LHY OR SBooster LPS


LHY Lumin PSU Kit with LPS50VA OR SBooster LPS: Wanting to attach one or the other to my Lumin U2 mini. 

Which would you choose and why? 

mesonto

bad idea you risk bricking roiur unit a good power cord and footers makes a nice improvement risk free

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Ended up buying the LHY Lumin PSU Kit with LPS50VA over the SBooster. I have a feeling the transformer and the tech in the LHY is better, but the biggest negative of the SBooster was that it has its connection point coming out of the front. That would look so incredibly messy.

Regardless, I should receive this kit sometime this week and hopefully have it installed within the next two weeks. In general I've heard nothing but good things about replacing the switch mode power supply with a toroidal LPS.

No doubt it may be a sound upgrade but it does void your warranty.  If audiotroy is still a Lumin dealer he said what he is supposed to say per Lumin.

@mesonto 

I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts once you’ve made this change. Not sure how long you’ve had your U2 Mini but hopefully you’re familiar enough with the sound quality to know how much of an improvement is made with this upgrade.

I’m not an electrical engineer but my understanding is that the inherent noise in these devices is of very high frequency and that filtering is a very common solution. I’d be interested to know if the difference in power supplies will be audible or not.

If you don’t mind what Dac are you running your streamer through and are you using digital out (coax or AES) or USB? I have recently purchased a U2 Mini- should arrive this week. I bought this more or less as an experiment piece to determine if I’ll be interested in pursuing network streaming or if I just keep things as they are.

Designsfx,

Well I now have it and the LPS which is now powering my Ethernet switch.

Unfortunately I cannot install the kit with my Lumen just yet because of other family obligations. But I will most likely install the kit come early February.

To answer your questions:

1. I have had my Lumen U2 mini for about 6 months. (Or at least I’ve had it for whenever it was released into Canada and actually took the first one from my dealer)

2. I am running the Holo May KTE through USB. (Then through an ARC 6SE, a pair of Bryston 7B3s and finally to a pair of Focal Sopra 3s matched with a pair of Rythmik G22s crossed over at 40Hz.

I am familiar with the Lumen enough at this point to be able to tell of a difference hopefully. But admittedly to test things out I usually use what I think is best for a couple of weeks and then take it away to really see if I miss the component. Obviously I can’t do that in this case.

Maybe I’ll be able to do it this time as well if I just unplug the switching power supply and then plug in the new kit beside it so i don’t have to cut any wires with the switching power supply at least at first. (I think this is possible)

I will write back in February upon my first impressions.

Ironically I'm interested too and not absolutely sure what will sound better. No placebo, no placebo.

I have the Sbooster in my U2 mini. I’m using the Audiosensibility conversion kit. The LHY kit looks like the better choice with all of those caps and extra parts that the other conversion kits don’t have. It’s very easy to do, but I’m not sure if you can have the smps and the lps running side by side. Here’s a quick little video I made this last week of my system.

 

I would like to hear your findings, because I am planning to test a LHY LPS50VA on fiber converter and also on Netgear switch, in order to compare my Lumin ethernet connection with or without fiber optic, currently I work with SBooster and think it can be better

Sorry Designsfx & fernandlambert it took me so long to actually install this thing... life happened.

 

Result on my system (mid-highend -- see above description) was outstanding! The soundstage is deeper, (obviously so) and wider, there is much more separation of the instruments, and the whole presentation is quieter than before. Well worth the upgrade of my Lumin U2 Mini.

However here are some alterations for the install as opposed to what Alvin shows you on Youtube:

1. Don’t clip the one red wire from the switch to the plug: take a soldering gun and apply some heat and then slip it off. (easy-peasy)

2. Buy 6 3mm nuts and washers so that you may place the screws back in the chassis so that there are no dust holes

3. Since the screws are now in their proper holes again, get something to mount the internal board about 6mm off the bottom of the case to clear the screws.

Notes:

I also use a Netgear switch on my LHY LPS50VA.

A week later I am still pulling my head up / opening my eyes because I hear sounds more prominently than before (or didn’t hear before). I think I am in the upper percentage of people who hear such a difference... but I am not so surprised what this LPS Mod has accomplished over its switching power supply.

Also wish to say that this is much better decision than the sbooster because by default all the wires are at the back and not looking so sbooster fugly. (much less their is some L/C filter circuitry in this Mod which I believe is not in the sbooster)

This has been one of my best mods to a piece of equipment to date. (35+ years).

Even thought you can specify what DC voltage you want when ordering, there is trim pot inside that you can set to any voltage you want between 5Vdc and 24Vdc.

50W DC Regulated Power Supply

I've purchased several. Never a problem. But then, I have the capability to test, modify and repair if necessary.