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NEW GIESELER KRAFTWERK II FIXED OUTPUT POWER SUPPLIES Owners thread.


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  • 1 month later...

Hi Jeff,

that is a tough call as the GT Kraftwerk is already a good linear PSU however the KW II has even lower noise levels 

due to the active synchronous bridge & choke filter.

Also the choke filter seems to enhance the sound a bit too.

In my opinion & especially being a phono stage  I would think you should hear some improvement but just how much is hard to say.

Hope that helps answer the question.

Cheers Clay

 

 

 

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Hi All


I have 2 of these wonderful linear power supplies in my setup - one 19V for my Roon Rock and one 9V for the SOTM Tx-USBUltra.  Both linear power supplies have been burnt in and they perform very well.  My setup is as follows:

 

Roon Rock => Silent Angel Bonn N8 switch => Sonore Ultrarendu streamer => SOTM Tx-USBUltra => Chord M-Scaler => Chord Hugo TT2 DAC

 

The effect on the Roon Rock is only subtle as its too far down the digital chain.  But I do notice a lower noise floor and this comes out through clearer high frequencies and better bass.   For the SOTM, the importance of clean power is critical.  I had the option of purchasing the SOTM LPS but I opted for Clay's LPS as its better priced and from I have read it also does better filtering.  The SOTM produced a very obvious improvement to my system, giving a bigger bass, better imaging and the mid range had more weight and physical presence, making the recording sound very real.  No doubt, the GIESELER LPS is one of the key reasons why the SOTM is performing so well. 

 

I already have a SBooster LPS for the switch and an Uptone Audio LPS 1.2 for the streamer.    

 

I have ordered a third LPS from Clay for another Silent Angel switch that I am adding to my system.  

 

So definitely, Clay's LPS are very good and highly recommended.  Clay is great to deal with and he is very responsive.

 

BTW - I am not commercially affiliated to Gieseler Audio or Clay.  I am just a very happy customer :)

 

Cheers

Stephen

 

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  • 5 months later...


On 27/08/2021 at 7:24 PM, Ginman said:

Hi All


I have 2 of these wonderful linear power supplies in my setup - one 19V for my Roon Rock and one 9V for the SOTM Tx-USBUltra.  Both linear power supplies have been burnt in and they perform very well.  My setup is as follows:

 

Roon Rock => Silent Angel Bonn N8 switch => Sonore Ultrarendu streamer => SOTM Tx-USBUltra => Chord M-Scaler => Chord Hugo TT2 DAC

 

The effect on the Roon Rock is only subtle as its too far down the digital chain.  But I do notice a lower noise floor and this comes out through clearer high frequencies and better bass.   For the SOTM, the importance of clean power is critical.  I had the option of purchasing the SOTM LPS but I opted for Clay's LPS as its better priced and from I have read it also does better filtering.  The SOTM produced a very obvious improvement to my system, giving a bigger bass, better imaging and the mid range had more weight and physical presence, making the recording sound very real.  No doubt, the GIESELER LPS is one of the key reasons why the SOTM is performing so well. 

 

I already have a SBooster LPS for the switch and an Uptone Audio LPS 1.2 for the streamer.    

 

I have ordered a third LPS from Clay for another Silent Angel switch that I am adding to my system.  

 

So definitely, Clay's LPS are very good and highly recommended.  Clay is great to deal with and he is very responsive.

 

BTW - I am not commercially affiliated to Gieseler Audio or Clay.  I am just a very happy customer :)

 

Cheers

Stephen

 

I couldn't agree more, I have 3 of Clays LPS's one on my Roon Rock, one for my SOTM Network Switch and the other on my Silent Angel Bonn N8 switch.

I had previously SBoosters in my chain and replaced with Gieseler LPS - I highly recommend Clay and the fact this is an Australian business just adds further to my support.

 

Cheers Barry

 

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  • 2 months later...

I recently put out a WT Borrow for a KW2 5v/3amp and the very generous Snoopy8 had one for me which I picked up on Friday.     I wanted to try one, to power my JCat XE USB card.   

