I have 4 power amplifier modules and an unregulated psu salvaged from a broken old amp, which I'm planning on building into 4 monoblocks with a discrete power supply section.
I'm considering building a regulator circuit between the psu and amplifier board in the hope/expectation it will improve performance.
If anyone can give me thoughts/opinions on the validity of this idea I'd be very grateful, please feel free tonpoint out the obvious incase I've missed it
I'm considering building a regulator circuit between the psu and amplifier board in the hope/expectation it will improve performance.
If anyone can give me thoughts/opinions on the validity of this idea I'd be very grateful, please feel free tonpoint out the obvious incase I've missed it
Since you give no specific data about your amps and power supply units (PSU) you can get only generalized answer:
By definition the audio amplifier is an appliance that converts DC voltage and current from PSU into AC voltage and current which is delivered to speaker, as truthful as possible to input signal.
So it's always beneficial to have the PSU free of any noise and ripple, with output impedance as low as possible.
Some amplifier constructions are more immune to PSU pollutants (i.e. have higher PSRR) than the others, but all perform better with better PSU. Sometimes the difference is perceivable, sometimes it isn't.
By definition the audio amplifier is an appliance that converts DC voltage and current from PSU into AC voltage and current which is delivered to speaker, as truthful as possible to input signal.
So it's always beneficial to have the PSU free of any noise and ripple, with output impedance as low as possible.
Some amplifier constructions are more immune to PSU pollutants (i.e. have higher PSRR) than the others, but all perform better with better PSU. Sometimes the difference is perceivable, sometimes it isn't.
If you regulate the present PSU it won't sound as loud as it does without regulation. A standard PSU is quite good on music peaks for delivering high instantaneous power, if you regulate it you would get perhaps 4 or 5v less DC volts than the unregulated DC when used at max audio RMS output as otherwise the regulation won't work well. This means the unregulated one will have even more DC volts available for low RMS high peak power work when there's not too much line sag. Could easily be 10v difference for peaks between regulated and unregulated, depending mainly on the transformer regulation.
Basically you may gain a little quality but lose a lot of perceived volume.
Basically you may gain a little quality but lose a lot of perceived volume.
Not really.
When you halve the power you get just 3dB lower sound pressure level (perceived volume) which is one click on 24-step attenuator...
Regulated power for the IPS and VAS is great. Regulating the output stage means a REALLY hefty regulator (high overhead and loss) as you need to maintain regulation into a 2 or 3 Ohm load in the real world. I prefer hefty main bank caps for dynamic current so the voltage does not collapse. With a regulated supply, you may drop out of regulation.
Building a High Current, High Power Low Impedance Regulator is not easy. Get it right and the benefits are worth the effort, get it wrong and you would have been better off with just a large CRCC circuit.
I'm going to get slated for saying this but a Large CRCC circuit will in its' own way keep the main rails reasonably stable, this is more true for a Class A amplifier which has a constant load requirement on the PSU.
I'm going to get slated for saying this but a Large CRCC circuit will in its' own way keep the main rails reasonably stable, this is more true for a Class A amplifier which has a constant load requirement on the PSU.
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KD,
I was thinking about CRC and if you add a cap multiplier for the VAS/IPS, CRCRC. It only takes .1 Ohm or so from what I gather and with the trend to use banks of smaller caps, seems a natural.
I also found a HEXFRED rectifier generated even less noise than a properly snubbed traditional bridge.
I would put my money in more output pairs.
I was thinking about CRC and if you add a cap multiplier for the VAS/IPS, CRCRC. It only takes .1 Ohm or so from what I gather and with the trend to use banks of smaller caps, seems a natural.
I also found a HEXFRED rectifier generated even less noise than a properly snubbed traditional bridge.
I would put my money in more output pairs.
I did build a couple of good Regulated power supply and I always felt they had to work way harder than unregulated power supply to keep up with high demands currents. Regulated power supply HAVE a limit😱. I like simple and good unregulated power supply. as always is:The fewer parts, the better quality should be!.
That's what happens to cheapskates - put a 22000uf cap after the reg instead of usual 220uF-1000uF and you'll see... 😉
Most amplifiers will benefit from the voltage gain stages being regulated (low current), not so much the output stage.
One of the first examples of this that I heard was a 25W Electrocompaniet. It sounded very powerful, up to the point it clipped. You would have guessed it was 10x as big as it really was from the way it sounded at low volume.
It's not that hard to regulate the lower current input stages vs the higher current output stages.
One of the first examples of this that I heard was a 25W Electrocompaniet. It sounded very powerful, up to the point it clipped. You would have guessed it was 10x as big as it really was from the way it sounded at low volume.
It's not that hard to regulate the lower current input stages vs the higher current output stages.
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