My music server is a fanless one, with a dual core ATOM board, and SOtM HD filter. No special USB card, as I am presently outputting FW to a Mytek 192 DSD DAC. The original PS was an external "brick" such as sold with laptops.
I'm in the process of upgrading, and will probably buy a new, more powerful server later this year. In the meantime, I thought about a new PS. Considered several, including battery power. In the end, I decided on the Sonore, for a few reasons: a) it's 12.5A, 150W, so it should be able to power whatever server or NAS I'm likely to have. Among others, I thought about the Teddy Pardo PS, but his is limited to 4.5A, and I didn't want to risk that I'd find it unsuitable at some point; b) available battery supplies often seem to be custom made for a specific load and output, and I wanted to get something that would be flexible and have a future - not a PS that would be limited to one server configuration; c) Jesus at Sonore is very helpful - both on this forum and others - and has been also helpful to me personally in the past, even though I hadn't made any major purchases from him. So other things being equal, I wanted to give him some business; d) from what I could tell, other purchasers were happy with the Sonore PS as an upgrade.
Jesus was helpful during the buying process, and answered numerous emails with questions immediately, even late at night. I received the PS a few days ago and immediately plugged it in.
The result? At first I thought "This doesn't sound very different." No "knock you over" change.
Sort of disappointed in the first moments, as it is a pricey item, especially for a PS. I was hoping for something dramatic. But then I sat down and started to listen, and started to hear that yes, my system did sound different.
I don't like to engage in the audiophile hyperbole of "I did 'X' and it made my system sound completely different"; I think we set ourselves and others up for disappointment when we exaggerate improvements in SQ. That said, I'll try to describe what I hear with the new PS.
First, I'd say my system sounds the same, only better. The essential sound is the same. So what's changed?
Basically everything sounds cleaner and clearer. The improvement is incremental, but quite noticeable when you pay attention. A couple of specific examples: Drum thwacks have more thud, and sound more real. Hand clapping (a sound that apparently often isn't reproduced well, especially with digital playback) sounds more like the real thing. Two small examples, but they give you an idea - everything just sounds that notch closer to "real".
I find I can turn the volume up a bit more before it bothers me - probably a sign of improved SQ, but maybe not a good thing?
Additionally, spatial clues seem to have improved, as I've noticed a wider and deeper sound stage, and the "location" of instruments in space seems more clearly defined. I can hear each individual instrument more clearly, too. Voices seem clearer and more "upfront" - in a good way.
I'm assuming what I'm hearing is the result of less noise in the playback, but I don't have any way to measure that.
So I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Recommended to anyone who wants a better PS and has the cash.
