Group Buy for full ATX Linear PSU from Teradak

[Marcell]

I've tried all manner of filters and cables and found the Furman LiFT filters to be the most effective. Any of their products with that filter included should work, such as the AC-210AE or PL-8CE (those are the 240v European versions). What they did in my system was clear up the treble and bring a sense of purity to the music, whereas before it was just an aggressive and noisy sound unless I was listening after midnight.

 

Nice input, i had not heard about Furman before. I did some readings based on your input and it sucks to know that only model P-1400 AR E and upward featuring RMS voltage regulation. I think that one cost more than USD 900.....

 

I am currently using Furutech AC-1501 that is DIY attach to my power outlet. Well that's a cheap version of Furutech Flux-50. I can say AC-1501 really works, makes more fluid, reduce harsh especially on high frequency, bigger soundstage and fuller sound. Too bad i do not have any other filter to compare. At least i know i am far being better off with this Furutech filter rather than not.

 

And of course my Teradak is feeding from this Furutech filter.

[Marcell]

Really enjoying my 350W Teradak - there is simply no going back to even the best switching supplies. My AX1200i sounds simply harsh, forward, noisy and blurry, 2 dimensional. So why did I swap the AX1200i back in?

 

My 350W Teradak set off a smoked detector - it still runs, and temp I would estimate 50-55 degrees near the 12V regulators (it was an unseanoably warm day). My nose is blocked so I can't tell if there is a cooked electronics odour. I could be pushing the 12V rails a bit hard as the CPU is 77W TDP i7 3770K which could feasibly draw 115+ Watts - not that I have the gear to test the power draw from the CPU. I am considering buying at low powered CPU not to push the PSU so hard, but I would also like to verify if this is the case, and also try to find out if there is any damage to the PSU.

 

Any ideas? Should I have a tech have a look at the PSU? Order the 3770T anyway?

 

Thanks

 

 

Well it seems i got a very similar setup like yours. I might be able to share few things that help you. I did buy 350w Teradak and was previously use AX860i. Yes i found a similar feedback when comparing between the two of them, switching PSU sucks. I thought Corsair AX series was pretty good but i was wrong.

 

You can always buy a power meter from ebay, they are fairly cheap. I did buy one and have successfully measure the load of Teradak PSU. For testing and burn-in process, i ran a CPU/GPU test and managed to draw around 250w thanks to the GTX 960. I ran it for couple of days without a problem. I never pass 300w of usage though. However Teradak 350w should be able to draw 350w.

 

I am sure my nose was not blocked, i never had a weird smell on Teradak PSU. I am sure by now, i have use my Teradak PSU roughly over 700 Hours without a problem. Oh yeah, i always try to operate with a room temperature less than 28 Celsius by turning on Aircond on a hot days. Why is that? I found Teradak significantly too hot, as if the heatsink fin on the side of chassis is not big enough. Too hot that i can't put my hand on it. Also i use a power filter if that helps.

 

To be able to trigger a smoke detector, that's pretty messed up. I am not sure at this point that your Teradak has been damaged or still intact. Or maybe it has a fault from the beginning. You can try few things:

 

1. Try to operate on lower temperature, all data center in the world runs on 16C - 24C, that's the best temperature for servers.

 

2. On other note, my CPU has TDP of 65w. I think yours has TDP of 95w, that might also be a problem. I don't know the max limit of CPU rail provided by Teradak. What i am sure is the limit of 6-pin rail to GPU, that's why i am using GTX 960 and not GTX 970 or higher model. Well before you buy another lower TDP processor, you can always try to underclock it first. 2 Ghz should be enough to run audio stuff and disabling Hyper Threading feature.

 

 

Anyway, why would you need intel i7 for your comp audio? i thought i am the weirdest person by installing a decent GPU on my HTPC.

 

Meanwhile you are stuck with AX1200i, i can recommend you to unplug the "i" cable from AX PSU to "COM" port of motherboard. If you never use it, then it's good because it makes a lot of noises, destroying SQ.

