[bluesky]

I did try a search on this subject but couuldn't anything quite relevant to a DIY project.  There are numerous "night and Day" cliams made about very expensive power supplies but wondered if anyone has pursued something like and could offer any advice on where to start.

Thanks

Bluesky

[shep]

Have you looked on Diyaudio Forum? http://www.diyaudio.com/forum. That's where all the "heads" hang out. If you can't find it there it doesn't exist. Ask and yea shall be told aa (600 pages and growing on how to modify a Marantz cdp!)

[WGH]

I built a power supply for the Harmon Kardon T55C, this improved the sound by removing the transformer vibrations and smoothed the sound by removing the small speed variations that I had noticed on some piano recordings. Now the music is perfect.

If your turntable has a DC motor you can use the article by Frank Van Alstine as a starting point.

1985/12 Harman-Kardon T-60 Turntable Rebuild 4 pages
Complete instructions to build your own external power supply for the Harman-Kardon T-60 turntable, thereby isolating your turntable from hum fields and mechanical vibrations.
http://www.avahifi.com/root/audio_basics/index.htm

[Occam]

Poco??? Dang... that brings back memories.

Bluesky - a good reference, which talks about the various types of motor drives, their power supplies, and links to diy projects is here -
http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~quiddity/audio/Turntable_motors.html
Buried within are links to Lynn Olsen's Clairsonus blog and discussion, etc...

What specific turntable are you asking about? What kind of motor? A ps upgrade for a SL1200 is a very different type of upgrade for an Empire with a Pabst motor.

[bluesky]

Hi

I have a Michell Gyro SE which I have upgraded with Gert Pedersen's turntable and armbord kits and I also have a VTAF to install as well.  The phono stage is the Cornet.

The standard power supply is quite simple and cheap with an EI trafo and a couple of caps and not much else.  I don't understand why the Origin Live power supply is so expensive but then again many of the manufaturer's seem to charge like wounded bulls for so many products such as the Cartridge Man's Isolator and today I read of an aluminium sheet armboard for the Linn which sells for $5,720!

All this made me think that a good DIY power supply should be reasoably easy to build.

Bluesky 

[doug s.]

Hi

I have a Michell Gyro SE which I have upgraded with Gert Pedersen's turntable and armbord kits and I also have a VTAF to install as well.  The phono stage is the Cornet.

The standard power supply is quite simple and cheap with an EI trafo and a couple of caps and not much else.  I don't understand why the Origin Live power supply is so expensive but then again many of the manufaturer's seem to charge like wounded bulls for so many products such as the Cartridge Man's Isolator and today I read of an aluminium sheet armboard for the Linn which sells for $5,720!

All this made me think that a good DIY power supply should be reasoably easy to build.

Bluesky 

i have an o-l dc motor kit; it is superb.  but, i agree they charge way too much money for their upgrade power supplies.  however, i wouldn't bother building one either.  not when you can get killer lab-grade hewlett-packard/harrison labs/lambda/etc., power supplies that retail for $1k-$3k+, on ebay for $50-$150...

doug s.

[bluesky]

Hi Doug

Now this is great information!  I regularly go to a local computer market that comes around once every couple of months to the suburb where I live in Brisbane. 

I get stuff I might be able to use in my audio projects, recently some of the processor heatsinks for 50 cents a piece to use on some Gainclone PCB's I got on special, being on a pension I get EVERYTHING on special.

I also got a cooling kit for less than $15 to try on a class A amp project.  It has a long tube thing which lowers the noise a lot and the idea is to have a small but hopefully effective cooling system that is whisper quiet and use the 15 watt Class A's as tweeter amps with Aksa 55N+ for the woofers.  To buy the "audio grade" product from one of the electronics suppliers which is identical costs several times more!

Can you give me some more specific info on what to look for?  It would be much appreciated.

Ian

[bluesky]

Hi Doug

After posting a reply I thought this could a great project for many of us vinyl Audio Circle people and I am happy to do some leg work on this with help and input from other members in our community.

It could be a sort of vinyl Felicia if you like

I am sure it could benefit many of us to improve our power supplies but who baulk at the cost of the products currently on the market!

Anyone else interested in this project?

Ian

[doug s.]

Hi Doug

After posting a reply I thought this could a great project for many of us vinyl Audio Circle people and I am happy to do some leg work on this with help and input from other members in our community.

It could be a sort of vinyl Felicia if you like

I am sure it could benefit many of us to improve our power supplies but who baulk at the cost of the products currently on the market!

Anyone else interested in this project?

Ian

ian, what i am talking about is really pretty-much plug & play.  a quick search on ebay will find you something like this (you can pay more, but if you're patient, you will find these cheap):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270113078871


the unit pictured is a "full-rack" size; you can also find half-rack, & even quarter-rack sizes that may work out better for you.  i am presently using a half-rack hewlett-packard, model 6201b.  at 0-20v & up to 1.5 amps, it's more than enough for my o-l dc motor driving my oracle turntable.  yust hook up the wires to your motor, & adjust the woltage for proper platter rotational speed.  you will need a strobe & disk.  of course, in australia, you will need to source a 220v power supply, not 120v.  unless, you wanna use a step-up/down transformer as well.  not a bid idea, really - it will act as an isolation transformer..

doug s.

[JoshK]

I think doug's idea is a good one, but that supply is overkill!  10amps is way more than needed for the job.  Having a bit of overhead is good, but having that much overhead might not be efficient, at least not in space.

[doug s.]

I think doug's idea is a good one, but that supply is overkill!  10amps is way more than needed for the job.  Having a bit of overhead is good, but having that much overhead might not be efficient, at least not in space.

you're right; that one is a lot more than needed.  it might be good as an alternative for one of those battery-powered amps, tho.   aa  as i said, the one i use, rated at 1.5a, is more than adequate.  i posted the 10a one because it will work, it was the 1st one i found doing a quick ebay search, & it will likely be cheap.  size-wise, a lot of the lower amp rated units are still full-rack size.  as i said, you can find smaller sized units if you prefer them...

doug s.

[JoshK]

yeah I figured that, just wanted to point out that that much isn't needed, and maybe not even wanted. 

[Tabascosauce]

I found this when I was researching restoring a Garard 401:

http://www.eng.abdn.ac.uk/~eng289/401/401ps.jpg