I wasn't aware that brands had to be 'unusual' or 'old' to use only one large-value filter cap per channel in the power supply. Amps I've owned from Classe, Conrad-Johnson, and VTL have done just that. Some even sound(ed) good. The McCormack DNA series, which I just bought one of, takes the 'modern' approach, hence its Distributed Node Amplifier moniker (the smaller caps are 'distributed' near their respective output devices, not clustered near the power transformer). I've wondered though, with this topology, do the power MOSFETS wind up foregoing any potential source impedance benefits arising from filter capacitor paralleling? Or is the power supply actually conventional and the 'distribution' just cosmetic?
Big caps v Little caps
I'm not an EE guy, so its ok to talk down to me. I'm just curious. I've noticed 'older' amps (Robertson Audio Forty-Ten) and certain brands (eg Hafler) and 'unusual" brands (Pathos) use just a couple of giant capacitors, while most of the mainstream equipment I see, seem to use lots of smaller caps.
I bet someone can explain this to satisfy my curiosity?
I bet someone can explain this to satisfy my curiosity?