NVA Power Supply

[George Hincapie]

Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question - what is the NVA PSU I can see listed on the price list? Is it a linear 12V supply or something else?

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

The Phono2 comes with one external supply as standard but it is wired so it can take two, one for each channel, that is the optional second one. It serves no other purpose.

[George Hincapie]

Thanks Doc.

I know you have obviously made the BMU, but have you ever considered creating a quality 12V supply for people to use with DACs?

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Too many people doing them as far as I can see. It also has legal complications. Those DACs are produced with wallwart cheap power supplies to get around EU safety regs and make them easier to build (or get built and import), by fitting a proper linear PSU you negate that and the whole thing as an entity becomes liable to certification, and that responsibility could if found by a court to be the responsibility of the modifier of the product - it is a legal and safety rule bag of nails.

Go to the maker, in this case I think Beresford and ask him to build one and certificate the DAC and PSU and watch his reaction.

[George Hincapie]

Thanks for the reply Doc.

That's exactly right - the Caiman MK II is provided with a cheap transformer. I had read a number of other owners post that the performance of the DAC improved if they used either a quality linear supply, or a 12V battery (of the type people now use to charge mobile devices). As an end user, are there any safety concerns around the use of a linear supply or battery to power a DAC?

I appreciate your response is likely to be 'Try and tell us', but would the use of a BMU improve the performance of the wallwart to a similar degree?

Thanks.

[jammy395]

WTF......Chinese Chips.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

BMU improves any hi-fi plugged into it.

[George Hincapie]

And I will buy one.

I am trying to decide what my NVA upgrade path will be. I suspect I shall start with the BMU and then take it from there. I need to upgrade my source first though. I blame Fretless.

[jammy395]

George....Thats one fuked up place to start.

BMU..


WTF....

Hows aboot tellin us a bit aboot yer source.....

[George Hincapie]

The source is a bad place to start? Surely that's the best place?

I have a Marantz CD63. I'd like to replace it with a decent transport, so I shall probably try the Cambridge CXC. Anyway, this thread's going off on a tangent I didn't intend, sorry.