UltraCap™ LPS-1 Troubleshooting, system grounding, etc.

[gstew]

I got some fairly inexpensive Chinese linear power supplies with 30VA R-core transformers that were spec'd as over 3A into 9V. The numbers John and Alex have posted on the Uptone website is that 2A supply should be sufficient at 9V. Well, these 30VA supplies can't support an LPS-1 powering an FMC at 5V/1A. They can support powering an LPS-1 feeding my microRendu, but not the FMC with higher current demand on the LPS-1. It can charge the LPS-1 through initial boot cycle, but only makes it about 30 seconds before needing to power down and reboot.

 

It seems to me that the amperages posted by Alex/John are not strictly true in all circumstances - either that or the Chinese LPS's that I bought can't do anywhere near what they were specified. But variable and demanding load on the charging supply certainly fits with my experiences with the LPS-1's, for sure.

 

It sounds like you have some of the supplies discussed in this thread:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f27-uptone-audio-sponsored/discussions-alternate-energizing-charging-ps-units-use-ultracap-linear-power-supply-1-not-any-will-make-any-difference-output-30026/

 

See the posts by SandyK, he does a good job of laying out the real-world limitations of the supply.

 

Greg in Mississippi

[genjamon]

It sounds like you have some of the supplies discussed in this thread:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f27-uptone-audio-sponsored/discussions-alternate-energizing-charging-ps-units-use-ultracap-linear-power-supply-1-not-any-will-make-any-difference-output-30026/

 

See the posts by SandyK, he does a good job of laying out the real-world limitations of the supply.

 

Greg in Mississippi

 

 

Nope, I was aware of that supply being insufficient. This is the one: ZEROZONE SUPER-PSU 30VA DC9V 2.7A Linear Power supply LPS for Audio Sources | eBay

[Superdad]

Nope, I was aware of that supply being insufficient. This is the one: ZEROZONE SUPER-PSU 30VA DC9V 2.7A Linear Power supply LPS for Audio Sources | eBay

 

Well I have an accurate (to 1mv/1mA) digital DC load machine that can test up to 80V/15A. Send me that supply and I'll tell you what it is actually capable of. I'll even take a read-out photo for you.

 

Want to see what OUR supplies really put out? Here are shots of an LPS-1 putting out 7V at over 1.2 amps (yeah, a particularly good sample) and a JS-2 cranking 7.1 amps at 12V and almost 8.4 amps at 9V!

(a bit of voltage droop showing for the JS-2 as my test lead is long piece of 18AWG, and this is really at the outer limits of what people use that supply for)

 

 

[gstew]

Nope, I was aware of that supply being insufficient. This is the one: ZEROZONE SUPER-PSU 30VA DC9V 2.7A Linear Power supply LPS for Audio Sources | eBay

 

Thanks for the link.

 

I looked at it. I don’t see that it is sufficient. Why?

 

First, the transformer lists 1A secondaries… and it is the same size (30VA) as the one mentioned by SandyK, so it will have the same limitations as he mentioned even with a different output voltage than the representative one shown in the picture.

 

Second, the rectifiers in the picture are not sufficient for a 2.7A load (or even the 2A the LPS-1 requires at 9V for current draws such as your uRendu and FMC).

 

Third, I’m not sure the case is sufficient heatsinking for devices passing that load.

 

I’m building a couple of DIY’d linear supplies to power 4 LPS-1 each. They’ll have 4 12v outputs per unit, which will need to supply 1.5A to each LPS-1.

 

I’m using this case with significant heatsinking:

 

Douk Audio Mini Amplifier Chassis Radiating Aluminum Case DIY Box Short Version | eBay

 

I’m using this 346VA transformer with dual 8A secondaries:

 

https://www.bgmicro.com/220vac-346va-toroid-transformer-2-20vac-center-tapped-windings-at-8-amps.aspx

 

BTW, it is very MASSIVE!

 

I’m putting a full-wave bridge made from these 15A diodes on each of the 2 10V (when fed 110VAC) 8A secondaries:

 

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-semiconductor/MSR1560G/MSR1560GOS-ND/919872

 

These will energize 2 47,000uf/16v capacitors per secondary for a total of almost 200,000uf per unit.

