Sean jacobs unregulated psu

[TimF]

Anyone know anything about this? 

https://www.custom-hifi-cables.co.uk/power-supplies/unregulated-arc6-power-supply-for-taiko-atx

 

Anything to do with nenons V3 psu ?

cheers Tim  

[bit01]

My little finger says @Nenon knows all about it & more!

[jean-michel6]

Very interesting ! 

[Nenon]

3 hours ago, bit01 said:

My little finger says @Nenon knows all about it & more!

 

Sean's unregulated LPS is similar to v2 with some added flavor. It also utilizes some of the ARC6 technology. It's for those who can't build their own ULPS. Comes with a premium but you get the craftsmanship Sean is famous for and his warranty, if any of that is important. It's also in a relatively compact chassis in case space is a concern. 

[TimF]

Thanks nenon! 
 

Any idea how it’d perform directly against a diy V2? 

[ASRMichael]

On 2/11/2022 at 10:02 PM, TimF said:

Anyone know anything about this? 

https://www.custom-hifi-cables.co.uk/power-supplies/unregulated-arc6-power-supply-for-taiko-atx

 

Anything to do with nenons V3 psu ?

cheers Tim  

I currently have 2 Sean Jacobs LPS's. I have just placed an order for Unregulated LPS from him. I believe Nenon worked on the spec with Sean for this. So I would imagine it's very similar to V2 or V3. 

[VoicesInMyHead]

On 2/11/2022 at 11:02 PM, TimF said:

Anyone know anything about this? 

 

I've had this in my system for a couple of months now, replacing a DC3, together with the Taiko Audio DC-ATX convertor. It's not a cheap PSU by any means and of course it was tempting to build a V2 or V3 on my own, but thinking it through I felt it wasn't for me, better leave the PSU building to people who actually knows what they're doing. 😊

 

I haven't really done comparisons with different PSU's though, all I can say is that my system sounds amazing and it feels like a good match with the Taiko convertor. It was a good uptick in SQ going from the DC3, which was already very good. Building my own server (more or less copying what Nenon did in his thread) has been nothing but a revelation and I believe good power is a big key to the result.

 

My DC3 is 19V & 5V and was very practical and convenient to also power a JCAT card for example. At the moment I've actually removed it from the system (I'm selling it if anyone is interested) and is taking 5V for the JCAT NET XE card from the Taiko convertor. One box less, still sound fabulous powered only by the Unregulated!

[TimF]

Cool! What was driving your motherboard before the unregulated arrived? Sean is currently modifying my Dc3 for running the two 5v cards and etherregen. 

[VoicesInMyHead]

2 minutes ago, TimF said:

Cool! What was driving your motherboard before the unregulated arrived? Sean is currently modifying my Dc3 for running the two 5v cards and etherregen. 

 

I was using the DC3 with the Taiko convertor for a short period while waiting for the Unregulated to arrive, but the plan was already from the beginning to upgrade from HDPLEX DC-ATX to Taiko and also go with the Unregulated for it. I believe that's the right thing, the Unregulated could have been adjusted to work with the HDPLEX at lesser voltage, but I'm glad Nenon convinced me to go for the Taiko/Unregulated combo and its sweet spot to get the best of two worlds. If I had stayed with the HDPLEX I would probably also have sticked with the DC3 to power it. Balance in a system is a good thing.

 

My plan was also to modify the DC3 for dual 5V, or actually sell it and buy a new one with this configuration. But then I decided to move in another direction and sold off my JCAT USB XE card in favour of an external Innuos PhoenixUSB.

[TimF]

Makes sense, so how much better is the unregulated? 

I already have a Dc3 or I’d have been in for yours! 

[Patatorz]

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I started discussion with Sean and the Europe (euro zone) dealer and still thinking in moving forward to feed my taiko dc/atx. Still some question marks as it is for a server and not a server + player.

[ASRMichael]

4 hours ago, VoicesInMyHead said:

 

 

My plan was also to modify the DC3 for dual 5V, or actually sell it and buy a new one with this configuration. But then I decided to move in another direction and sold off my JCAT USB XE card in favour of an external Innuos PhoenixUSB.

Did this make an improvement? Removing JCAT XE USB for Phoenix? I thought about this previously but never had the courage to buy/try it. 
 

Cheers

[VoicesInMyHead]

2 hours ago, TimF said:

Makes sense, so how much better is the unregulated? 

 

difficult to say, I only had the DC3 with Taiko for a short period and I don't think the Taiko even was properly burned-in during the time and the PSU's are also growing on your over time, but after a while I felt things were definitely on a much higher level than before, and the Taiko and Unregulated had a great cumulative effect together. I have no regrets going down that path!

[VoicesInMyHead]

54 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Did this make an improvement? Removing JCAT XE USB for Phoenix? I thought about this previously but never had the courage to buy/try it. 

