2. amps-preamps
  3. 124847-369

Can SMPS based preamps/amps sound organic ?

Lately I have been reading about some well known companies who make amps and preamps based on switch mode (digital) power supply. Nagra, David Berning, Linn, Crayon Audio comes to mind. I have heard a couple of their products but I always seem to hear some kind of switching noise which comes through as "digital" sounding. The organic quality is somewhat robbed and replaced with some hash. I wonder if there are any designs using SMPS that can actually sound natural and organic ?

To me it seems mostly a matter of convenience to use SMPS but I would love to discuss.
pani
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Personally I don't get the sense that anyone is suggesting that LPS suck. This thread is conveying that SMPS can sound every bit as good and that technically LPS is "primative" relatively speaking. There are multitudes of components with LPS that sound superb, in fact state of the art. 

Ralph,  
I am familiar with the very high sound quality of your products, are you suggesting that they'd sound even better if you could use SMPS rather than LPS?
Charles, 

pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Some times this whole game of primitive vs modern without the consideration of "sound" feels like a trap.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Jaybe, I repeat again - most of linear power supplies in power amps are unregulated.  I would bet that 100% of linear power supplies in class A  amps are unregulated.  Can you provide the link?  Sonore, you mentioned are 14W, unless I'm looking at wrong website.

jaybe
743 posts
 
Got a bit off track, sorry. The LPSs I referred to are external LPSs and not built into pre/amps.

But here is a good link to an article written by Nelson Pass touching on regulation and SMPSs in amplifiers.

https://passlabs.com/articles/power-supplies-commentary-for-consumers

And I admit I'm over my head on this so will sit in the sidelines. :)
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
kijanki,
Roger Sanders makes a regulated linear power supply for his Magtech amp which can drive his ESLs. Here is the link to that white paper:

http://www.sanderssoundsystems.com/technical-white-papers/161-the-magtech-regulated-power-supply-wp

And, i believe that he has a patent on this power supply architecture....
More to discover