The Paul Hynes SR4 PSU

[Jiffi32]

23 minutes ago, highstream said:

Anyone with an April production date heard anything yet? I wrote Paul a couple of times earlier this month about the cable part of my order and didn’t get a response.

I've got a Feb SR4 and a Mar SR4 on order with no news on those yet.. Anybody else on those production months with any info?

[Armando Cruz]

" Anyone with an April production date heard anything yet? I wrote Paul a couple of times earlier this month about the cable part of my order and didn’t get a response"

 

I have ordered mine on March one, he said I was in the April build. I have sent him a message 11 days ago to make an alteration in my order, same situation in here " didn't get a response ". He could make excellent  LPS, but communication?  it's definitely  not his greatest strength...

[highstream]

3 hours ago, greenleo said:

Don't worry.  It's too early as usual and please check other threads as well.

 

Uncalled for. And specifically which other threads?

 

Production is ostensibly scheduled for the last 10 days of the month, and the last we heard in February Paul was catching up that month on back orders. At the time I ordered, Paul answered emails within minutes to two or three days, so his lack of response in April about the specifics of an order - whether or not to alter something - raises fair question about where things stand, reminiscent of last year. Plus, there's no law of physics, biology or anything else that assures our orders, or even return of several hundred dollars paid. So there's good reason to be wondering about possibilities, as well as about how putting everything on hold for this order and its sound effects is influencing other decisions.

[novaca]

I ordered mine in mid-January - should be delivered in early March. I asked Paul to confirm receipt of the payment - no response. Likewise, no answer to questions about the new delivery date...

[Dutch]

For those who missed Paul’s post April 4th in the SR7 topic: 

 

The last time I was in contact with Paul (about a SR4 order and SR7 module replacement) was April 2nd. I didn’t try after this date.

 

[greenleo]

On 4/28/2019 at 1:34 AM, highstream said:

 

Uncalled for. And specifically which other threads?

 

Production is ostensibly scheduled for the last 10 days of the month, and the last we heard in February Paul was catching up that month on back orders. At the time I ordered, Paul answered emails within minutes to two or three days, so his lack of response in April about the specifics of an order - whether or not to alter something - raises fair question about where things stand, reminiscent of last year. Plus, there's no law of physics, biology or anything else that assures our orders, or even return of several hundred dollars paid. So there's good reason to be wondering about possibilities, as well as about how putting everything on hold for this order and its sound effects is influencing other decisions.

Please read the SR7 thread.  Quite a few CAers (among other people not CAers) ordered the SR4 and did not get it as the original promised schedule.  I did not say what Paul has been doing is right but just telling the facts. 

 

If it's reaching the end of the protection period of PayPal, one should consider to claim the money back.  This is the only thing that a buyer can do.

 

 

[highstream]

3 hours ago, Dutch said:

For those who missed Paul’s post April 4th in the SR7 topic: 

 

The last time I was in contact with Paul (about a SR4 order and SR7 module replacement) was April 2nd. I didn’t try after this date.

 

 

Thanks for posting that. Not sure why he didn’t post that here too, but now we know what’s going on, probably why no responses and where to keep an eye on.

 

@greenleo  Actually, you didn’t post any facts. A link, or even the name of a specific thread, would have saved us all some time.

[greenleo]

2 hours ago, highstream said:

 

Thanks for posting that. Not sure why he didn’t post that here too, but now we know what’s going on, probably why no responses and where to keep an eye on.

 

@greenleo  Actually, you didn’t post any facts. A link, or even the name of a specific thread, would have saved us all some time.

@highstream I guess you're quite new in CA or quite new to search the SOTA LPS.  The PH's behavior is realtively well known in CA/AS.  Usually the buyer knows the behavior before the purchase.  I didn't post the link because it's well known to me and quite a few CAers who likes PH's LPS.  Given that the SR7 thread and the SR4 thread are under the same sub-forum, I thought that most CAers know them.

