New BH Product?

[InfernoSTi]

With all things digital, it turns out having a clean linear power supply is key to performance.  I bet if BH developed a simple AC to DC power supply that could be adjusted from 5v to 19v (or better yet had a dual output) with perhaps 12 amps of current at peak, you would sell a bunch.  Every computer needs one, every NAS, Firewire, and USB drive needs one, every DAC needs one, and so on. 

How hard could it be for BH, the kings of power supplies?  Low ripple, great line and load regulation, and simple noise filtering...perhaps even with a standard DC output connection that could go into various types of inputs, a voltage selector switch (dreaming), and a nice wood box to set that matches everything else to put it in?

Best,
John

[Paul Birkeland]

12 Amps is a whole ton of current!

Such beasts do exist, you can find many examples on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MASTECH-HY3020D-LINEAR-REGULATED-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-0-30-VOLTS-0-20-AMPS-LEADS-/231025610790?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ca331026

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linear-Regulated-DC-Power-Supplies-TPR-Series-TPR3020-30V-20A-SALE-20-OFF-/320856493509?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab4898dc5

When you design something like this, you'd have to design for peak current at lowest voltage.  That would mean starting with a 24V DC supply, then regulating to 5V @ 12A.  This means 228 watts of heat has to be cooked off in the process!  Naturally there are ways to get around an issue like this, but each of these implementations adds complexity and cost, and in a great way difficulty in constructing the device as a kit.

On the other hand, if you had a very specific power supply need, we could help you on the forum to do some DIY.  A linear supply for a music server (computer), can be done without great difficulty, though you'd need more voltages than you specified.  Additionally, if you just wanted a few isolated 5V DC supplies to power a bunch of USB devices, that's not so tough either, but a lot of these projects are more efficiently handled with discrete implementations (consider spending 4 x $300 to buy the adjustable power supplies just to power four small 5V devices).

-PB

[InfernoSTi]

Hi Paul,

I picked a random wattage...quite high.  I've got a Power One supply running a simple computer that puts out 12v at 2 amps (but has a 7.5 amps peak capacity).  It is the Power One CP-510A.  I've also got a SOLA unit of similar capacity that I've not tried yet (12v/3.4amps no higher peak rating).  The idea was that some computers need 19v and a peak start up current that is much higher than the steady state current draw. 

Thanks for the response...is this something others are thinking about?  If so, let's continue the discussion.  If it's just me, well, I encourage digital folks to try better power supplies.

Best,
John

[Paul Birkeland]

It is indeed a frequent topic of discussion, especially since we are working on a DAC that will benefit from such power supplies.

-PB

[4krow]

"Good, good, excellent" I say rubbing my hands together. I'm all for it. As simple as power supplies seem, they are often overlooked in other product lines.

[Doc B.]

I started a long reply, but was interrupted by some emergency dental work (ugh). The main point I wanted to make was that a really good linear supply will have pretty good sized iron in it and that will not be budget priced.

[adamct]

Greg,
John,

While not a tube-based product, you might want to consider building a Sigma 11 or Sigma 22, at least until such time as a comparable Bottlehead product is available.

Not that expensive or hard to build, the parts are readily available, and they are well-regarded for use in audiophile applications (headphone amps, pre-amps, etc.).

Best regards,
Adam

[RPMac]

John has a supply he designed for his Squeezebox Touch and the schematic is on the net.

http://home.comcast.net/~johnswenson1/stereo/SB_5V.GIF

But he isn't allowed to respond until he finishes the BH-DAC...same for you Doc...No new projects!!!

OK, thru with rant...I feel better.
Carry on.

[4krow]

  Adam,

  Thank you very much for the links. I'll be looking into them soon.

  Doc,

  You do emergency dental work TOO! Wow. HA, can never resist. I think that I've been to the dentist so much, it would be better just to have him on retainer(pun intended).

[adamct]

Greg,

The AMB documentation is very good, it just isn't as immediately user-friendly as the Bottlehead manuals. Basically, you just need to sit down and read through everything before ordering parts and starting your build. It sounds tedious, but actually goes very quickly and I learned a lot as I went through (I imagine more experienced and technically savvy users would get less out of it than I did, of course). You can post questions in the AMB forum. They won't get answered nearly as quickly as here, but I think Ti Kan does this more as a hobby and has to contend with a day job. He usually answers within 24 hours, and his answers are very helpful.

Best regards,
Adam

[InfernoSTi]

Greg,
John,

While not a tube-based product, you might want to consider building a Sigma 11 or Sigma 22, at least until such time as a comparable Bottlehead product is available.

Not that expensive or hard to build, the parts are readily available, and they are well-regarded for use in audiophile applications (headphone amps, pre-amps, etc.).

Best regards,
Adam

Wow, great discussion everyone.  Thank you....

On these, they look really good with one concern: they are designed for 1 amp constant current (with higher peak capacity).  I would feel a lot better if that was rated at least at 2 amps for a motherboard (3 amps would be better).  Once you add up all the draw from a 12v low watt motherboard, you really want about a 20-40 watt power supply (low end if you have high peak capacity).  Thoughts?

Best,
John

[adamct]

You can definitely go above 1A by using larger, offboard heatsinks. But I think the bottom line is that neither is really designed for use with motherboards. If you want to pursue that idea, I would post on the AMB forum. Ti Kan can give you a better feel for what the limits of the design are.