Power Supplies

Posted by: TXTY on 17 April 2003

This is my first post. Hope it works:

I'm new to Naim but I've been following the forum for sometime now and have
learned a lot of important stuff - flat earth, source first, sistem spelled
with an "i", never ask which stand is the best, etc. This info along with a
great dealer, Brian (NAIMGAIM) at Whetstone Audio helped me put together the
following sistem: LP12/CD5/112/FC2/150/ Neat Elites. Sounds great, BUT I
have contracted upgradeitis after listening to a 202/HCap/250 setup at
Brian's and of course this leads to some questions I hope the Forum can help
me with.

I'm mostly listening to vinyl so I'm pretty clear on the upgrade path for
the LP12 - Aro/Geddon/and endless agony about which cartridge to use.

In trying to plot the next step on the electronics side I had Brian play the
202/PSC with the 150 and then the 112 with the 250 to see how each
combination would sound. I wanted to know if I could I live with a
202/PSC/150 for a while and add a 250 later or go mullet with the 250 first
and keep the 112/FC2 for a while.

Out of all the configurations what was most amazing was the difference the
HCap made over the FC2.

I know Forum posters almost always advocate moving up the power supply food
chain as fast as possible but I had no idea how much difference that made
until I heard it.

My question is, can someone explain to me in pretty simple terms what is
going on with the different levels of power supplies? Why (and how) do they
make such an improvement.

Based on what I heard I'm tempted to add a 202/PSC with a HCap and follow up
with a 250 later. Does that make sense?

Thanks.

(Regarding stands and buying used gear which always seems to come up, I'm
using Quadraspire stands which was about the only support system passing the
WAF test. I'm not interested in buying used gear right now as a different
case style might be noticed and upset domestic tranquility. Since this is
my third expensive hobby, Leicas and bicycles being the first two, I'm
trying hard to keep things under the radar so to speak).
Posted on: 17 April 2003 by Tarquin Maynard - Portly
quote:
Originally posted by TXTY:
This is my first post.

I'm mostly listening to vinyl so I'm pretty clear on the upgrade path for
the LP12 - Aro/Geddon/and endless agony about which cartridge to use.

.


well howdy!

First, welcome: second, DO NOT discount the Linn options ( Ekos, Akiva) until you hear them.

AFAIK, power supplies are mainly about response to transients, the weeny sounds that if missed, will greately affect that which you hear ( because you will hear less. ) The more power available, the greater resposnse available to transients and so the better the sound. My experiance of Hicap and Supercap bears this out.

Regards and finallly, welcome again.

Mike
Posted on: 18 April 2003 by Andrew L. Weekes
quote:
AFAIK, power supplies are mainly about response to transients, the weeny sounds that if missed, will greately affect that which you hear ( because you will hear less. ) The more power available, the greater resposnse available to transients and so the better the sound.


In a class A preamp, with near constant current drain, and a long cable that dominates the PSU performance in many of the areas mentioned it's got little to do with transient ability, although that is an important characteristic in an audio PSU.

There's other, more obscure reasons not normally considered for PSU's, that make by far the greatest differences.

It is also quieter, as Andrew points out.

Andy.