 

And I’m putting 2 of these 12V/7.5A regulators on each rail:

 

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=lt1083%2012v

 

I’m a little concerned the diodes may not be sufficiently over-spec’d, I’ll be testing it first with dummy loads using automobile headlights (the ones I have pull 1A each).

 

This is what I believe is a fully sufficient supply for a load like this.

 

And if I were buying one off EBay, the one that caught my eye as probably sufficient is this one:

 

100VA Ultra low Noise LPS R-core Linear power supply DC 5V--24V With display | eBay

 

This one I do believe WOULD supply near the rated 12V/5.5A (likely the best choice for an LPS-1), though it would be VERY HOT doing that continuously!

 

And I would not buy one on my recommendation alone, but be sure to get them to say it will pass the continous load you need or they'll let you return it.

 

Bottom-line, a 9V supply that will pass even just 2A is pretty massive, much than what I see in the one you got.

 

Greg in Mississippi

[Superdad]

Bottom-line, a 9V supply that will pass even just 2A is pretty massive, much than what I see in the one you got.

 

I don't know Greg, did you see my pick of a JS-2 cranking out over 8A at 9V? And it was running cool. Just a bit of UpTone magic...

 

 

But watch it guys or I'll move these posts over to the Discussions of Pointless Alternate LPS-1 Charging Supplies thread.

[JohnSwenson]

I got some fairly inexpensive Chinese linear power supplies with 30VA R-core transformers that were spec'd as over 3A into 9V. The numbers John and Alex have posted on the Uptone website is that 2A supply should be sufficient at 9V. Well, these 30VA supplies can't support an LPS-1 powering an FMC at 5V/1A. They can support powering an LPS-1 feeding my microRendu, but not the FMC with higher current demand on the LPS-1. It can charge the LPS-1 through initial boot cycle, but only makes it about 30 seconds before needing to power down and reboot.

 

It seems to me that the amperages posted by Alex/John are not strictly true in all circumstances - either that or the Chinese LPS's that I bought can't do anywhere near what they were specified. But variable and demanding load on the charging supply certainly fits with my experiences with the LPS-1's, for sure.

 

The LPS-1 charges at one of two different rates, full and half. The listed current demands are for full charge rate. The initial charge is done at half rate (when the LED is amber), in normal operation (LED green) half rate is used between o and 500mA load, above 500mA load current it switches to full rate. The initial charge is done using half rate.

 

Thus your microRendu is using half rate and the FMC is using full rate. In half rate mode the current pulled from the feeder supply is a little more than half the full current.

 

Thus for a marginal supply the initial charge works, and the microRendu is fine, but for the FMC, the initial charge works, but when it turns on the output it switches to full rate, which pulls down the voltage from the feeder, which cannot maintain the full rate current. It gets into a sort of runaway situation. As the feed voltage goes down the LPS-1 draws even more current, which pulls it down even further etc. At some point it cannot keep the cap banks charged and shuts down.

 

John S.

[genjamon]

Thanks for the dissection, Greg. Yeah, I guess I should have done more research rather than just trusting the specs on the ebay listing.

 

I don't know Greg, did you see my pick of a JS-2 cranking out over 8A at 9V? And it was running cool. Just a bit of UpTone magic...

 

 

But watch it guys or I'll move these posts over to the Discussions of Pointless Alternate LPS-1 Charging Supplies thread.

 

Well, it's not pointless at all, unfortunately. While I know you claim the charging supply doesn't matter at all, my experience is different. I have no clear indication that the output from LPS-1 is less than clean as a whistle. However, charging with the Meanwell or other cheap SMPS definitely produces significant noise in the charging circuits of the LPS-1 that is induced into my system somehow. This is the reason I sought a cheap LPS solution to charge them. I have even heard this with my own ears coming from the chassis itself of the LPS-1. The clear sound of charging supercaps, and an audible click of the relay or whatever other mechanism switching between supercap banks. These are the very sounds that are making it into my system and can be heard through my speakers. Not sure the electrical mechanism, but it's absolutely there, and something I wish to avoid.

