Stuck a Linear Power Supply on My Switch - Blimey! 😱

[anon9602469]

@What_Are_You_To_Me

Won’t make that mistake again.

Neither will I. My MCRU LPS now lives in a box upstairs where I suspect it will reside until I expire.

[frenchrooster]

My experience with entry level linear ps mirrors yours. I sent to bay two of them, the Israeli and the Uptone lps. Added quite nothing and were less involving vs the good SMPS .
But the expensive ones, at 800 euros and more, like the Uptone JS1 or top MCRU, are really something else.
I don’t write that to spend your money, just to give a nuance in what you wrote.

[DiggyGun]

Put it on the Bay and it should sell quite easily.

DG…

[What_Are_You_To_Me]

Good to know, I did have a look at these; but i find the cost to prohibitive as they can be a good 40-50% of a good deal on a second hand streamer. That seems a bit off kilter to me.

[anon9602469]

@frenchrooster

the expensive ones, at 800 euros and more, like the Uptone JS1 or top MCRU, are really something else.

I haven’t tried those, but if I was prone to experiment further, which I’m not, then I would be tempted to try a Plixir Elite BDC on my router. I have one on my Melco N100 and it sound superb. The Plixir’s are known to be fast and dynamic, rather than warm and analogue-like (for want of putting it better - I actually hate that expression!). Anyway things sound great as they are and I’m through with sinking any more cash into it. It’s starting to get silly.

[anon9602469]

@ElMarko

we’ve seen multiple accounts of buyer’s remorse after a few months and it turns out the improvement believed to be had by a particular bespoke component wasn’t what was initially thought.

Just because someone changes their mind about an apparent ‘upgrade’ doesn’t signify ‘expectation bias’ at work.

This has happened to me. The initial observations I made were in no way invalidated by my final conclusion. I just decided that I preferred the sound as it had been after all. We do not have to invoke ‘expectation bias’ or any other elaborate psychological phenomenon. Simple ‘change of mind’ suffices perfectly well.

@ElMarko

the science is pretty solid on this

I don’t think so - not at all. I would say that psychological phenomena in relation to hi-fi is rarely if ever studied by professionals in academic environments such as universities. It is an extremely specialised area that is really of very little interest to anyone but people like us. Now amateur hi-fi psychologists, that’s a different matter entirely. They are ten-a-penny on here!

@ElMarko

Which is to be expected in the world of subjective experiences and unscientific observations.

Well quite. Most people here are not scientists or engineers. Those that are I’ll bet are or were mostly involved in areas of science remote from hi-fi. And how many people have access to the sort of scientific facilities at home and the necessary training to be able to carry out the sort of ‘scientific’ work necessary to draw any valid conclusions?

Yes it’s all subjective. But as with amateur psychologists, amateur scientists are ten-a-penny.

[nicnaim]

The gear you have makes a difference as well. With the NDX2/PulseMini/DP-A8 and Hugo TT the Cisco/EE8/Eno worked the best. Now with the NSC222 the GS108T/Eno works the best. Go figure.

[Peder]

@ElMarko

Nothing wrong with partaking in the tweaking ethos though. I echo Simon’s sentiments as it’s not worth taking too seriously.

Hi …

Installing and optimizing a music system is incredibly important…
Everything Matters.
That’s actually the only thing that matters,.calling it tweaking and other attributes just feels weird in my world.

I have to pay tribute to everything @Blackmorec writes,…he has acted as a mentor to me, even though he doesn’t know it himself.
Everything he has written in the last 18 months is 100% correct in my system.
BUT,.as usual,you can’t believe that you can take shortcuts, and buy cheap linear powersupplies etc and hope for good results…unfortunately…!!

I’ve written it before…
I have a Sean Jacobs DC3 linear power supply that drives the incoming fiber-box and router.
ALSO,.two very good DC-cables.
This above has completely transformed my music-system.

Also,.I installed a Synergistic Research Purple Fuse in my Sean Jacobs DC3 LPS a few months ago with amazingly good results.
This SR Purple Fuse has now been upgraded last Saturday to Synergistic Research’s best fuse Master Fuse.
This SR Master Fuse is supposed to have a “burn in” of 250-300 hours,.but already yesterday,after 96 hours of burn-in, I almost lost my mind when I listened…
This is going to be really good.

I definitely do not agree with what Simon says, “that you should not take what is written in this thread too seriously”.
On the contrary. It Should Be Taken Very Seriously…!!
Just as Blackmorec has written in his long posts,.where he shared his great practical knowledge and experience on this subject.

In the picture below,.my Sean Jacobs DC3 linear powersupply driving the incoming fiber-box and router.
It stands on AudioTech’s legendary wall shelf,.on three pieces of Isoacoustic Bronze.

[ElMarko]

I’ve already stated you’re free to your beliefs. My comments stand on their own and don’t require debate.

[ElMarko]

Hi Peder, it’s your hobby, you’re free to take it as seriously as you want and believe what you want. Of course these aren’t universal truths getting discussed here.

[n-lot]

Of course it works both ways. As I said, anyone, those who believe something and those who don’t.

Saying it’s a way to rationalise something for one side of the argument, but discounting it for yours makes no sense.

There’s plenty of evidence it exists, but even if you don’t believe it’s a thing, it should apply to both sides equally!

[Peder]

@ElMarko

and believe what you want. Of course these aren’t universal truths getting discussed here.