[Marcell]

A real shout out to anyone, for that matter. I'd love to hear how these ~40 PSUs made out now that they've been in service for ~3-4 months. Though I've got faith, there's never really a "best" and it'd be cool to know what's out there for SMPSs & LPSs and how the Teradak units compare to them.

 

I guess it's a pain to compare, turn off, unplug, restart, and listen again, but it'd be cool to find out none the less.

 

I should have my system together somewhat soon and I'll post up some pictures of it. The mirrored set of Control PC + LPSU & Audio PC + LPSU looks pretty damn cool. Haha, if you're OCD, an Audiophile, a Geek...

 

Hi Ben, if you are still curious about SMPSs, i can elaborate further of my testing. This was done with same Computer/speaker/headphone/audio grade power cable and filter. First i was using an old, crappy 650W cooler master PSU that doesn't have any 80plus certificate (i forgot the exact model type). Then i upgrade it to Corsair AX860i (80Plus Platinum certified), which is one of the best mainstream SMPS PSU. Between the two, i felt a major upgrade in sounds. It simply better in every areas, vocal, bass, dynamic, detail, fluid, precision etc. A very nice and money value upgrade, i was quite satisfied.

 

But it was a shocked to me how AX860i compare to Teradak PSU, this was no longer an upgrade in sounds but it was a game changer. The sound difference is too much to describe, it is almost an unfair comparison. If you look at the price difference, it is very unfair (LOL). It is almost like comparing a Fast food to a fine dining restaurant.

 

I am now no longer curious about other SMPS PSU performance. I am done playing with SMPS. My Corsair AX860i may not be rated as no 1 SMPS but i don't think even the best SMPS would be a fair comparison to this Teradak. But i do very curious how this Teradak compare to other Linear PSU.

[Marcell]

Hi

My friend got a chance to test many SMPS PSU and he told me that his choice is corsair AX 1200i . It was better than Ax 860i and other SMPS PSU such as Seasonic brand

Recently he tested new model AX 1500i and he concluded that that is the best.

Before I jump to Teradax I am just a little bit reluctant about Corsair Ax 1200i or 1500i or Teradex.

I believe that it is unfair to compare SMPS to this Teradak but anyhow sharing ideas is a good choice

 

 

Hi

 

Yes i do believe AX1200i or AX1500i would perform better than AX860i since they don't spin their fans at low load. Fan is the worst devil in your system. You just need to make sure that you consume very minimal that below the threshold of turning on the fan. AX1500i is a safer bet for not crossing the threshold.

 

I have a hunch that AX1500i might be the best SMPS out there. Recently they got Enermax platimax 500w, without a fan at all. This may be the best value for money performance. It is on my watch list now if i ever want to build NAS backup server in the future

 

Anyway, if you already spend more than USD5000 for your audio gear, Linear PSU such as Teradak would be a sensible choice.

[Marcell]

Hi Guys,

 

Have any of the owners experimented with aftermarket fuses for Teradak PSUs? If so what were your findings?

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Yes i have and it impacts greatly on my sound system. I also changed my fuses on my amps and DAC. I do recommend you to do so as well.

[Marcell]

After reading many review on fuses, i decided to installed SR Red fuses on my Teradak PSU, DAC and Amps. It gave a very nice/big improvement, but then i found it sounds rather harsh and bright. Sound stage is extremely large and overall presentation is too forward that it doesn't seems natural.

 

Then i started to read more on reviews and i finally installed HIFI Supreme fuse on my Teradak PSU while i still keeping SR Red fuses on both my DAC and Amps. It turns out a mixing solution is the best, other people on other thread found it the same like i did.

 

To put it in a very simple way, SR Red fuse is for "warm" sound system. HIFI Supreme fuse is for "normal to Bright" sound system. It maybe a much safer bet for people to try out HIFI Supreme fuse since it doesn't give such a "hyper" improvements.

 

I haven't tried other brands yet. Other people are also happy to settle with a brand like ISOclean and Furutech fuses. There is no definite answer here, you need to do trials and errors

 

To add more complex elements to your equation, you can always change the power inlet in your PSU, DAC and Amps. There are many different brands offering different kinds of metals like Gold and Rhodium. This also effect the way it sounds.