 

Given my struggles with the cheapo Chinese LPS's, I'm just using my HDPlex unit at the moment to charge the LPS-1's. This is working fine and avoiding these noises. But it means my audio-related network devices (router, NAS) in the other room are without a decent LPS. Still trying to determine the best solution for those.

[Superdad]

While I know you claim the charging supply doesn't matter at all, my experience is different. I have no clear indication that the output from LPS-1 is less than clean as a whistle. However, charging with the Meanwell or other cheap SMPS definitely produces significant noise in the charging circuits of the LPS-1 that is induced into my system somehow. This is the reason I sought a cheap LPS solution to charge them. I have even heard this with my own ears coming from the chassis itself of the LPS-1. The clear sound of charging supercaps, and an audible click of the relay or whatever other mechanism switching between supercap banks.

 

 

I'm very glad you enjoy the LPS-1, but on this topic--at least how you put it--we will just have to agree to disagree.

 

First of, there is absolutely no "click" coming from the LPS-1 ever. There are no relays in it. I sit in a very quiet room half my days testing the boards at full load, watching their internal LEDs switch banks 18-inches from my face and ears. No clicks.

 

Secondly, our supplied SMPS has just 80mV of output noise/ripple on its DC, and with the topology of the LPS-1 this can in no way whatsoever effect its charging circuit or the output.

 

If people have a problem with SMPS units, it is on the AC side of them, but even that is minimal as the main evil an an SMPS is its leakage current--which is blocked/ignored by the LPS-1.

 

About the ONLY plausible issue we have come across is that the present (Level VI) version of the Mean Well we ship has a 16AWG parallel "zip" wire DC cable as opposed to the Level V ones we used to get which had 16AWG coax. I think John said that the pattern of charging draw from the LPS-1 might make it so that you don't want that DC zip cable laying across your analog cables. So if you here something weird in your system when using our supplied SMPS, maybe try positioning the DC cable differently.

 

Perhaps John will chime in at some point with a more technical perspective.

[genjamon]

I'm very glad you enjoy the LPS-1, but on this topic--at least how you put it--we will just have to agree to disagree.

 

First of, there is absolutely no "click" coming from the LPS-1 ever. There are no relays in it. I sit in a very quiet room half my days testing the boards at full load, watching their internal LEDs switch banks 18-inches from my face and ears. No clicks.

 

Secondly, our supplied SMPS has just 80mV of output noise/ripple on its DC, and with the topology of the LPS-1 this can in no way whatsoever effect its charging circuit or the output.

 

If people have a problem with SMPS units, it is on the AC side of them, but even that is minimal as the main evil an an SMPS is its leakage current--which is blocked/ignored by the LPS-1.

 

About the ONLY plausible issue we have come across is that the present (Level VI) version of the Mean Well we ship has a 16AWG parallel "zip" wire DC cable as opposed to the Level V ones we used to get which had 16AWG coax. I think John said that the pattern of charging draw from the LPS-1 might make it so that you don't want that DC zip cable laying across your analog cables. So if you here something weird in your system when using our supplied SMPS, maybe try positioning the DC cable differently.

 

Perhaps John will chime in at some point with a more technical perspective.

 

Yeah, John had chimed in previously that he suspected noise finding its way into the interconnects through unshielded interconnects, produced from the Meanwell unit. I had unplugged my interconnects from amp and found the noise to be gone, so suspected he was right. And I believe I posted so on one of these threads.

 

However, I have subsequently done a bit more experimentation. I plugged the Meanwell into a completely different outlet in the room, and with the Meanwell brick as far away from the LPS-1, and the LPS-1 as far away from the main system as any of the cords would allow. I still get the noise through my speakers. And at the same volume as when they were closer to the system. It should be quieter if John's explanation was the complete story, right?

 

And as for your "agree to disagree" statement - that's kind of ridiculous. You're basically telling me I'm completely making up something I'm very clearly hearing!! Well, maybe I'll just have to make a quick video of the phenomenon and post it on youtube or something to prove that I'm not making something up.