 

It's not uncommon to have an audio product that stated that the delivery time should be 3 months but the actual delivery took more than 2 years.  I'm not promoting this behavior nor finding it acceptable but when one wants to have the best, unfortunately, sometimes this is the price to pay for.  For some of these products, the maker handles the situation in a satisfactory manner and most of the buyers are satisfied, some makers don't and lots complaint were resulted.

 

PH's usual delay in my post was posted as a fact.  I do not understand why you said I didn't post fact.  Anyway, this is no big deal.  Even though I do not like the delay,  I try to be factual rather than condemning or judgmental.  A buyer should also use the protection period of the PayPal or any other protection wisely because this is more or less what we can do.

 

I do hope that anyone intended to deal with PH should know this beforehand.  

[highstream]

Again, uncalled for. There's no reason to post "don't worry," unless one explains specifically or provides a specific source, e.g., a link, to what's being referred to. Saying that one should have looked elsewhere or that everyone who reads the forum knows, or that's the nature of the business, does not in my opinion fall under appropriate internet courtesy. At least, that's not the way I treat others.

 

Btw, I ordered knowing of the problems and delays that occurred last year, having read the thread, but hopeful that there wouldn't be a delay, or much of one, since PH said he intended to catch up in February. In my years involved with high end audio equipment, about 40 now, I've been fortunate in rarely having production delayed much beyond expected dates, and then always with notices, while occasionally unfortunate in receiving equipment that needed more time in development before being pushed out the door. 

[highstream]

Someone on the SR7 thread reported having received SR4s yesterday, although he hasn’t specified which month he was scheduled (yet). If anyone receives theirs, please let us know and include that info, so the rest of us can get our bearings. Thanks,

[zerung]

Has any one tried SR4-05 (4A) with multiple output via splitter cables. Any view?

[Jiffi32]

Just received my SR4-12 from the February schedule. 

It's worth the wait!

[ray-dude]

Congratulations! To clarify, did you order it in February, or is this the February scheduled ship batch that is currently shipping?

 

(I ordered one in March, with a target June ship date)

[Jiffi32]

@ray-dude it was ordered in Jan, but Jan batch was all sold so I had 1 on the Feb (ship March) batch 

[cat6man]

congrats.

i ordered late Feb and am in the April batch (ship May)

extrapolating from your dates,  i'm estimating July (2 months due to plumbing) for mine.

works for me

[auricgoldfinger]

Please post information regarding your SR4 build status to this new thread:

 

 

[highstream]

On 2/21/2018 at 12:18 PM, octaviars said:

Got my SR4 today. After the first one was lost by UPS in december and Paul had to ship a new one it finally arrived with DHL today.

 

Some pictures of it.

 

 

 

Have it connected to my SOtM SMS Ultra now and will give it a couple of days to burn in.

 

 

 

 

Ayone know if that 1A slow-blow fuse spec is for both voltages or just 230? 

[highstream]

On 6/15/2019 at 11:16 AM, highstream said:

 

Anyone know if that 1A slow-blow fuse spec is for both voltages or just 230? 

 

Paul says 1A works for both voltages.

[highstream]

In Paul's description of the SR4, he doesn't include a power (mains) cord, instead suggesting that a higher quality audio  oriented cord will improve LPS' sound. I'm using a PS Audio AC-12, which I have throughout my system. I'm posting this note, however, to suggest consideration of something more.

 

With the SR4 and Paul's silver cable plugged into an iFi spdif purifier at my DirectStream dac, the tone warmed up, became more detailed and improved in most other ways vs. the Kora LPS I'd been using. After 10 days of burn in, which is admittedly shorter than my usual practice, I decided to take another step and swap in an Audio Magic Ultimate Beeswax fuse. That's the same fuse I use in the dac and ATC active floorstanders. The slight thinness/edginess and reduced dynamics I was hearing with the stock fuse were soon replaced by a much smoother, somewhat warmer, liquid and more dynamic sound. That's only gotten better over time, now 12 days or roughly 300 hours in. Yes, I know the AM fuse is among the more expensive ones (Kitsune does discount it), but I've long found aftermarket audio fuses do make a difference; after all, they are in effect an extension of the power cord, and thus help determine the quality of what reaches a component's power supply, and thus what the electronic circuits the power supply feeds get. Different fuses have different audio qualities, and I've found SQ doesn't necessarily correlate with price, so to each their own sound preferences and budget. I like the AM fuse over the popular SR Black because in my living room system I've found that not withstanding the SR's amazing PRAT, it's tonally on the cool (aka "neutral") side, which drives me batty. 