 

Currently I have been running the XE externally with the 5v/1amp usb output from a Keces P8 Power supply.  JCat says 1 amp will run it but 2 amp is preferred. 

 

I have to say the Kraftwerk is an absolute winner.    I warmed up the system for 45 minutes, played a few of my test tracks, then switched in the Kraftwerk.

 

I've spent 2 hours playing fav tunes.    I was trying to think of the words to explain the improvement and the best I can come up with is 'Grip'.

 

Like all the best power amps they get a Grip on the music and don't faulter.    This is the impression I got on some vocal tracks that, in the past, can go abit thin or shaky when pushed.

 

Sia - Chandelier, is a track where her voice is on the edge of breaking, but just hangs in.   I got all the 'close to the edge' today.   The XE/KW2 combo wouldn't let it go thin.

 

London Grammar - Rooting for You.  Hannah Reid's voice is also on the edge with her high falsetto but the Kraftwerk wouldn't let go.    Brilliant.

 

Over all a great cleanness and accuracy to many tracks.   I think better timbre in the vocals.  there's areal clarity to it all across the board.

 

Keb Mo's - Every Morning, is sublime.

 

Diana Krall - Live in Paris.   Excellent.

 

Some Tool, Steven Wilson and Within Temptation were glorious.

 

My order has gone into Clay for a KW2 5v/3amp Fixed output.     Clay has suggested that the new Fixed Output should better the one I got from Snoopy8, as that one was a prototype KW2 with adjustable voltage, Snoopy8 was testing.   I'm excited by that news.

 

Thanks to Snoopy8 for the loaner and this is another 'Tick' for Clay and his Products.

 

Regards Cazzesman

Edited by cazzesman
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I recently bought the KWII from Clay to power my Roon Nucleus Plus. In short, the KWII has considerably improved SQ, gotten rid of static issues I had running the Nucleus through a Denafrips Hermes DDC and Pontus II DAC, and Clay's service was first class.  Below is a bit (a lot) more detail explaining my situation and the problems I had to overcome.

 

My set up: KWII = Roon Nucleus Plus (with SDD) = Tubulus Agentus USB cable = Denafrips Hermes DDC = Tubulus Agentus HDMI = Denafrips Pontus II DAC = Aurealis bespoke Litz XLR = Stello Ai700 Integrated Amp = Aurealis Litz 400 speaker cables = Whatmough S33 Speakers

 

I was sold an SBooster to power the Roon Nucleus Plus (by the same audio retailer BTW 🤯). About 6 months ago I bought the Denafrips DDC and DAC and was getting issues with periodic static occurring (typically when tracks changed), but also would get violent "blow your speaker up" static when I tried to upsample to DSD with the Roon. I use the DSP functions in the Nucleus (headroom management and upsampling), and usually run the Nucleus at the maximum PCM output. This problem of static between the Nucleus and Denafrips gear is reported quite a bit on the Roon Community site BTW....

 

After much research, I realised that the SBooster is not rated to run a Roon Nucleus Plus (based upon a hidden piece of advice from SBooster themselves). It has an output of about 35W, whereas the Roon Nucleus supplied wall wart is rated at a bit over 60W. Furthermore in my case, the PSU has to supply a SDD I installed in the Nucleus AND the 5V handshake required by the Denafrips USB connection (the Denafrips has it's own USB power supply, but requires the handshake to "wake it up" essentially). I also found that while I had a reasonable quality USB cable (Gothic Audio), I needed to upgrade this to ensure a reliable output to the Denafrips USB connection (I now have a Tubulus Agentus USB - matching the HDMI cable of the same brand and model I have between the DDC and DAC).

 

After discovering the problem with the SBooster, I ran the Nucleus with the Wall Wart for a while, but was still getting static issues, albeit with less frequency. I researched various PSUs and they were all overseas made, with the same power output as the Wall Wart. I then stumbled across the KWII. After explaining my problems to Clay he sold me the KWII and increased the rating to 3.5amps (giving a power output of 66.5W) to give a bit more headroom. We also made the cable between the PSU as short as possible (500mm) to reduce voltage drop (plus Clay's cables are a good quality 18AWG - not like the metre long thin DC cable that comes with the Wall Wart).