 

It's not a loud click or anything, but with my head within about 12 inches of the unit, it can be heard. And with ear up to the unit, I can hear the supercaps charging.

[Superdad]

It's not a loud click or anything, but with my head within about 12 inches of the unit, it can be heard. And with ear up to the unit, I can hear the supercaps charging.

 

Very sorry to offend. Perhaps you should return your unit to us for testing.

 

I just took a unit off the shelf (ALL orders are shipping tomorrow, 5 days ahead of schedule!), and in a dead silent room, plugged a Mean Well SMPS into it and pressed the LPS-1 right up to my ear (note to self, wipe my skin oils off before shipping that one ).

I hear absolutely nothing. Can you estimate what frequency you hear with the charging? And indeed I would be VERY curious to see/hear a demonstration of any bank switching "click."

 

Does anyone else hear any clicking or charging noises--even up close? I genuinely wish to know?

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

[genjamon]

Very sorry to offend. Perhaps you should return your unit to us for testing.

 

I just took a unit off the shelf (ALL orders are shipping tomorrow, 5 days ahead of schedule!), and in a dead silent room, plugged a Mean Well SMPS into it and pressed the LPS-1 right up to my ear (note to self, wipe my skin oils off before shipping that one ).

I hear absolutely nothing. Can you estimate what frequency you hear with the charging? And indeed I would be VERY curious to see/hear a demonstration of any bank switching "click."

 

Does anyone else hear any clicking or charging noises--even up close? I genuinely wish to know?

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

 

Ok, stuff happens with written word. No problem. And I'll see what I can do to produce it, and maybe even record it. The supercaps charge at a pretty high frequency, but my high frequency hearing isn't that good (had ears checked this summer, and I have normal to slightly above average roll-off in hearing above 10khz). But the frequency increases as the caps are charging, until they're charged, and then there's a quiet click, and the cycle starts over at a lower frequency and ascending to a higher frequency as it charges.

 

For what it's worth, the unit charging the FMC is louder in these effects than the unit charging the microRendu. Have you listened to your units under load?

[pl_svn]

just tried holding my LPS-1 against my ear and disconnecting/reconnecting the device it is powering (Regen) first, then the PS powering it (Meanwell) and honestly... all I could hear is a light "whine" at the very end of its discharge cycle after disconnecting the Meanwell, while the status light was turning off

[genjamon]

I hear absolutely nothing. Can you estimate what frequency you hear with the charging? And indeed I would be VERY curious to see/hear a demonstration of any bank switching "click."

 

Does anyone else hear any clicking or charging noises--even up close? I genuinely wish to know?

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

 

I played around a bit last night again. For some reason the high frequency charging noise was much less evident last night - with the Meanwell as feeder. I could hear it from speakers, but just barely. And I couldn't hear at all with ear next to the LPS-1.

 

However, the clicking sound was there for sure, and actually with both the Meanwell and the HDPlex as feeders. I attempted to record with my iPad in close quarters and poor lighting. It took a few tries, not knowing exactly where the microphone is on the iPad to place close to the unit. But I was able to record the clicking - but didn't get to upload it to youtube yet. I'll try to do that tonight.

[Superdad]

However, the clicking sound was there for sure, and actually with both the Meanwell and the HDPlex as feeders.

 

I admit to being baffled. There is not a single relay or switch inside the LPS-1, so I can't imagine what is making the sound you are hearing. Does it occur at a regular interval? I suppose if the case warms up it could make a small sound as expansion and contraction of the aluminum end panels takes place. I have a big power amp that does that when the air conditioning in my studio is on.

 

Please keep us posted.

[genjamon]

I admit to being baffled. There is not a single relay or switch inside the LPS-1, so I can't imagine what is making the sound you are hearing. Does it occur at a regular interval? I suppose if the case warms up it could make a small sound as expansion and contraction of the aluminum end panels takes place. I have a big power amp that does that when the air conditioning in my studio is on.