Hello again …
I don’t “believe”,.I test and evaluate in many music-systems together with others, so I know.

They become almost universal truths if you proceed as @Blackmorec describes.
I have been installing and optimizing music-systems more or less professionally since 1994,.and there are definitely “universal truths” to be had and applied,to achieve a given result.
If you want to achieve the best possible results in soundquality,.you should read all the long writings Blackmorec has contributed to in this thread and previously in other threads.

Also,.you have to work systematically according to a system when you optimize your “streaming chain”,.it doesn’t work to do a little "here and there.

It all depends on what you want to achieve with your music-system.
Personally,.I always want to achieve the highest possible soundquality, I never take any shortcuts .

[anon9602469]

@n-lot

Of course it works both ways. As I said, anyone, those who believe something and those who don’t.

Saying it’s a way to rationalise something for one side of the argument, but discounting it for yours makes no sense.

There’s plenty of evidence it exists, but even if you don’t believe it’s a thing, it should apply to both sides equally!

Of course expectation bias is real, and of course it applies equally to everyone. I did not say anywhere that this was not the case.

My point was that some people who use the expecation bias to dismiss other people’s experiences as imaginary have absolutely no grounds on which to do so, and use it as a way of rationalising their own differing experiences and their own beliefs.

But you are absolutely right to point out that ‘it makes no sense’ and that it applies to both sides equally.

Anyone dismissing someone else’s experiences as imaginary and due to expectation bias is failing to recognise that their own different experience may equally be due to expectation bias. As you correctly say, it of course works both ways, ie. in the case of people who hear improvements due to X or Y, and also in the case of people who do not hear improvements due to the same X or Y.

So that you can see that using expectation bias as a reason for dismissimg someonen else’s experience of an improvement as imaginary makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, since the person making that claim is equally prone to the very same imaginary experience in that, due to their expectation bias, they imagine that they don’t hear an improvement when there really is one.

Yes - expectation bias is a completely nonsensical argument. We are all of us, theoretically prone to it at random, so absolutely nobody is ever in a position to dismiss someone else’s experience as expectation bias just because it is differs from their own experience or fails to align with their own beliefs.

Indeed, anyone tempted to do so should first say to themselves - “perhaps I am suffering from expectation bias myself and I don’t hear the improvement that he or she does, not because it isn’t real, but because I am just imagining that I don’t hear it.”

I hope this all makes sense, but please feel free to ask for clarification if you feel you require it and I will try to help. Hppy listening.

[anon9602469]

@ElMarko

My comments stand on their own and don’t require debate.

This is a public forum and nobody’s posts are sacrosanct. They are all open to debate by the community. No offence intended.

[anon9602469]

@Peder

I always want to achieve the highest possible soundquality, I never take any shortcuts .

That applies to all of us I’m sure - in an ideal world. My own financial realities mean that I have to take shortcuts or make compromises!

[NigelB]

Can we please stop the commentary/discussion about the psychology of the perception of SQ improvement, confirmation/expectation bias, subjectivity vs objectivity, etc. This thread is not about that. Please start your own thread if you would like to discuss that. If it continues here, I will ask Richard to close this thread.

Experiences of the use of LPSs on switches (and other devices) are welcome.

[anon9602469]

@NigelB

Experiences of the use of LPSs on switches (and other devices) are welcome.

This is what we are discussing.

The matter has been raised by some here that any differences we hear, or think we hear, are unreliable observations and do not relate in any consistent way to objective changes that we make.

It’s a bit of a diversion and a tiresome and unnecessary one IMO since it has been covered many, many times before on various threads. But I suppose it cannot be sensibly ignored. The matter was raised and we have to address it, as briefly as possible, if we want to talk comprehensivelyabout changes that we hear due to power supplies.

Anyway hopefully it has now been covered and put to bed. It’s your privelage if you want Richard to close the thread, but that would be a pity IMO.

[What_Are_You_To_Me]

Well said once more. By the way @anon9602469 my MCRU LPS sold on ebay within 6-12 hours so it is really worth listing yours to recover some funds. Especially if, like me, you have a limited budget to spend on your system

[ElMarko]

There’s nothing wrong with what you are doing if it makes you happy. Almost universal truths in this discussion are not very useful in my experience. There is little by way of scientific observations occurring in these experiments though I’m sure some will get close and maybe you have. If you’re happy with the way your system sounds that’s all that matters. I’ve spent a great deal of effort to optimize my network, mains, connected equipment, and components and very pleased with the sound I have.

@anon9602469

This is a public forum and nobody’s posts are sacrosanct. They are all open to debate by the community. No offence intended.

Of course, interesting choice of comment btw. No offense intended.

[Geko]

I returned my borrowed EE1 and Chord Ground Array to my dealer yesterday but my brand new replacement had already arrived. So, with the new Array back in my router last night I can definitely confirm there is a ‘burn-in’ window. I was straight back to the situation where I preferred the system with it removed. However, from last weeks experience I know this is just temporary and by 1am this morning it was starting to open up and gave me a flavour of what’s to come.

I’d be interested to know how ‘expectation bias’ played into my decision making though? I’d read that a forum member had tried this and got good results, I borrowed one and initially thought it was worse with it in the system. However this turned out to be a ‘burn-in’ issue (which also doesn’t seem to exist) and after a few days my system was sounding great. So good in fact I ordered one. I absolutely know it will not sound good from the off but I’m still happy to buy it. What expectation bias am I demonstrating?