 

in short, yes! it took a while before I appreciated it though, and I had doubts if I had done the right thing for a couple of days. I also upgraded the fuse to a SR Purple and I got the new Sablon Evo USB cables on both sides of the Phoenix. There you can talk about improvement btw, the new Sablon Evo cable is in one word amazing! Highly recommended.

 

it probably depends on a lot of things though, like PSU's, cables etc, and cost vs performance the JCAT card is tough to beat considering the Phoenix cost quite a lot more. The below post goes a bit more into detail about the differences.

 

[TimF]

Info from Sean who is happy I post this here… hope this helps. Cheers Tim 

 

The unregulated PSU that I sell is slightly different to Nenon's DIY version - he put that list together on the basis that it's easier for most novice DIYers to use crimp terminals than make themselves a PCB (he didn't want to get into the whole business of designing and selling his own PCBs for DIY), hence the Mundorf capacitors that have screw terminals. They are actually excellent caps for the job too, if rather large and inefficient (they have rated voltages far higher than you need). Anyway... the unregulated PSU that I sell does use share a few parts, the Hammond choke and the VCAP ODAM for two. I also use a customised version of the Saligny rectifier module. The PSU is based around my ARC6 module, this is the same module that is fitted as an optional upgrade to my DC4 PSU. It has a total capacitance of over 198,000uF, compared to 160,000uF for Nenon's v3 design. A single choke is used, as the output impedance of the capacitor array is very important and we need to keep it as low as possible. Most of that reservoir capacitance is actually wired directly to the output socket (doubled-up wires and socket pins are used too) to keep impedance very low. There's also a custom mains transformer from the same manufacturer that does the DC4 transformers (one step down in spec though due to space issues inside the case).

 

In terms of performance, I suspect that it is somewhere around what the v3 can achieve. It probably sounds slightly different due to the different configurations and certain parts used, but not massively so.

 

And to confirm, yes there's no real improvements to be made to components. You could certainly spend more on an even bigger transformer, use Mundorf wire (but for the 3cm or so from PCB to socket, it makes no difference to sound I am sure), but I don't think you are going to get any noticeable improvements beyond this PSU's existing spec.

[bit01]

It would be nice to have more data on the power rating. 

[ASRMichael]

19 minutes ago, bit01 said:

It would be nice to have more data on the power rating. 

I have one on order. All I know is it uses 400va transformer. 36vdc. 

[bit01]

21 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

I have one on order. All I know is it uses 400va transformer. 36vdc. 

Good for you! If it is similar to Nenon's V2 then the choke size will determine the current rating - about 5A? Is that enough for your design?

[ASRMichael]

On 3/9/2022 at 7:13 PM, bit01 said:

Good for you! If it is similar to Nenon's V2 then the choke size will determine the current rating - about 5A? Is that enough for your design?

Hi, I asked Sean, same choke as V2 & V3. 180w then. We’ll find out over the next few weeks. 

[TimF]

All the best Michael, I’m changing jobs so delaying any purchase. 

[ASRMichael]

Just now, TimF said:

All the best Michael, I’m changing jobs so delaying any purchase. 

Perfect timing before you go down the rabbit hole! 😂

[ASRMichael]

Picked up my ULPS from Sean yesterday. 
 

Now bear in mind I already had 24vdc DC3 ULPS suppling my Taiko ATX. 
 

As soon as I played something I was wow! It’s like a vale has been lifted. Also soundscape is huge. This is without any break in! Was taken aback thinking it’s going to take weeks to sound good. Can’t imagine what it’s going to sound like in 4-6 weeks! Been listening all day! 
 

This demonstrates if you are buying Taiko ATX you’ll need to feed it with high quality ULPS. 
 

Great track to test your system! Especially Sax at end! 
 

 

[MarcelNL]

Great to see you're back!

Currently my PSU (slightly different setup) is now, what? 2-3 months on 24/7, and last week I concluded it is still improving...so keep at it! 

Today I hopefully (postal services are not great around around here) get a new bypass cap to test on the 12V, new hand made prototype using precious metals. That last bypass cap IME is quite important.

 

 

[TimF]

Awesome Michael! I’m now jealous 😅

Need my new job to hurry up and pay me. This is exactly the sort of info I need to show that a front end makes a difference into a Dac. If the difference is so big can you easily blind test and share the results? I’m running a series on my YouTube channel that will attempt to replicate this. 

 

[TimF]

13 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

Great to see you're back!

Currently my PSU (slightly different setup) is now, what? 2-3 months on 24/7, and last week I concluded it is still improving...so keep at it! 

Today I hopefully (postal services are not great around around here) get a new bypass cap to test on the 12V, new hand made prototype using precious metals. That last bypass cap IME is quite important.

 

 

Marcel is the bypass cap part of Sean’s design or a v2 / V3 tweak? If good perhaps we can share it with Sean if it’s not in his power supply.