 

Please keep us posted.

 

Yeah, I believe you that there's no relay. But it's absolutely a regular interval, and in the past when the high frequency sweeping sound was audible of what I assumed were the supercaps recharging, the click sound coincided exactly with the reset of that sweep. Also, with those crappy Chinese power supplies, they have a voltage display on the front. I noticed when they were struggling to keep up with the LPS-1's, the voltage display would dip down from 9V to somewhere in the mid-3V range, then back up. In a regular interval. At least for a few cycles, until the LPS-1 finally dropped into full reboot mode. And the pace of these intervals of voltage dips corresponds to a similar pace of the clicks I'm hearing. So, I really think it's something to do with swapping between supercap banks for recharging.

 

Will post that video if I can this evening and send you a link.

[Superdad]

Will post that video if I can this evening and send you a link.

 

Okay, that will be fine. But I am not interested in seeing a video of an inadequate PS failing to properly "energize" an LPS-1. John has previously explained what happens during the charging cycles and why the current demand on a not-up-to-the task feeder supply cascades until both units give up.

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

[genjamon]

Okay, that will be fine. But I am not interested in seeing a video of an inadequate PS failing to properly "energize" an LPS-1. John has previously explained what happens during the charging cycles and why the current demand on a not-up-to-the task feeder supply cascades until both units give up.

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

 

When did I say I took a video of the Chinese PS? I think I pretty clearly indicated that last night I was reproducing the effect with Meanwell and HDPlex, and that's what I recorded. The Chinese PS issues were weeks ago, and they have not been used to feed the LPS-1's since then.

[Superdad]

When did I say I took a video of the Chinese PS? I think I pretty clearly indicated that last night I was reproducing the effect with Meanwell and HDPlex, and that's what I recorded. The Chinese PS issues were weeks ago, and they have not been used to feed the LPS-1's since then.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood. I assumed that the only thing to "look at" in a video would be a voltage display going down on the Chinese PS units you were speaking about in the same paragraph.

 

And if your LPS-1 is making regular interval "clicking" sounds, then it is defective and I want to see it back.

[Superdad]

When did I say I took a video of the Chinese PS? I think I pretty clearly indicated that last night I was reproducing the effect with Meanwell and HDPlex, and that's what I recorded. The Chinese PS issues were weeks ago, and they have not been used to feed the LPS-1's since then.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood. I assumed that the only thing to "look at" in a video would be a voltage display going down on the Chinese PS units you were speaking about in the same paragraph.

 

And if your LPS-1 is making regular interval "clicking" sounds, then it is defective and I want to see it back.

[genjamon]

Sorry, I misunderstood. I assumed that the only thing to "look at" in a video would be a voltage display going down on the Chinese PS units you were speaking about in the same paragraph.

 

And if your LPS-1 is making regular interval "clicking" sounds, then it is defective and I want to see it back.

 

Ok, well first you denied that clicking was possible. Then you said you'd appreciate documented evidence. So, I said I'd record and post. Now you just want me to return the unit. Alright, you'll need to send me the correct address in that case.

[Superdad]

Ok, well first you denied that clicking was possible. Then you said you'd appreciate documented evidence. So, I said I'd record and post. Now you just want me to return the unit. Alright, you'll need to send me the correct address in that case.

 

I seem to have gotten you upset, and for that I am sincerely sorry. Certainly not my intent. Just trying to help get to the bottom of something (mechanical clicking) which only you have reported, and which I have attempted in vain to reproduce.

(Under full load--so that bank switching occurs often--with my ear less than 1/2" away from the unit in my dead quiet studio, with all hard drives off, I hear absolutely nothing.)

 

Thus, I can only conclude that you have the first (out of 750 shipped) defective unit.

 

Complete customer satisfaction is the only thing that matters to me. It is how I built the business with not taking out a single advertisement or making any snake-oil claims.

 

If you are anything less than thrilled with the performance of your UltraCap LPS-1 unit, please allow me to refund your purchase in full. Life is just too short to have things around that make you unhappy. Please contact me offline via the Contact page on our web site.