 

I changed mine to Furutech FI-03 Rhodium inlets. It doesn't require any soldering, cutting cable and can be easily switch back at any time. You just need to put extra precaution in connecting the cable correctly. It's only three cables, it's not a rocket science.

 

All of fuses and inlets are available in many online stores. You can also buy it from Ebay like i did.

[Marcell]

I've received an ATX-390 and have modified the Streamcom FC10 Alpha case to take the DC power cables. The PSU powers up (sees an amber light on the on-/off switch) and the motherboard has some lights on indicating that it is getting power. My issue is that starting the computer seems to trip the PSU with their being a click and then the computer stops booting - at the end of this process the PSU still has an amber light on and it's possible to repeat. I'm planning on stripping back the h/w on the machine but wanted to find out if anyone has specific experience and/or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Hi aps,

 

 

It happens to me two weeks ago. Mine is ATX-350, which i got from group buy, and has been working since Feb last year. I am a heavy user, i believe it has operated for more than 2500-3000 hours over one year. I always operate it in room temperature around 22-27 Celcius and humidity 30%-55%. Also i got Furutech power filter to feed this Teradak Power Supply. Not so sure that i missed something that would make this power supply broken. I do not want to believe that chinese stuff are cheap and bad in quality....

 

I tried two different computer but no luck. What i know is, clicking sound is a safety failure when your power supply is malfunction.

 

Anyway, i send it to local (electronic) service center at the moment. I am still waiting what went wrong.... or if they can find it.

 

Any luck with your power supply?

 

 

Marcell

[Marcell]

Marcell's situation is a bit different in that it used to successfully run, but the symptoms are sounding similar.

 

 

Hi Ben-M, nice to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well this past year.

 

My Teradak has continuous mechanical clicking sound over (around) 1 second interval. From the forums that i searched, that is something electrocute inside and safety failure kicks in, it's like continuous on-off cycle and it repeats forever. The first time it happens was when my comp suddenly turn off while it was running. Since then, i can't turn it on back again.

 

Previously Teradak PSU was working very well with both my old comp (Core 2 Duo, DDR2, Gigabyte MB) and my new comp (Core i5 6600, DDR4, Asus MB). But now it won't work with both comp. Of course i already tried everything that i could including trying different RAM slot, different GPUs, flashing and upgrading BIOS, strip down all Hard drives.... i don't think they were faulty since they are working well with my Corsair AX860i.

 

In your case i believe it was not compatible with Intel server board. But i think mine is broken :(

 

Diagnose from service center i brought was, this little white thing like dynamo (or whatever it is) on the left was faulty. They somehow managed to bring it to life once but all SATA and Molex connectors were not functioning.... then few minutes later it dies again and back with those clicking sounds. I told them to stop trying, if it's broken then it will need replacement parts.... no magic can heal that. I also don't know what kind of magic trick they did in the first place to bring it to life again. I think i will bring it to another service center to see if the diagnose is the same.

 

[Marcell]

Yeah, though it's not for a great reason, It's good to hear from you guys again :-)

 

And yes, I would also take it to another service centre to get it checked out. I just have a strange feeling about the R-core having died on you. Maybe it did, but I'd have someone else look at it. ANd couldn't you also test the R-core with a DMM (digital multi meter)?

 

And for me, I'm in talks with Teradak now and we're trying to work through the issue. So far is does seem like the S1200V3RP family of boards do have some higher than ATX spec requirements. We'll see how progress goes, but I may have to send my boards and ATX-350s back to them. Haha, might give me an excuse to switch over to those giant R-cores like they offer in their new Linear ATX PSUs...

 

 

 

Hi JL, Hi Ben,

 

 

I did successfully contacted Michael through Hotmail. I wrote a long email and he replied only with few sentences lol. Probably due to his limited English. But he did attach a power point doc on how to check things with power supply. I think Ben also got one

 

Anyway, i brought my Teradak PSU to another service center and i also gave them the doc last Saturday morning. My message to them was to diagnose and tell me the faulty part, so that i can order a new one. But on the same day, in the evening they called me that it is already fix and running well. They changed the faulty part without my approval or negotiating the price first. It gave me a quite a shock!!! I don't know whether to be happy or not.... I haven't got time to go back there yet, hopefully this coming Saturday.

