Regulated or non-regulated SMPS

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Discarding side effects, regulated is always better by definition: the output voltage will be stable independently on load and line conditions. That translates into cleaner sound, tighter and deeper bass, mainly.
The thing is that making a regulated SMPS is not an easy task, due to stability issues, and it is also a bit more expensive, that's why there are some people detracting them. There are also some manufacturers that consider regulated SMPS "the holy grial" and feel justified to skimp on capacitance reserve, etc.

We (coldamp) think that the best no-compromise (in terms of performance) solution is to have a regulated SMPS but still with high capacitance reservoir. This allows a simpler, slower loop that eliminates stability problems, peaking, etc, but still preserve the benefits of a high current capability during bass transients, etc. It is not, of course, the simpler nor the cheaper solution.

There is no relation between regulation and PFC: you can find regulated PSUs without PFC, and supplies with PFC but with a non-regulated output stage (still having slightly better line regulation due to the presence of PFC, but not as good as a PSU with regulation from the very output)

Hope this helps,
Sergio
www.coldamp.com
 
Yes...The voltage can adjust for about +/-5% with trimmer pot...
So I think it is regulated.
In the output...I connect it with two 10000uF capacitor.
In fact it is because 41Hz amp4 has onboard power supply with rectifier and 2 X 10000 uF bulk capacitors.
But I just use DC SMPS power supply.

Is there any benefit on the sound quality to use SMPS with PFC?
 
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