 

-----------

 

Separately, looking back at a post you made about your system shortly after you received your LPS-1, it is clear that yours is an unusual situation, with amps that are very sensitive to interference, and very high sensitivity speakers. So extreme care must be taken in your system connections and power.

 

Keep in mind, I'm running all DHT, all SET equipment in both DAC and amp here. These tubes are definitely sensitive to noise. And I'm running them on 96dB speakers. I suspect my amp and/or DAC are not filtering this noise in their power supplies and/or it's somehow infecting the DHT tubes. They do suffer from some minor 60hz hum, inherent to a DHT's design. And this digital noise is only audible from a few feet away - barely audible from listening chair. But it's definitely there, and that's the opposite of the intent of inserting these LPS-1's in the system. Still really clean and clear performance from them, but there's this other noise present for sure. I would assume most systems will not have the combination of elements I'm dealing with here - high efficiency speakers, DHT DAC and amp.

 

I will also say that a while back when I first bought my HDPlex, I made some posts here on CA asking for help with some digital packet noise audible through my speakers - when powering the microRendu. The solution was to unplug one of the microUSB 5V supplies inside the HDPlex. But this speaks to some kind of grounding issue, that was finding its way into my system and hearing noise through the speakers. So, I'm not convinced I don't also have a grounding issue with my system.

 

 

Thanks and have a great weekend,

 

--Alex C.

[genjamon]

I seem to have gotten you upset, and for that I am sincerely sorry.

 

 

I'm not upset, just frustrated by the changing story. None of these issues are in any sense a dissatisfaction with the quality of the power produced by the units. These clicks are very quiet, and only audible with ear pretty damned close to the unit. I have been playing with them more since I got home today - and in fact both units are doing the same thing. Plugging them into various devices, the pace of the clicks varies substantially with the current draw of the device being powered. Without any load, the clicks are spaced at 30 seconds apart or more. Under close to full load (powering an FMC with 1A demand), the click happens every 5ish seconds (I haven't had a stopwatch to time it yet). And microRendu is a pace in between those two.

 

So, even though they're working very well, and I have no reason to think they are truly malfunctioning, there are these indicators that things are not so cut and dried as what you have claimed in your marketing and many posts I've read on this forum. You claim these devices are 100% immune from power supply variations having any impact at all. Well, I'm not yet convinced of that statement based on my experience with these two units. It's not that I think the direct DC output is polluted - I believe the unit is functioning as designed in terms of that. But there are ancillary system synergy elements where some other things can come into play, clearly. Either that, or there's something malfunctioning about these units that is allowing noise to be transmitted into the system.

 

Likewise, on the clicking phenomenon. You first were claiming it was 100% impossible, so much so as to say we'd have to agree to disagree. Well, I am experiencing this with both units.

 

In both cases, if you had said that these units are better than anything else out there, and nearly 100% immune from feeder PS qualities, and almost certainly 100% noiseless, I would have just chocked up these observations as YMMV. But your certainty in your claims has me scratching my head, because I'm experiencing subtle deviations from these absolute ideals.

 

What's frustrating is when you deny these issues, rather than seeking to troubleshoot. And when I volunteer to document the clicking, as you invited/requested, then you turn around and want me to just return them without providing said documentation. What happens if I return them, and then you can't reproduce the effect? I would rather provide the documentation on my end so that you know what to look for, and as evidence I'm not just making things up. We're all experienced with the problem of troubleshooting periodic phenomena, such as when you bring your car to the mechanic to diagnose an issue that comes and goes, and then it doesn't reproduce itself when in the shop. I'm not sure why you would forgo the additional information and documentation if you were so committed to drilling down and troubleshooting the situation.

 

So, basically, I'm a patient and curious guy - couldn't be an audiophile tweak-o-phile if I wasn't. And I'm kind of curious what's going on here too. These are not a major problems with your units. I'm very happy with their performance - as long as I feed them non-SMPS power, and I've taken steps to do so. Even with the additional expense of doing so, I don't think I could get better sound for the money.

