[covermye]

Looking for a good DIY power supply kit or at least general plans (just plans prefered, actually).  Caveat is that I'd like to be able to "fine tune" the voltage.  

Thanks in advance, guys...

[randytsuch]

What kind of voltage range?
How much power?
What are you going to use it for?
Does it need to be regulated?

Need a little more detail to help you out.

There is lots of info at diyaudio for power supplies.

Randy

[covermye]

The first one I wanted to make would be for a Channel Island DAC... 14 V.

I'd like the ability to "fine tune" that voltage to some degree... possibly +/- 1 or so volts.  Regulated?  I don't know...  How much power?  The stiffer, the better (within reason, right?)

[mgalusha]

Chris,

Hagerman makes a nice +- 15V power supply kit for the Bugle and it would probably work well for the CI Dac. It's not adjustable but you may be able to use some different regulators to fine tune it.  Info here.

Rod Elliot also offers a +- 15V kit. Not quite a much filtering as the Hagerman design but it should work well. ESP web site

Mike G.

[Ferdi]

Hi, I am also reminded of DVV's powersupply a long time ago. While the boards ended up not being made, I believe the design is on his website at:

http://www.zero-distortion.com/start.htm

Ferdi

[TG]

Ron Welborne has a very nice 2-24V/1A adjustable supply.  A bit more expensive than the others suggested, but you can pick up the empty boards for $15.

http://www.welbornelabs.com/ps1.htm

Cheers

[covermye]

What I'm wanting to do is be able to fine-tune the output voltage just a little bit one way or the other.  I'm guessing the easiest way is to build an unregulated power supply and just use a variac on the primary side...

Thanks for the links, guys.

[doug s.]

covermye, i use this (mine is an older style) for my modded art di/o:
http://www.silicorp.com/bkprecision/link2_4p.html

if ya want more amps (not really needed, imo), then get this:
http://www.silicorp.com/bkprecision/link2_4q.html

these are can be found used on ebay for <$100...

doug s.

[mgalusha]

Chris,

If you are going to be feeding a DAC you most definitely want a regulated supply. I have another schematic at home for an adjustable supply. I would be happy to scan and post if you like. I've never built it but the design appeared sound.

It would not be hard to put adjustable regulators in most of the supply's mentioned so far. Use the LM317/LM337 regulators. There is a ton of info on these on the web. A google search for LM317 LM337 will turn up loads of useful info.  You might post a question to Jim Hagerman in his circle about the possibilities of using them in his circuit.

Also, the supply offered by Welbourne is very nice although a bit more expensive.

Mike G.

[Raj]

Hi,

There are a number of power supplies out there, and the best affordable supply I have seen is peranders power supply,

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-50719/hifi/

I think it's around 17 euros for the board. This is based on the jung reg, and I think it uses an opamp in the circuit to give a very fast low noise supply.

I think the only problem with some of these ultra fast designs is stability, if you use too fast or too large caps at output they can go into oscillation, although you could ask peranders to clarify this.........

The welbourne supply is expensive as a completed item, also I don't think it's as good as the peranders supply, but the board is fairly cheap and you could buy the pcb and use your own components and probably complete it for less........

In between these 2 supplies lies the white noise audio cascode supply, which is probably better than the welboune supply and perhaps not as fast as the peranders one, again you could e-mail david white and ask him for further specs.

Thanks
Raja

[randytsuch]

Hi,
Some thoughts on PS's

For a regulated supply, around 15 volts, if you don’t need that much power (and you should not need much power for a DAC), the Didden Jung super regulator is considered the best.  It’s a fairly complicated, discrete design.

You can find boards based on the original design (which is about 20 years old), here
http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/pcbs/circuitsbuild.htm

There is a guy in England named Andy who came up with an updated version, using newer technology parts, here
http://www.alw.audio.dsl.pipex.com/
He sells kits, or assembled boards, but they are not cheap, and you need two, would cost about $130 for two kits, shipped.  You can vary the voltage by changing two resistors on each board.
This is a good website for learning about discrete regulators.

Second best is the Sulzer-Borbely Regulator.  It is a discrete regulator, like the Jung above.
http://hitechnetworks.net/bwaldron/audioelectronics/sb1_regulator.htm
It is also adjustable, but I do not know how to change the resistors to adjust the output voltage, and there aren’t instructions on the website.

From what I have read, either one of these would be considerably better than a standard 3 pin regulator, but they will also cost more, and be a lot more work.  For the Borbely, you would have to build your own PWB, as well as buying all the parts, and putting it together.

Of the three, considering effort/cost/performance, the first is probably the best.  The problem there would be if you run into problems, you would not get any support (I think) from audioexpress, you would be on you own.  If you bought from Andy, he would help you out, probably one of the reasons his kits cost so much.

If you use the Jung regulator, you would need to build an unregulated supply to feed the regulator.  This is really just a transformer, a diode bridge and a couple of caps.  The Borbely just needs a transformer before the board.

