AudiogoN Forums: Mac Mini Power Supply

Mac Mini Power Supply

I recently built a linear power supply for my Mac Mini. The difference in sound quality was one of the single largest performance upgrades I've made to my system in years.

I was wondering if anyone else has had any experience with their mac mini PSU upgrades and what your experiences are. It's one of those upgrades I wish I had made months ago.

I've always been a big believer in the source being the most important component in the system. Followed by the power supply being one of the most important parts within the component. At least in this case, it appears that was correct.

Mintzar (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

07-18-10

Responses (1-49 of 49)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

07-18-10 If i may ask, what type of ps did you build? i've debated on ... 4est

07-18-10 I am surprised a linear power supply made any difference at ... Don_c55

07-18-10 Min, can you build me one? what difference did you hear? Glory

07-19-10 I heard a bigger difference in my system than upgrading an a ... Mintzar

07-19-10 As far as "how far one needs to take it"... i'd s ... Mintzar

07-19-10 Thank you mintzar! if i may bother you further, did you jus ... 4est

07-19-10 I know a couple of people that use the ultra-fi ecm in their ... Reubent

07-19-10 I use isolation transformers in my system that i modified to ... Mintzar

07-19-10 Before spending money on power supply or expensive power cor ... Sidssp

07-19-10 Ferrite cores are a fairly standard trick. they are cheap an ... Mintzar

07-19-10 "i have always found switchmode supplies to be very noi ... Kijanki

07-19-10 Where would one find plans to build this psu and a parts lis ... Slanski62

07-19-10 You are correct, kijanki. switchmode supplies in many produ ... Mintzar

07-20-10 Mintzar - i don't know of a single switching mode power supp ... Kijanki

07-20-10: Mintzar
I use a 300W transformer. The LM338 can handle up to 12A. Since the Mini uses 6A MAX it works just fine. The Mini actually idles around 2-4A 99% of the time.

I am not using the LM338 as a standalone regulator. My next project will be to use series regulators to get more current output. But that will be a VERY serious PSU.

At any rate, the ESR of the Muse caps is perfectly fine for the LM338. The PSU has been running perfectly fine for the past four days. If it was going to fail it would have done so already. The first power supply I built failed within five minutes.

Old doesn't mean bad. We are still using the same math developed by western electric YEARS ago for everything audio. Many vintage pieces of gear STILL sound better than modern gear.

Is there better? Of course there is. There's always better.

However, I wouldn't shoot down an option without giving a better alternative.
Mintzar (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

07-20-10 Congrats on building your power supply. i for one am convinc ... Heymikey

07-20-10 I have the ecm and i would say it rolls off the highs. it ma ... Glory

07-20-10 I borrowed the boulder supply from a friend of mine, one of ... Mintzar

07-20-10 Could you tell me how i can go about upgrading the power sup ... Devilboy

07-21-10 Shoot me an email and i'll gladly give you some places to st ... Mintzar

07-22-10 glory, what are the components of your digital music serv ... Reubent

07-23-10 Weiss minerva,vd ultra clear wire, atma-sphere s30/dude pre. ... Glory

08-25-10 I just ordered a mac mini (mm) linear power supply from mint ... Earflappin

09-07-10 Thanks for the kind words, earflappin. your email evaluation ... Mintzar

09-09-10 I received my mm lpsu (mac mini linear power supply) from ry ... Earflappin

09-09-10 Over on audiocircle.com, people are claiming that a stock 20 ... Kana813

09-09-10 Thanks for the kind words, earflappin. it's truly wonderful ... Mintzar

09-10-10 Why spend $400.on a linear psu, when you can have better sou ... Kana813

09-10-10 The new mac mini has a new video chip that's better. so if v ... Mintzar

09-10-10 Mintzar, unlike you i'm not trying to sell linear power supp ... Kana813

09-10-10 Thank you for posting your comments about the 2010 mini, i ( ... Mintzar

09-10-10 813, wow. down boy, down. aren't we cranky today. Glory

09-11-10 Glory- mintzar can't think of any reason that putting the s ... Kana813

09-11-10 Thanks glory. 813, i'm not sure why you're trying to pick a ... Mintzar

09-11-10 Mintzar- i'm not trying to pick a fight. i just asked, why ... Kana813

09-11-10 It was a perfectly fair question and i answered it. it is a ... Mintzar

09-12-10 "the problem is that the new mini doesn't necessarily s ... Kana813

09-12-10 By wgscott: "i upgraded from 2009 to 2010 mini the day ... Mintzar

12-03-10 A few updates... my high-end power supply is now available. ... Mintzar

12-27-11 Mintzar- are these still available? Jmdesignz2

01-01-12 Try core audio technology. i have mintz power supply for my ... Stevelee

01-03-12 Yes, the power supplies are available... but very different ... Mintzar

02-02-12 Hey mintzar, fyi, your link above - http://www.circumpointa ... Paulfolbrecht

02-02-12 Paul - to be clear - "mintzar" is, in fact, the pr ... Cfluxa

02-04-12 Hi ryan what voltage and current draw does the mac mini nee ... Milen007

02-05-12 The mini runs on 18.5vdc and draws no more then 6a. conne ... Jtwrace

03-01-12 I just saw this post, sorry for the delay in response... po ... Coreaudiotechnology

03-02-12 "i buy a stock ps brick, chop off the cable and add the ... Jtwrace

03-05-12 It's cheaper than buying the cable from mp3car most times. ... Coreaudiotechnology