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

I’ve also found some benefit to paying attention to what your router is sitting on. The same is true for your switch and power supply. My BT2 hub is currently on a small but light mango wood side table but put it on the floor or on a large writing cabinet I have and it sounds worse. My switch is on my Fraim but my linear power supply, for some reason, sounds better on the floor.

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I should say that in my system no digital music data is routed through the BT SH2. My Melco is connected via USB to my Qutest DAC. It is connected to the hub (via ethernet - no wireless option with Melco) to allow for control from the App on our iPad and to allow for data download when ripping CD’s.

And I’ll tell you something else. Our 'phone is connected directly to the Hub., and the sound is affected according even to what the 'phone is placed on! The effect is clearly audible.

I don’t blame anyone for being sceptical. I find it bizarre. But I can only report what my wife and I hear. The effect is repeatable and consistent.

One other thing is that our hub is very close to the system. This is far from ideal but is unavoidable in our property. Perhaps this has some bearing on things and maybe if the hub was in a different room the effect would not be apparent or would be negligible.

Quite so. When I purchased the MCRU LPS I had to first buy a spare BT SMPS and cut off the DC lead/plug assembly to send to MCRU for use on the new supply.

I wish I could get my switch and router on a Quadraspire rack or similar. But there just isn’t room. Russ Andrews make some very small platforms for power supplies and the like and I was tempted to try them. However a review I read put me off as it said although they sound good they can result in reduced bass weight and punch. So home made appears to be the only option for me at present.

My NAS is via a switch, iRadio (obviously) is via the SH2

I dropped the phone a year ago, now it’s mobile over wifi at home.

My hub is about 1m from NDX and on top of the same cabinet as NAS. I’m not aware of any proximity effects, the hub used to be in another room and the SQ improved when it was moved closer. But that included the BT feed cable replaced along with extension lines removed.

That’s good to know. I was thinking of EM radiation directly from the hub. As I’m sure you’re aware EM radiation level is proportional to the inverse square of distance from the source, so a small increase in distance from the hub should lead to a relatively large decrease in EM radiation level. This is why I have experimented with making a taller stand - to get my hub around 10cm or so further away from mains blocks/wiring/EE8 switch. Perhaps not worth bothering though.

EM radiation from transformers of the size used by Naim is low, plus the full metal case used by Naim is a significant container. So in my case with 1m distance, I doubt it has much if any effect to worry about.

But a factor that might be relevant in my case is that my rack is my own design & construction & it includes a degree of EM screening embedded in the shelves.

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Interesting. How did you accomplish this? Is the screen grounded?

Entreq is doing this too :slight_smile:

Mumetal sheets attached to the shelf undersides.
Yes it’s grounded.

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What do you think in comparison to the sigma. I liked sigma more, as you might remember.
Now with the Ferrum being in place … I think the PN will not be your cup of tea. Maybe I get a ferrum on loan and try with my ee8? :roll_eyes::crazy_face:

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Yeh, it was sounding really good in my mates system and he really likes it but I’m still loving what the Sigma gives me. Just be playing David Gilmour’s Luck and Strange (track 9 Scattered) and I’m just blown away. Goosebumps the lot! I’d be frightened that if I changed to Omega I might lose something.

Oh, the Ferrum and Sbooster were only on loan and went back today. The Ferrum was good but my cheapo linear power supply isn’t far behind it, so still keen to try other things.

I’ve had the Sigma/LPS combo running for a few months, so the other night, just for a bit of fun, I changed back to Catsnake/SMPS and for about 30 seconds I thought it sounded quite good then I started to notice all the little nuances and timbrel changes that make the music so real had disappeared. Within in a couple of minutes I’d had enough and had to change back to Sigma/LPS to get the magic back.

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The Sbooster is back here too. It’s a clear upgrade from the original SMPS on my streamer. However I will look for a bit more neutral LPS.

I recently discovered that mode on the Melco :-). I clean up the USB using a “magnafied” Singxer SU-2 (MagnaHiFi cooperated with Farad on that mod and replaced some caps and installed very low noise shunt regulators internally) plus of course a Farad Super3 PS with good cables. So the old ladder-DAC now is fed via I2S. I had slight doubts about the full arrangement but now the result is better than I dared hope.

One less ethernet-box (the streamer) that trashes the ethernet. Or the streamer is still there, it just sits inside the Melco. I also added an iFi Zen streamer to get Spotify and Airplay. Via UPnP it integrated nicely into my Melco-setup and out via the DAC. I get so impressed when something actually works :slight_smile:

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Many on here find the EE8 is clearly better with a Farad Super 3, in my case with level 2 cable and upgraded fuse.

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Many but not all. I’ve had the Farad on loan twice, the second time with the upgraded fuse and level 2 cable and have to say that my stock EE8 SMPS, in my system, sounded slightly better. It’s not that the Farad sounds bad it’s that you keep swapping sound signatures. The SMPS sounds faster, more rhythmic and has better frequency extremes. The Farad is slower and more subdued in the frequency extremes by comparison.

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I put the standard Naim power cord on the Sbooster and the sound became much more neutral in the low end. Power cables are tricky indeed and they do change the performance a lot even on a PS for a streamer or switch.

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My own experience with a LPS on my BTSH2 mirrors the effects noted by @Geko on his EE8:

I don’t rule out something in the future. But until there is something which is clearly superior, perhaps marketed or recommended by Chord themselves, then I’ve no interest in experimenting further.

Yes, I was well aware of your case.

Are there any other people who have sent it back that we know of?

And how many people do you think have kept it on this forum?

I haven’t kept count, but I would expect it’s 10 or more.

Power cables have evolved to the point where they are critical to obtaining the best performance. The days when they could be considered as an optional extra, the icing on the cake, are long gone.

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I send it back as well. But I preferred it over smps but not over PN.