Linear Power Supply for a DAC

@lowrider57 are you still using the Swagman SE lps, and if so, on what piece of gear?  I just got a Qutest DAC and had Swagman provide a quote.  I have two of his pieces, one of them the SE, and I like them a lot.  I also had an upgraded MCRU lps supplying a Qute HD DAC and it was great.  MCRU are now expensive, and they no longer build them out like the one I had. Trying to maximize cost benefit ratio for Qutest.  

I am also considering adding an lps to supply my Node(3).  Have heard good things about Teddy Pardo’s kit to convert Node from internal switching to external lps.  Do you have any experience with attempting this?

kn

@lowrider57 I see this is a year old, but anyway there are many who have tried many DC cables on many different world class linear power supplies and state these OCC silver ones are some of the best- I have just their OCC copper one but I haven’t compared it with any other

Audio Sensibility

Hi @knownothing 

I'm using the Swagman SE on a reclocker in my digital chain. I have the iFi SPDIF iPurifier and it's inline with my Node 2i. This iFi device with the stock wall wart provided very little improvement removing jitter and noise. I experienced a significant SQ improvement after swapping in the Swagman to power the iPurifier. The data stream from the Node2i doesn't perform at the level of my Audio Note dac so I installed a reclocker. Now my streaming has improved to near CD quality. I also use a Cullen C7 power cable on the Node; big improvement. I would imagine adding a LPS to the Node would be a significant upgrade over the small internal SMPS.

I spoke to Teddy Pardo about a LPS for my Chord and felt very confident about using his power supplies. If you really like your Node and its interface, installing a LPS would be a great upgrade. However, I don't feel a Pardo would be cost effective on the Node. It costs about the same as the Node streamer. There are less expensive options to power your Node.

I would use a Teddy on a dac, although the Swagman SE would save you some money. But after seeing the positive user reviews for the Teddy/DAC combo, it might be worth it.

Sorry for such a long-winded response.

@mclinnguy 

I saw the C7 from Audio Sensibility, but went with a Canare DC cable only for the lower cost. I use AS Statement PCs in my system and they are outstanding as far as improved sound, not to mention the build quality. I prefer their performance over my Furutec PCs.

@lowrider57 thanks for your fast reply.  Yes, I have considered the cost/benefit of using $350 lps on a $500 streamer.  I do like the Blu-OS user experience and the quality of sound.  Going up the Blu-OS ecosystem to NAD streaming gets expensive quickly, so maybe adding an lps to improve performance of the Node is not really such a bad deal.  I also have an ipurifier, and could upgrade that power supply as well.  Could end up with lots of boxes and fat cables on my rack, but I am dedicated to having zero switching supplies in my system.  So much for all that effort on the part of manufacturers to be energy efficient...