 

They explained on the phone that from R-Core transformer, it goes to separate electronic boards that consist with bunch of capacitors. Each board for a specific voltage. So two boards got problems are the 3V and 5V...... since they were electrocuted, the safety failure kicks in and causing the continuous mechanical sounds. Thus it can not turn on the PC.

 

My wild guess at the moment is not the capacitors, probably something smaller, diodes or... i don't know. Right now i am concern with what kind of spare part they changed? If they change it with a crappy one, the sound quality would be effected

 

Two possible (wild guess) things that i can think of what cause my Teradak to be broken are:

 

1) 3V and 5V line are broken. Those lines are use in SATA/Molex line. I am using 3 mechanical HDD and 2 SSD, don't ask why (LOL). I just manage to reduced it to 1 SSD and 2 Mechanical HDD in the last two months, i will reduce it further more. Anyway, it means that i am stressing out the 3V and 5V line too much. Mine is ATX-350, i don't know if it is too much to handle so many Hard Drives.

 

2) I always unplug the power cord to Teradak PSU after usage. This cause a 'cold start' on the PC. It means that when i turn on my PC it will on for 1-2 Seconds, then its off for 1-2 seconds, then it will finally on for good. This sequence is normal to prevent the PC to be 'shock' at the first time boot. Does your PC do this as well??

 

What do you guys think?

 

I will inform you guys again after i got back my Teradak PSU.

 

 

PS: A new giant R-core Transformer sounds interesting, we are always looking for an upgrade path don't we? lol

[Marcell]

It's good to have it fixed.

 

If the R-core transformer have a primary-secondary short, forMystery

example, the high voltage will probably take out the regulator chip. Luckily it has this protection circuit which disconnects the AC input when any of the output voltages is above given limits. Otherwise it could fry the PC which will be expensive.

 

Unless your shop used absolutely junk parts I wouldn't worry too much about the replaced parts as the original ones are just standard quality parts.

 

I turn on/off my unit per listening session and so far no issues (touch wood).

 

 

 

Hi JL,

 

 

This what i get from the service center. Apparently a small capacitor got busted. It is use for voltage regulator if i am not mistaken. I didn't get much explanation because apparently they got angry when i ask why they charged me so much for a small fix. The job is done but it is also a ripped off. I haven't try it yet to see if the sound change after it was fixed.

 

It is still a mystery why it got busted. Is it a wrong usage? Bad voltage in my house? Is it supposed to be 20uf or 2 x 10uf rather than a single 10uf?

 

 

 

 

 

Zerung,

 

 

I think Teradak is comparable to 300W Linear HDPlex. Not the Nanoatx solution from HDPlex. Of course it will sound differently, one is better and one is not. I don't know which one is better but it is hard to imagine that the difference is night and day unless your system is 10k-20k USD or even more.....

 

Both PSU use R-Core transformer. Unless one use a crappy transformer and crappy capacitors, then the difference will be a lot.

[Marcell]

hi Ben,

 

 

It looks very nice. Does it produce a better sound? We are waiting for your review

 

 

Personally, my trials continue with fighting with my mobo(suspected, but the fight is becaseu I don't know) and trying to navigate why my system won't start. I'll be buying new mobos in the next month or 2, then testing them out. I'm going with SuperMicro this time as they seem to be much more compatible boards than the Intel ones. My Intel ones will be repurposed in a home server for the time being.

 

Besides that, during a round trip to Teradak for trouble shooting I was able to get the new R-core transformers installed. Thankfully I'm living in China, so the shipping and timing wasn't prohibitive, otherwise this isn't really an optional.

 

Anyway, I took some pics so that you guys could see what changed. I'm not sure, but I kind of liked the internals on the first one better. Haha, if that means anything...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]27436[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27437[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27438[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27439[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27440[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27441[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27442[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27443[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]27444[/ATTACH]