2. amps-preamps
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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
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Patent does not mean much (I have couple of them).  Patenting new principle of operation is practically impossible, so the most of people patent specific use.  You can come up with any weird stuff and register it.  Patent office does not check validity of the idea. They only check if it was used before - no matter how stupid.  The word "Patent" suggests originality.  

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,861 posts
 
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,
I think its very possible. SMPSs have the advantage of better regulation over traditional supplies.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Ralph, 
I appreciate your candor. 
Thanks, 
Charles, 
coli
291 posts
 
Of course. SMPS actually has a lot of advantage, SMPS is basically a power regenerator. Go listen to the JBL LSR305/8, it’s an all digital design. SMPS, class D, digital crossover, DSP. It’s the greatest bargain in audio right now. The 3 series 5x305+310s simply destroys $1000 to $10,000+ audiophile setups.

There are also bad SMPS designs too, eg: Benchmark.
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
SMPS is basically a power regenerator.

I'm sorry this is not a correct statement.

You take in the AC & convert it to a high(ish) ripple DC & then feed that into a SMPS & you get a tightly regulated DC power supply.

For a linear power supply you do exactly the same - You take in the AC & convert it to a high(ish) ripple DC & then feed that into a LPS & you get a tightly regulated DC power supply.

So, if SMPS is a power regenerator then so is the LPS.

A SMPS is a DC-DC converter (& so is the LPS).

When you speak of a power regenerator then you take in the AC from the wall outlet, convert it to DC & convert it back to AC (say, like the PS Audio P300/P600/P1200  power regenerators).

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