Group Buy for full ATX Linear PSU from Teradak

[Ben-M]

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...

[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.

[pioneer00758]

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.

 

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

[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.

[Ben-M]

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.

 

Though I agree, and it has more or less anecdotally been proven, that fans add harmful electrical noise to the system, the AX1500i has the best rail stability and ripple numbers of any SMPS available in the mainstream computer market ever. I was reading an in depth technical review of the AX1200i and its performance and stats were mopping the floor with everything out there already, but at the end of the review there was a small addendum about the reviewer just receiving the 1500i and it being leagues better. Certainly it is the best there is, in that market.

 

So the things that we always ask about with linear, these SMPSs have them in spades. But it appears that those are not all that is in the equation of good sound and no harm to other components, and that a well designed and implemented LPSU is still king. And when the 1500i is like $400USD I think the jump to one of Teradak's units is more than reasonable. I only say Teradak's because I don't know another resonably priced full ATX LPSU out there.

[Pablooo]

Hi all,

 

I am considering to purchase an TeraDak PSU. After this group buy I figured to find some user experience here .

How is your experience with this PSU so far? And how does this compare to other linear PSU's? Has anyone noticed a humming noise from the transformer (at least 1 person I read)? And is this loud enough to be annoying (subjective, I know..)?

 

Thanks for your response!

 

Cheers,

 

Pablo

[Elberoth]

No hummig here. Works perfect from day one. Highly recommended.

[sebna]

Slight hum on mine from day one Cannot hear it from my listening position 3m away... it is faint but it is there.

 

Other then that very happy bunny. Convenience is great.

[Pablooo]

Thanks for your comments guys!

[Jiffi32]

No Hum here! VERY happy with mine, huge improvement over smps and now you have the option of 'R' core as well

[Pablooo]

No Hum here! VERY happy with mine, huge improvement over smps and now you have the option of 'R' core as well

 

Yeah I noticed that too. Besides less hum are there other advantages compared to toroidal transformers?

[Jiffi32]

Yeah I noticed that too. Besides less hum are there other advantages compared to toroidal transformers?

 

Alex from Uptone has said that 'R' cores sound better, improved bass being one area.

[Elberoth]

The hum some people are getting may be due to excessive DC on their AC lines. Some transformers react this way to DC. I would try a DC blocker in such a case.

[One and a half]

The hum some people are getting may be due to excessive DC on their AC lines. Some transformers react this way to DC. I would try a DC blocker in such a case.

 

Agreed, DC offset is not easy to measure for the hobbyist, power scope needed with isolated to 600V probes and all...the usual suspect though is quality control. Laminations are not tight, the varnish didn't set properly, 60Hz transformers on 50Hz supplies, dropped transformers, sub standard core materials, more marketing jizz than fact, no serial number and on and on.

[sebna]

I cannot measure DC offset but I do not think it is the case as my PC is connected through two AC sine wave regenerators, which are daisy chained (each do AC -> DC -> AC conversion to output clean AC wave). Normally everything which is noisy goes quiet when connected through even one of them so the problem must be of different nature? As I said in my case it is very faint hum so it is not a problem but of course it is not perfect also.

[Pepsican]

Alex from Uptone has said that 'R' cores sound better, improved bass being one area.

 

R-cores are a cheap way to get most of the benefits of Toroidal transformers. But Toroidals are still king, both in quality and price. But any other type of transformer is inferior to an R-core.

[sig8]

I sure missed this group buy, but I was looking at Teradak web site and I see only one ATX PS, which is rated at 850W. Did they make special units for this or am I missing something. Please let me know. Thanks.

[Ben-M]

I sure missed this group buy, but I was looking at Teradak web site and I see only one ATX PS, which is rated at 850W. Did they make special units for this or am I missing something. Please let me know. Thanks.

 

The exact units/specifications we got were custom, but overall they do offer the 3 Watt ratings (~175, 280, 350(I don't recall exactly, but they're listed a page back or so)) that we bought from. If you email them they'll show you the links to the appropriate pages. I think there website is not well kept because they've got lots of good stuff that's not on the English version.

 

In fact, here's the Chinese version, hifiss.com . The "products" page is under the 4th heading from the left, across the top. Have a look around and then email them about what you see. Like Pepsican mentioned, our ATX LPSs are now offered with R-Core transformers. There aren't any reviews out that I've seen, but I'd love to see if that makes a difference.

[sig8]

Thanks Ben. Did you mean to add a link?

[Ben-M]

Thanks Ben. Did you mean to add a link?

 

I just mentioned their website, hifiss.com . You can put it in or highlight and click paste and go. In the end, email them about whatever and use both emails as sometimes things slip through the cracks.

Good luck

[Pepsican]

Thanks Ben. Did you mean to add a link?

 

 

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The first three at the top.

[sig8]

R-cores are a cheap way to get most of the benefits of Toroidal transformers. But Toroidals are still king, both in quality and price. But any other type of transformer is inferior to an R-core.

I am little confused by your comments, what are you trying to say, R- Core better than toroidal or not? I am trying to decide if I need to spend more to get with an R- core transformer. Thanks.

[Pepsican]

I am little confused by your comments, what are you trying to say, R- Core better than toroidal or not? I am trying to decide if I need to spend more to get with an R- core transformer. Thanks.

 

In a like-for-like situation, an R-core is not better in an absolute sense than a toroidal transformer. Toroidals, for hi-fi, are still best. But they are also the most expensive type of transformer around in terms of manufacturing costs. An R-Core will get you there, say, 90% of the way but half the price. So, when you consider value for money an R-Core is probably the best solution available. Some other types of transformers may be cheaper than R-Cores, but they also come with some serious downsides that matter for hi-fi.

 

Note: this is all generally speaking. Depending on the specific case, things may be a tat different. And of course the transformer is not everything. Other components and the cleverness of design matter too.

[sig8]

Pepsican:

 

Thank you for your response. You have clearly stated that R-core are cheaper, but as it turns out; Teradak is charging 10% more for their R-core versions. I wonder why. Thanks.

smallATX21.pdf

[Ben-M]

I don't know which is "better" either, but from following recent posts in the UpTone Regen thread there is a consensus that R-cores are better than toroidals. I don't want to get into specifics on things I don't know about, but the idea was that toroidals do have some benefits in certain cases, but as far as absolute audio quality from a transformer, R-cores and EIs are better than toroidals. Teradak's pricing seems to be in line with this also.

 

And as proof, UpTone uses an R-core in their highly acclaimed JS-2 LPS, AND most high-end audio components DON'T use toroidals. They've mostly got EIs and/or R-cores. I had never paid any attention to that before, but once I heard it and started looking at what was in most high-end components, there is a significant lack of toroidals. I'm sure many pictures can be found as reference to the opposite of that, but I'm just restating what I've read and now seen.

 

And again, I have no idea which is better solely in regards to audio quality, that just seemed to be the consensus of what I've read here and in many other places. A key part to remember is that each transformer type does have it's own qualities and especially how those traits interact with other parts of the component's internals. So a certain transformer type may be picked for a certain application due to it's lack of effect on near by parts vs. it's absolute, isolated audio quality.