 

Note that I'm not looking to start a debate here about fuses (or power cords), just tossing out an idea for those who might be interested in experimenting.

[auricgoldfinger]

9 hours ago, highstream said:

In Paul's description of the SR4, he doesn't include a power (mains) cord, instead suggesting that a higher quality audio  oriented cord will improve LPS' sound. I'm using a PS Audio AC-12, which I have throughout my system. I'm posting this note, however, to suggest consideration of something more.

 

With the SR4 and Paul's silver cable plugged into an iFi spdif purifier at my DirectStream dac, the tone warmed up, became more detailed and improved in most other ways vs. the Kora LPS I'd been using. After 10 days of burn in, which is admittedly shorter than my usual practice, I decided to take another step and swap in an Audio Magic Ultimate Beeswax fuse. That's the same fuse I use in the dac and ATC active floorstanders. The slight thinness/edginess and reduced dynamics I was hearing with the stock fuse were soon replaced by a much smoother, somewhat warmer, liquid and more dynamic sound. That's only gotten better over time, now 12 days or roughly 300 hours in. Yes, I know the AM fuse is among the more expensive ones (Kitsune does discount it), but I've long found aftermarket audio fuses do make a difference; after all, they are in effect an extension of the power cord, and thus help determine the quality of what reaches a component's power supply, and thus what the electronic circuits the power supply feeds get. Different fuses have different audio qualities, and I've found SQ doesn't necessarily correlate with price, so to each their own sound preferences and budget. I like the AM fuse over the popular SR Black because in my living room system I've found that not withstanding the SR's amazing PRAT, it's tonally on the cool (aka "neutral") side, which drives me batty. 

 

Note that I'm not looking to start a debate here about fuses (or power cords), just tossing out an idea for those who might be interested in experimenting.

 

I've found that SR blue fuses sound better in some devices while the AM ultimate SHD fuse sounds better in others.  There seems to be a mix and match component that I would imagine also varies from one system to another.

[highstream]

As much as I disliked the SR Black fuses in my living room system, I recently realized that there are still a pair in the Quad 12L actives on my desktop, and those sound great. I don't know why, but perhaps the warmth of the Quads is overcoming the effect of the fuses, or it's that I'm running the speakers directly from the mobo with a combination of an OEM computer cord and MG Audio Design silver balanced ICs. I doubt it's the difference in fuse amp values, as my living room system has different ones.

 

Btw, anyone wanting lower cost suggestions for fuses to try, feel free to PM me.

[JanRSmit]

On 4/3/2019 at 2:24 PM, lmitche said:

Yes my SR4 is running at 19 volts.

 

As the stock Intel power supply is also 19 volts it could be that the board runs best at 19 volts rather than 12 volts. Perhaps some level of tuning or calibration is at play here. I don't know. 

 

If I can find the time, I'll lower the voltage on the SR4 to 12 volts and have a listen.

mitche, what DC cable did you order as well? I am about to order a SR4 19V for my nuc7i7dnke as well, but do not know which dc cable to order as well.

 

[lmitche]

3 hours ago, JanRSmit said:

mitche, what DC cable did you order as well? I am about to order a SR4 19V for my nuc7i7dnke as well, but do not know which dc cable to order as well.

 

A .5 meter silver cable was ordered and delivered with the SR4.

[frederick184]

Mine arrived today along with .5 meter silver cable.  Out of the box it lifted the performance of my NUC to new levels.

 

More realism, dynamics and coherence.  More of that 3D experience.  Really well worth the wait and interesting to see how it gets better as it burns in.

 

Colin

[str-1]

It would be interesting to learn from those lucky enough to own both SR4-12 and SR4-19 whether they sound and perform the same at the voltages they share (9v and 12v).