Farad supercap DC power supplies

[Jeremy Anderson]

13 hours ago, Superdad said:

Yes, counter-clockwise (as seen with the wire coming towards you).

 

But that's only in the Northern Hemisphere, right? 😂

 

(Just kidding..)

[Jeremy Anderson]

On 7/21/2020 at 2:29 PM, MarkusBarkus said:

.. I do have Farad3s on my Qutest, MScaler and etherReGen. 
 

I find the F3s sound terrific and do not run hot, FYI. Excellent musical detail. 
 

I never ran the stock Qutest PS. I *think* I initially powered the Qutest with a Shanti I had on hand, and adding the Farad3 was significant.
 

Relevant info:

--Fuse upgrade is HIFi Tuning. 
--Furutech AC Inlet

--Level 1 DC Cable (Level 2 on MS and eRG). Copper. 
--PCs are all Analysis Plus Pro Oval

--Cord related PS devices are plugged into a PI Audio hybrid UberBuss/DigiBuss power supply.

 

I have a Qutest as well (but no MScaler yet...) being fed by a battery supply (PowerAdd Pilot Pro 5 for the 5V power). The signal side is fed by an Uptone LPS 1.2 + ISO REGEN combo. (The LPS 1.2 is being fed by a separate PowerAdd Pilot Pro 5 battery to maintain galvanic isolation).

 

I recently upgraded my Sonore ultraRendu's power from the DC output of one of the batteries to a 6V Farad Super3 [w/ Furutech + SR Orange fuse] using the standard tin-plated copper output cable (and I used a Nordost Blue Heaven power cable for input) and the results were profound. Seriously impressive, 'component-level' upgrade.

 

I was not expecting this just by powering the ultraRendu differently... in fact, upgrading the uR's supply further was not in near-term cards at all. I'd planned to try a Farad on the Qutest first.. but then this souped-up 6V supply showed up on eBay for a seriously sweet price.

 

Now, I may be getting a double-whammy by achieving proper galvanic isolation along with the seriously improved power stability and delivery the Farad Super3 affords... either way, what a difference! I'm hearing backing vocals coming out of the woodwork and low-level detail retrieval in spades. Voices sound more natural and rich, instruments have greater separation, there's real depth to the sound stage... all, seemingly, from giving the uR a better power base (and, of course, the GI). Crazy.

 

I've got some other upgrades in the works, but at least one more Farad is on the menu. Perhaps as a Christmas gift...

[Jeremy Anderson]

11 hours ago, HeeBroG said:

 

Hi Jeremy,

 

Is the galvanic isolation due to the Super Capacitor design much like with the Uptone LPS 1.2?

 

Geoff

 

The GI I am referring to provided by the Chord Qutest. Qutest's signal input and power input are galvanically isolated, but I was unwittingly defeating that when I had 2 power supplies (batteries) and 3 components. I was running a USB line and a DC line from one battery to power the Qutest and to provide juice for the ultraRendu.

 

In doing so, I was creating a ground connection between the USB input side (since the USB signal comes from the Rendu) and the power input side via the battery powering them both. The other battery was being used to power the Uptone LPS 1.2 at a higher voltage to ensure it had ample current supply.  (edit: It is possible that much of that isolation was being restored by the ISO REGEN + LPS 1.2, but I'm not an electrical engineer.)

 

Buying the Farad enabled me to dedicate one battery for each side of Qutest's internal "moat," while seriously upping the quality of the supplied voltage to the source (the ultraRendu). I can't know how much each change helped since they are a package deal, but I'm willing to give the Farad the loin's share of the credit.

[Jeremy Anderson]

I'm planning to pick up a V14D for my Farad as well.

 

For now I'm using a tried and true Nordost Blue Heaven. The V14D bests it in numerous ways (CCI Noise Filtration, 14ga vs BH's 16ga, KPIP treatment, etc.), while the BH has higher copper purity (99.99% vs 99.9999%, for what that's worth). Nordost also has MMF, which is an older trick, but still a good one. I still suspect the V14D would win on the bench or even in a blind taste test.

 

I hope to get the opportunity to host a shootout between these two, but right now my system is in a bit of an upheaval. I've also been clearing out my Nordost cable stable, though, and selling the Blue Heaven might just net me a V14D, so we'll have to wait and see...