Another place to find power supplies is at Headwize.com
There is a project section there, with some interesting power supply designs for headphone amps.  One of these would probably work well for a DAC PS too.


Having said all this, I will now warn you about implementation.  If you don’t’ do a good it right, it might not sound much better than what you have now.  Chances are it will, but it is not as simple as just building something and dropping it in.  You need to worry about things like star grounds and twisting the power out and ground wires together.

One other option would be to improve the PS already in the DAC.  You could replace the bride diodes with Freds, replace the PS caps with blackgates or Nichicons.  I am pretty sure a few simple things would make is sound better.

One more thing.  I just saw the Peranders design, I did not know he had made a Jung based design.
Nothing against Peranders, but I think Andy spent more time on his design, so I would guess Andy's is better, but it costs more too.

Randy

[peranders]

Hi,

There are a number of power supplies out there, and the best affordable supply I have seen is peranders power supply,

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-50719/hifi/

I think it's around 17 euros for the board. This is based on the jung reg, and I think it uses an opamp in the circuit to give a very fast low noise supply.

I think the only problem with some of these ultra fast designs is stability, if you use too fast or too large caps at output they can go into oscillation, although you could ask pera ...

I'm sorry to say that almost nothing was right here.

17 EUR was just deal for selling out the old pcb's

It's not ultra fast, but it can be made faster.

The regulator is not a Jung regulator, but a Sulzer regulator.

As said above already, why don't you take a look at Andrew L Weeks homepage? He has also pcb's for sale.
http://www.alw.audio.dsl.pipex.com/jung_schematic.htm

[peranders]

Hi,
One more thing. I just saw the Peranders design, I did not know he had made a Jung based design.
Nothing against Peranders, but I think Andy spent more time on his design, so I would guess Andy's is better, but it costs more too.

There is a missunderstanding here because my Jung Super Regulator hasn't left the computer yet.... and the other regulator isn't a Jung Super Regulator.

I don't know how much time ALW has spent on his pcb layout, I spent 2-3 hours but ALW has made an excellent job in his documentation. A goldstar for this! If you only look at the design it is more or less a blueprint of the original if you don't count in the change of transistors. Good pcb job though. I have changed more but my changes are only for more flexibility in the matter of component choices, especially the reference diodes. My pcb is both a positive or a negative regulator. Better to have one pcb in stock but the disadvantage is a little bit harder to build but not much I think.

I doesn't depend how many hours you put into a layout. It's how you use these hours. You can also be fast or slow. It's only the end result that counts.

[randytsuch]

There is a missunderstanding here because my Jung Super Regulator hasn't left the computer yet.... and the other regulator isn't a Jung Super Regulator.

I don't know how much time ALW has spent on his pcb layout, I spent 2-3 hours but ALW has made an excellent job in his documentation. A goldstar for this! If you only look at the design it is more or less a blueprint of the original if you don't count in the change of transistors. Good pcb job though. I have changed more but my changes are only for more  ...

Hello Peranders,
I was not referring just to pwb layout, but to the project in general, and I really have no idea how much time Andy put into it, I have just seen his references to how big a project it was.  I know Andy build a version of Sulzer too, along with the Pooge, and probably some others, and made measurements and comparisions.  Seems like he spent a lot of effort in the total project.
I am sorry if I offended you, I probably should not have said anything, but I had just bought Andy's pwb's for a preamp project, and maybe I was trying to defend my choice a little.
I built a couple of his boards, and one of these days I will finish my preamp, and see how they sound.  Would be interested in building a set  of your boards too, so I could compare.

Randy

[kana813]

I'm looking for a linear ps to replace a PT-65B switcher.

Voltage/amps needed:

+5v/5amp
+12v/1 amp
-12v/1 amp

I found some off the shelf medical linear power supply, but would prefer
a supply designed for audio circuits.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[peranders]

The pcb is alive and well and seems to be working alright. Right now I'm building regulators with both AD825 and AD797

Please note that soon the picture will be changed to revision 1, very small changes...

[JoshK]

Excuse the dumb question but if you were to build a PS for a phono stage, would you use a regulated or unregulated PS and why?  Or is it case by case?

[peranders]

I would say that only power amps have unregulated power. All other circuits, in audio at least, need regulated power. Why? I'll guess you doesn't want hum or noise?

[peranders]

I'm looking for a linear ps to replace a PT-65B switcher.

Voltage/amps needed:

+5v/5amp
+12v/1 amp
-12v/1 amp

I found some off the shelf medical linear power supply, but would prefer
a supply designed for audio circuits.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

What are your application?

[kana813]

peranders-

"What are your application"

The supply is for a TacT RCS, the votage/amp requirements are as I have posted.

Voltage/amps needed:

+5v/5amp
+12v/1 amp
-12v/1 amp

The PT-65B switcher is a triple output unit with a 3" x 5" footprint and uses Molex connectors.

I've already modified several of these supplies and they outperform
the available off the shelf commerical and medical linears.

What are the noise specs for your unit?  -Aloha.