PSU Upgrade?
Posted by: madgerald on 05 November 2015
Hello
I have NAC 202 + NAP 200 + CDX2 + XPS2 and since the NAC 202 does not have a power cable am wondering whether having one connecting cable carrying the audio and electric is a good idea.
What PSU upgrades are available for the NAC 202 and how much difference will it make?
Thanks for any replies
Bill
Bill, the SNAIC connecting your NAC202 to your NAP200, which carries both AC audio signal and 24V DC power is a very good idea. This is because it keeps signal earth and system earth close together, which is good for SQ. There is no interference between them. This why when you add, say, a Hicap to this combination, you will route the pre-amp signal through the PSU on it's way to the Power amp, rather than connect directly. Doing the latter when you have a PSU on the pre-amp creates an earth loop, actually sounds worse, and can overstress the regulators causing damage (so definitely not recommended).
However, there's a little PSU upgrade that's worth doing first; it's actually nothing to do with the audio side of the pre-amp, it's the NAPSC and it's for powering the logic and control circuits. Doesn't sound like much, but these circuits are comparatively noisy, so the gains to be had by separating them off to a dedicated PSU are big for the audio side of things. And the best bit about the NAPSC is that it's really rather affordable. Happy Christmas...
Bill, the SNAIC connecting your NAC202 to your NAP200, which carries both AC audio signal and 24V DC power is a very good idea. This is because it keeps signal earth and system earth close together, which is good for SQ. There is no interference between them. This why when you add, say, a Hicap to this combination, you will route the pre-amp signal through the PSU on it's way to the Power amp, rather than connect directly. Doing the latter when you have a PSU on the pre-amp creates an earth loop, actually sounds worse, and can overstress the regulators causing damage (so definitely not recommended).
However, there's a little PSU upgrade that's worth doing first; it's actually nothing to do with the audio side of the pre-amp, it's the NAPSC and it's for powering the logic and control circuits. Doesn't sound like much, but these circuits are comparatively noisy, so the gains to be had by separating them off to a dedicated PSU are big for the audio side of things. And the best bit about the NAPSC is that it's really rather affordable. Happy Christmas...
Thank you for the advice and the early Christmas cheer!
I will go for the NAPSC - compared to the usual prices it looks like the cheapest thing Naim do...