 

The upshot is that combined with the better quality USB cable - no more static (I did try the better quality USB cable with the wall wart and was still getting static, but less frequent - so I needed the combination of both the improved USB cable and PSU). I can also now upsample to DSD with no static. Interestingly PCM sounds better than DSD, given the latter chews up so much CPU capacity. That's frustrating as I would expect the Roon Nucleus (a dedicated server) to be able handle DSD upsampling on its ear - but not the case (runs at 1 times PSU capacity, compared with 15 times for PCM upsampling).

 

The really surprising thing was the improvement in SQ the KWII gave over both the wall wart and the SBoooster. The sound has become more open, 3 dimensional, more detail, stronger base. I was hearing these improvements with the Denafrips DDC and DAC, but the KWII has taken it to another level. This baffles me given the PSU is well upstream of the DAC in my set up. But I can assure you the improvement in SQ is real.

 

My thanks to Clay and it's great to support a local manufacturer.

 

 

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As a follow up to my post last Sunday....................order the KW2 (5v-3.5amp) on Sunday and got it Tuesday afternoon.      Can't fault that for brilliant service from Clay - Qld to Vic.

 

I plugged it into 240 and let it marinate on the shelf for about 43 hours before putting into my system to power my JCat XE usb card.    The card requires 5v/2amp so KW2 should be perfect.     The recommendation is around 100 hours runin for all the flavors to bubble to the top so now I am about halfway.

 

So far so great.   I will wait for the full hundred +, which should get me to a Sunday morning session where I will give it a solid workout.

 

Smiling now so I suspect I will be well and truly grinning come Sunday arvo.

 

Regards Cazzesman

 

 

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Sunday evening and now 120+ hours on the KW2.    
 

And yes Still smiling.    Certainly atleast a 20% improvement on the previous 5v-1amp power I was giving it from the Keces p8.

 

I’m still going with the ‘Grip’ analogy.    The power from the KW2 just seems to have better control over the music.    The overall presentation is just more precise and defined.      My perception is that there is more light and shade with acoustic strings and a better feeling of richness in the vocals.

 

IMHO buy this product with confidence that you are getting a rock solid product at a very good price.   Plus it is Australian made.

 

Congrats Clay.

 

Regards Cazzesman

Edited by cazzesman
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  • 5 months later...

I am considering a KWII to use to power my modem router.   I sent an email direct via the Gieseler website a week ago but haven’t had a reply so I thought I’d try here if there is an user with an answer.  
 

Would the KWII 19 volt unit work with the modem with these spec?

 

 

15C1EB8A-D94A-42B8-B059-718A39705A76.jpeg

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1 hour ago, omara31 said:

I am considering a KWII to use to power my modem router.   I sent an email direct via the Gieseler website a week ago but haven’t had a reply so I thought I’d try here if there is an user with an answer.  
 

Would the KWII 19 volt unit work with the modem with these spec?

 

 

15C1EB8A-D94A-42B8-B059-718A39705A76.jpeg


Clay is usually very responsive.  The 19v unit will work as it outputs up to 4A so it will be fine for your router modem.  As long as the current requirements of the modem (3.42A as per specs) is not more than 4A, it will be fine.  I was going to order the 19v unit for my ASUS router but just holding back for now.  Clay’s LPS are top quality and I have 5 of his units which I am very happy with.  Clay is also very friendly and great to deal with.  

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Thanks a lot Stephen.  Yes, I have a couple of Gieseler PSUs in the network and very happy with them.  Great value compared to similar S Booster I have too.  Interesting that you too were considering one for your modem - I’m a little the same I suspect.  Thinking about, Is it overkill!  To date though all the PSUs, Ethernet cables etc have improved things.  So thinking maybe modem too, given the noise they produce.

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