Qutest LPS upgrade


I have a nice system, not fantastic, but nice & revealing. My digital side is:

Qobuz > Aurender > Qutest > BHK > Moon > R11/Rythmik

Most consider my Qutest to be the weak link in my system. I like the Qutest dynamic sound signature & love the form factor as I am out of space. However, the Qutest on my system is bass light & a little grainy.

I refuse to buy Chi-fi & given my form factor limitations, my 2 potential choices were the Weiss 204 & the Benchmark DAC3. Downside from some forums was the 204 was a little’light’ & the DAC3 analytical.

Even though Chord doesn’t recommend it, forums have been inconsistent, & members I respect saying it would not get me to the next level, I decided to buy the Sbooster LPS from Music Direct to see if I could salvage my Qutest. 

I can only say WOW! Bass extension is now full and deep, grainyness gone & in its place is clarity, crispness & sparkling highs, without altering (and perhaps improving) the Qutest dynamic sound signature. Perhaps the best $350 audio improvement dollars I have spent.

Outstanding and highly recommended for all Qutest owners!

128x128signaforce

Showing 1 response by hdm

No Qutest here but I have a Weiliang 15W 5V linear power supply here (also sold on Aliexpress) which is very similar to the LHY mentioned by lanx0003 in the above post. I also have a couple of Sengterbelle 50W 5V R-Core power supplies here and they are a major step up in performance to the Weiliang for what it's worth and still quite inexpensive. Probably around $100-$110 U.S. 

I use a high quality shielded power cord (also from Aliexpress and very inexpensive) with both of these to power a Topping E30 MK II dac and and Wiim Pro Plus that feeds that dac. And a couple of upgraded DC cords that came in around $25 U.S. each.

 

The second Sengterbelle was a recent acquisition and replaced the Weiliang on the Wiim. It was a pretty major step up in performance there, just as it was on the dac. 

Highly recommended and a pretty major bang for the buck IMO. 

There's also a review of the Sengterbelle Linear Power Supply on youtube for anyone that might be interested. It's a dual output version there; I'm running 2 separate single output versions and the one I have has a voltage display on the front panel but is otherwise quite similar to the one in the youtube review below. 

I believe there are some comments in the youtube review suggesting that there is a hi fi dealer in the UK selling the Sengterbelle at around 400 British pounds which is about $500 U.S. Not sure if that's the case but I've seen similar Ali merchandise (power cords for example) being resold here at substantially higher prices by dealers so it would not surprise me. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Unni0ny3o