 

But when you say you want to get to the bottom of things, wanting documentation, and then reject it - yeah, that rubs the wrong way a bit.

 

I'll be contacting you privately for your address so that I can return the units for you to troubleshoot in the flesh. Again, I'm not interested in returning for refund, I am happy with their performance. And I'd be content with keeping them in current condition, other than the fact you think something is truly defective because of this clicking business. I will look forward to their return ASAP, as they greatly improve the performance of my system. And I am also considering purchase of a third in the near future.

 

Regards,

Ben

[d_elm]

I'm not upset, just frustrated by the changing story. None of these issues are in any sense a dissatisfaction with the quality of the power produced by the units. These clicks are very quiet, and only audible with ear pretty damned close to the unit. I have been playing with them more since I got home today - and in fact both units are doing the same thing. Plugging them into various devices, the pace of the clicks varies substantially with the current draw of the device being powered. Without any load, the clicks are spaced at 30 seconds apart or more. Under close to full load (powering an FMC with 1A demand), the click happens every 5ish seconds (I haven't had a stopwatch to time it yet). And microRendu is a pace in between those two.

 

So, even though they're working very well, and I have no reason to think they are truly malfunctioning, there are these indicators that things are not so cut and dried as what you have claimed in your marketing and many posts I've read on this forum. You claim these devices are 100% immune from power supply variations having any impact at all. Well, I'm not yet convinced of that statement based on my experience with these two units. It's not that I think the direct DC output is polluted - I believe the unit is functioning as designed in terms of that. But there are ancillary system synergy elements where some other things can come into play, clearly. Either that, or there's something malfunctioning about these units that is allowing noise to be transmitted into the system.

 

Likewise, on the clicking phenomenon. You first were claiming it was 100% impossible, so much so as to say we'd have to agree to disagree. Well, I am experiencing this with both units.

 

In both cases, if you had said that these units are better than anything else out there, and nearly 100% immune from feeder PS qualities, and almost certainly 100% noiseless, I would have just chocked up these observations as YMMV. But your certainty in your claims has me scratching my head, because I'm experiencing subtle deviations from these absolute ideals.

 

What's frustrating is when you deny these issues, rather than seeking to troubleshoot. And when I volunteer to document the clicking, as you invited/requested, then you turn around and want me to just return them without providing said documentation. What happens if I return them, and then you can't reproduce the effect? I would rather provide the documentation on my end so that you know what to look for, and as evidence I'm not just making things up. We're all experienced with the problem of troubleshooting periodic phenomena, such as when you bring your car to the mechanic to diagnose an issue that comes and goes, and then it doesn't reproduce itself when in the shop. I'm not sure why you would forgo the additional information and documentation if you were so committed to drilling down and troubleshooting the situation.

 

So, basically, I'm a patient and curious guy - couldn't be an audiophile tweak-o-phile if I wasn't. And I'm kind of curious what's going on here too. These are not a major problems with your units. I'm very happy with their performance - as long as I feed them non-SMPS power, and I've taken steps to do so. Even with the additional expense of doing so, I don't think I could get better sound for the money.

 

But when you say you want to get to the bottom of things, wanting documentation, and then reject it - yeah, that rubs the wrong way a bit.

 

I'll be contacting you privately for your address so that I can return the units for you to troubleshoot in the flesh. Again, I'm not interested in returning for refund, I am happy with their performance. And I'd be content with keeping them in current condition, other than the fact you think something is truly defective because of this clicking business. I will look forward to their return ASAP, as they greatly improve the performance of my system. And I am also considering purchase of a third in the near future.

 

Regards,

Ben

 

This is forum abuse and you should use private e-mail to continue this rant.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

[pl_svn]

curious to see where this leads to : popcorn :

 

102db sensitive speakers, here. 6922 pre and 2A3 SET power amplifier but... all is dead quiet

my pre picks RFI now and then, but it does both with or without an LPS-1/Meanwell in the chain

[ElviaCaprice]

No problems here with my pair of LPS-1's. No clicking, no noise what so ever. Couldn't be happier with their performance. A remarkable achievement.