In case you didn't know...Sonore makes power supplies

[vortecjr]

AND I'm happy to announce that we are expanding our power supply business to include more voltage output options so you can now power a wide range of products. 

 

We currently offer:

7 VDC output @1.5A continuous (recommended for our micro/ultra/opticalRendu, opticalModule, and ultraDigital)

 

Very soon we will also be offering:
5.0 VDC output @1.5A continuous  (recommended for our endPoint series)

 

We are also looking at offering:

9.0 VDC output @1A continuous

12.0 VDC output @ 2A continuous

[feelingears]

So there is a void in the power supply world now (May 2021) with Paul Hynes dropping out (for the time being?). Sean Jacobs, also in the UK, is an alternative. Not being an EE, just an audiophile who hears that brand x power sounds different than lower priced brand y, may I ask you to elaborate on the sonic benefits of your designs, please @vortecjr?

 

And, customizations of cable terminations or materials? (I found that like everything power, a silver DC cable made a difference in my current digital chain.) Thanks.

 

 

[barrows]

22 hours ago, feelingears said:

So there is a void in the power supply world now (May 2021) with Paul Hynes dropping out (for the time being?). Sean Jacobs, also in the UK, is an alternative. Not being an EE, just an audiophile who hears that brand x power sounds different than lower priced brand y, may I ask you to elaborate on the sonic benefits of your designs, please @vortecjr?

 

And, customizations of cable terminations or materials? (I found that like everything power, a silver DC cable made a difference in my current digital chain.) Thanks.

 

 

I'll take over here for Jesus on the design and implementation of the Sonore Power Supplies.  At Sonore we as a matter of policy do not comment on subjective listening results of our products, we prefer that users and reviewers make those judgements and anecdotal observations.  We prefer to focus on the technical side of our products, and that is what I will discuss here.

The Sonore Power Supply was designed originally to fulfill the need for a very high performance, linear power supply for the Rendu Series of products.  We are now expanding the range of voltages, and in the case of the 12 V model, output powers available to suit many components, especially things like Ethernet switches, routers, and such.

The Sonore Power Supply uses the following approach:

A linear power supply, designed/engineered to provide ultra low noise, and ultra low impedance DC voltage to power high end audio accessories.  To achieve that goal, the supply uses a fairly straightforward and high quality design approach.  We use high quality film capacitance to filter the incoming AC and damp transformer resonance, followed by the best available ultra soft recovery diodes to rectify the AC to DC with the least noise possible, then we have a very large amount of high quality capacitance to reduce the AC ripple to negligible levels before our voltage regulation circuit.  The voltage regulation is accomplished by a discrete regulator which features ultra low noise output, and even more important (especially for powering digital devices which tend to grab current in chunks) ultra low output impedance-we do not use cheap, off the shelf, integrated circuits for the critical voltage regulation step.  The voltage regulation is followed by a high quality (audio grade) small amount of capacitance to filter out the last tiny bit of high frequency noise, and stabilize the step response of the regulator, without slowing it down.

The output connector for DC is a standard high quality barrel jack connector with 2.1 mm center pin, so one can use their favorite DC cable of choice.  We also offer (these are options) DC cables of our design, the DC-4 is a high quality DC cable made for us by Cardas Audio feature high gauge ultra pure copper wire, and our higher end model, the DC-5, is very special cable, which is made with a star quad arrangement of sold core single crystal copper wiring, in foamed teflon insulation for the lowest possible dielectric constant, all wrapped in an polymer jacket which damps vibration in the cable.

Please feel free to ask any other questions which you may have here, I am happy to answer.

[MarkusBarkus]

...I have one of these premo supplies on my OM in a small network closet. Ambient temp is 78F. PS is 96F. It never runs hot and is dead silent. Sleek, no non-sense design. 👍

[feelingears]

10 hours ago, barrows said:

We prefer to focus on the technical side of our products, and that is what I will discuss here.

 

@barrows Thanks and I appreciate your expertise as I've noted in the past. In my experience, power is perhaps the single most fundamental aspect, and yet not the only thing that determines "final" sound quality. There are many manufacturers who use premium parts, but who do not achieve "the sound" for my ear (emphasis on "my ear").

 

Nonetheless, if there is one area where premium does seem to translate into "the sound," it's power supplies. To your point about digital gear grabbing current in chunks, I consider the power supply and power cable of components in my digital signal chain to be of utmost importance, and available current definitely seems to be part of that equation.

 

I'm sure a lot of people want to buy power supplies that span a wide range of voltages, and yet this isn't the best for you, the manufacturer. In my case, I have an old Auralic Aries femto steamer that takes 16v/1A, and I have Uptone and W4S gear that takes 7v/0.5A or something. 

 

Will you offer specific voltages/amperages, or will your supplies have adjustable voltages? Seems to be the former?

 

 

[barrows]

9 hours ago, feelingears said:

 

@barrows Thanks and I appreciate your expertise as I've noted in the past. In my experience, power is perhaps the single most fundamental aspect, and yet not the only thing that determines "final" sound quality. There are many manufacturers who use premium parts, but who do not achieve "the sound" for my ear (emphasis on "my ear").

 

Nonetheless, if there is one area where premium does seem to translate into "the sound," it's power supplies. To your point about digital gear grabbing current in chunks, I consider the power supply and power cable of components in my digital signal chain to be of utmost importance, and available current definitely seems to be part of that equation.

 

I'm sure a lot of people want to buy power supplies that span a wide range of voltages, and yet this isn't the best for you, the manufacturer. In my case, I have an old Auralic Aries femto steamer that takes 16v/1A, and I have Uptone and W4S gear that takes 7v/0.5A or something. 

 

Will you offer specific voltages/amperages, or will your supplies have adjustable voltages? Seems to be the former?

 

 

Offering adjustable voltage is a compromise in performance, and in price and value.  In our power supplies, output voltage is set by a single, very high precision resistor, to accomplish adjustable output voltage, many companies will use a cheap adjustable trim pot which does not have the same performance level as a single fixed resistor.   There is no good way to allow for adjustable output voltage which does not reduce performance, and/or raise the price and reduce the value.

So we are offering only fixed output voltage supplies.  Right  now all the power supplies we produce are capable of around 15 watts output, the 12 volt output supply will have higher output current capability and will be housed in a bit larger chassis, and cost a bit more to achieve that higher power capability.

If we do not offer a voltage and current output which suits your gear, we may be able to build a custom unit to suit your needs at a slightly higher price.  In terms of your examples, our standard 7.0 VDC supply we have been making for awhile now is entirely suitable for your W4S and Uptone gear which you mention.  As for a 16 VDC@1A supply, that would be possible on a custom order basis at a slightly higher price.

Note that all of these supplies are hand built to order, a single unit at time, and that custom units may require longer lead times than our standard 2-4 weeks for the production of the supplies.

[MikePid]

I upgraded from the SGC 7v LPS to one of these and it made a huge difference.  Had the Blue fuse put into it too.  Runs cool driving my ultraRendu.  

 

(I also have a PH SR4T powering the competitor’s network switch.)

 

I recently upgraded my power source to an Inakustik 3500, and all power cables are Inakustik too.  I’m a believer in good quality power!