Word of the Day award goes to.......
Owen Y Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 Worth trying but the Dynavector Instructions say this... "The internal P-75 power supply is totally self contained and stores many times the maximum possible energy requirements for the phono amplifiers. This means that the quality or size of the external ac adaptor is irrelevant. Increasing the capacity of the external supply will make no difference to the quality of the sound." Also... "The P-75 supply requires a higher peak current to start up and so we do not recommend using an adaptor of less than 500mA." The above WT psu is still only a 500mA supply & the P75 sounds like it has plenty of internal DC regulation, then adding a additional regilation, ie, a smoothed raw supply may not make any difference. However a bigger current capability, lower impedance supply MAY make a difference... eg. another simple wallwart, but say a 1.0A job. A 12vdc/1.0A wallpack (pref an old style one with heavy transformer, not electronic switch mode lightwt type). NB: Such an over-rated wallpack will supply more than the specified 12v & this may stress the internal regulators & without seeing a schematic, it's hard to say.
Owen Y Posted August 15, 2011 Posted August 15, 2011 Worth trying but the Dynavector Instructions say this... "The internal P-75 power supply is totally self contained and stores many times the maximum possible energy requirements for the phono amplifiers. This means that the quality or size of the external ac adaptor is irrelevant. Increasing the capacity of the external supply will make no difference to the quality of the sound." Also... "The P-75 supply requires a higher peak current to start up and so we do not recommend using an adaptor of less than 500mA." The above WT psu is still only a 500mA supply & the P75 sounds like it has plenty of internal DC regulation, then adding a additional regilation, ie, a smoothed/quiet raw supply may not make any difference. However a bigger current capability, lower impedance supply MAY make a difference... eg. another simple wallwart, but say a 1.0A job. A 12vdc/1.0A wallpack (pref an old style one with heavy transformer, not electronic switch mode lightwt type). NB: Such an over-rated wallpack will supply more than the specified 12v & this may stress the internal regulators & without seeing a schematic, it's hard to say.
StanleyB Posted September 4, 2011 Posted September 4, 2011 I have been looking at some of the Li-Ion packs on ebay. My intention is to design and knock up an automatic charger circuit that can switch between charging and powering a (my) DAC. I have played about with things like that ages ago, but the control circuitry was not a simple and/or cheap solution.
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