Best affordable Linear Power Stage

@seymour-krelborn    Welcome to Audiogon!

Here’s a link to previous LPS discussions.   This current one also has good information.   

I have several LPS’s.  The only one that got ’ very hot’ was a low wattage unit that was paired with my Netgear Nighthawk router.  A household router is a very taxed component - especially when gaming or streaming movies.  To the touch, it was so hot that it did become a safety concern.

I replaced it with another unit that had: (1) a heatsink and (2) more wattage (VA).   This replacement LPS to the router runs fairly warm - but not hot.   The LPS (100 watts) paired with my DDC is slightly warm - just above room temperature to the touch.  And it’s been powered on 24/7 non-stop for over 7 years.  I don’t think I’ve ever turned it off.  The reason is to keep the clock circuitry in the DDC constantly warmed-up.*

Good luck in your search!  

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*The manufacturers of both my DAC and streamer recommend that the chip be kept warm for better SQ.  So, I assumed the same for my DDC.    I have taller after-market footers under all of my LPS’s for better airflow to dissipate any heat.

@steakster Thanks.  I will look over the discussions in the link you provided.

I have read about oven heated design in DDCs, and that makes sense.  I do not recall the ideal temperature, but none of them were "burn down the house" temperatures.  That specific DDC must have had a design or assembly fault.

I want a temperature controlled DDC, and the SU-6 has that feature.  But the "courtesy" power cord / brick that is comes with is a mass produced piece.

I will look over the comments in the link that you provided, for recommendations on a quality power supply.

I am not ready to break the bank on one, but I will spend a few hundred, because quality power supplies, for any audio component, are key to its sound quality.

And if I can find one with a 30-day money-back guarantee, then I can compare it to the one that is packaged with the DDC.

Yes seymour-krelborn welcome to Audiogon!  

I lost track of this thread.  My Sengterbelle R-Core power supply did arrive and works very well with a Bluesound Node Nano in my office system.  With it I am using an upgraded silver-plated DC connecting cable and an upgraded AC power cable I built plugged into a power conditioner.  I do not notice the R-Core supply getting super hot.  

I have used several other LPS from MCRU, Swagman Labs and Teddy Pardo, the last is a dual supply powering both my server and DAC in my main system and I can vouch it works well in digital application, but it costs several multiples of the Sengterbelle supply.

kn

Topping P50 mini-review

I use an Audioengine B1 bluetooth receiver to play Spotify off my iPad.  This is all very easy, convenient, and simple.  From the Audioengine B1 the digital signal goes to my Marantz SACD 30n via Analysis Plus Toslink cable.  I am thus using the DAC in the Marantz not the chip in the Audioengine B1. 

The Audioengine B1 came with a 5V 1000mA wallwart SMPS, and a USB-A to USB Micro cable.  It worked fine.  But after reading about the noise generated by SMPS, I decided to avoid it and substitute several small 5V rechargeable battery bricks.  These also worked fine.  Maybe they even made music a little smoother. 

But they were a little bit of a pain running out of gas after 3-4 hours, and needing to be recharged often. 

So I decided to try a Linear Power Supply.  I did not want to spend a heck of a lot, because it didn’t make sense to me to purchase a $500 LPS to power a $189 device.  I tried to find an Allo Shanti, but they seem to be hard to find used or impossible to import or to not exist any more. After a lot of research, I discovered the Topping P50.  It had the correct specs and even had a 5V 1A DC USB-A output jack. 

I’ve only had it for two days, but I am quite pleased with the differences I am already hearing in the sound of music.  Musical notes are a little cleaner.  There is more dynamic contrast between loud and soft.  (I believe this is due to a lower noise floor.)  Musical sounds are more articulate.  There is more tonal shading and variety to musical notes.  In the mid-range and lower, there is more density to notes.  Thus, lower mid-range and upper bass sounds seem more robust.  Acoustic bass is tighter and more articulate.  Finally, decays are longer and there is increased soundstage depth.  

I was truly not sure what to expect when I ordered the Topping.  I thought—at worst—it will sound the same as before, which was just fine.  I must say that I am quite suprised and very pleased.  In general the music is more stark, more interesting, more nuanced, more detailed, and more enjoyable.