I knew I shouldn’t have thrown my Electrical Engineering text book in the campus pond!


My apologies in advance for the length of this post.  Feel free to skip it but I feel a little background is needed for perspective. 45 years ago in my 2nd year as a Civil Engineering major, i took the mandatory introduction to Electrical Engineering course (the same one taken by Electrical Engineering majors). Suffice it to say, the class that covered from this is current to these are MOSFETs, JFETS, FPGAs absolutely kicked my butt. I prepared myself and my parents for the inevitable F.  I even skipped the final so i could prepare for my other finals. So when my semester grades arrived I had my mom open them. She, dad, and i broke into cheers when we saw that i received a D!   It was at that moment that I promised I would never risk anyone’s safety and would stay away from electronics. Upon returning to campus for the next semester, i sealed the deal by throwing my EE text book in the campus center pond.
Fast forward 45 years and here i am neck deep in the hobby i love trying to figure out the potential benefits of adding linear power supplies to either my streamer (Lumin D2) or digital music server (Roon Nucleus) or both. I just bought a RME ADI-2 FS DAC (to take over DAC functions from the Lumin) and for the first time i heard a step function improvement in sound quality in my system. I’ve made many tweaks/equipment upgrades over the years which have each make incremental improvements, but this was a wow with ear-to-ear-grin improvement! As i get older, the still curious engineer and researcher in me likes to read audiophile books like “The Complete Guide to High-End Audio“ by Robert Harley, magazines like The Absolute Sound and Stereophile, and forums such as here on AG to understand how and why a tweak or upgrade could affect the music of my integrated system. So, long story short, if i had known I’d be going down this awesome but at times frustrating audiophile rabbit hole, i would not have thrown the text book in the pond and i would have repeated that EE course so i would truly understand the miracle that is electronics and be a better educated hunter for the next upgrade to my system. I need that knowledge to understand and leverage all of the information that is out there on LPS; a way to separate the marketing/bias and be able to analyze & predict LPS cause and effect in my particular system. So, if you’ve come this far, in addition to the digital pieces already mentioned, my analog front end is a Linn Sondek LP12 with Linn K3 cartridge playing through a Vincent PHO-701 phono pre. Both digital and analog front ends play through a Primaluna Dialog HP Integrated amp into Goldenear Triton 3 speakers (which will be my last significant upgrade improvement investment…thinking of Joseph Audio Perspective 2’s).  I listen mostly to Various Jazz sub-genres.
 Thank you if you’ve gotten this far.  If you have any insights or recommendations regarding the addition of LPS to either Streamer or server, or both, i would love to hear from you. 
ezstreams

Showing 1 response by hshifi

Hello,
I have heard a significant difference by adding a LPS. The SBooster is really good. If it doesn’t make a difference then why would Pass put its power supplies in separate chassis. SPS are there for profit or at the minimum to keep costs down. The MYTEK Liberty has a unique option to use a regular power cord that feeds into SPS or a DC input so you can add your own LPS. It makes a big difference. Plus, When you power off the SBooster that green light stays on for a while. This is telling me that this has power to spare. There is a reason why we love class A sound over class D. Continuous raw power. It’s the best for sound. We just hate you can fry an egg on it and it costs a lot to run and buy. Class D has come a looong way! There is a reason why Jeff Rowland still uses A/B in his $17,000 amp vs class D in his $6500 amp. It just sounds better. It’s the same reason why Vinyl is better sounding ( with the right gear and pressings). It sounds better! It is true analog HiRez. I would rather have a naturally aspirated engine over a turbo of the same HP. The bad thing is down the road I feel there will be no more naturally aspirated engines or class A-A/B components. I just hooked up an old Sony preamp to my amp. It is unbelievable. Yes, you can heat up your room in the winter with it but it is way better than my current Emotiva USP 1 which I believe is class H. My end goal is Ayre separates. Until then I will have to compromise. I do want to get a LPS kit for my Node 2i. Several of you have said it is well worth it.