main meanwell issue is size ! it is incredibly reliable and cheap ($40 retail) but many would pay some extra to fit in 1U box size and have a built-in aux 12V.A 200-300 watt, single-voltage SMPS would be a fantastic idea if it cost significantly less than its 500 watt cousin. However, since the least expensive Connex SMPS is $50/40€, I wonder whether the price would be all that much lower. The Meanwell S-350 will still win on cost per watt at $30, and if you're paying extra for a Connex supply you might as well pay a bit more for the additional headroom.
But yeah, a package deal would be a great way to get this SMPS into the hands of more of Hifimediy's users. Or maybe a link on his webpage would be enough.
IMHO, there is a demand on two segments :
250-300W 24-30V low cost, small form factor, for the tk2050 stereo amps.
600-1000W 30V-48V for multichannel amps with multiple tk2050 boards.
I prefer quality over cost too. And agree that the main issue is size.
I think that high watt needs are quite well covered by existing models of SMPS' as they can be probably slightly modified to provide single voltage main output. Maybe they can be used as they are - using only positive and negative terminals, leaving GND terminal unused. Only the dual voltage would have to be reduced to let's say +-15 to +-24V, to provide single 30V and 48V. But I am not sure if the existing SMPS' can work with siginificantly higher currents if the voltage decreases while the power should stay the same.
Maybe it is not necessary to design so many new SMPS' with small differences in output power, as their production costs would be probably very similar anyway. Maybe 100+W and 250+W would cover most situations.
But again, I am thinking loud and maybe I miss something important...
I think that high watt needs are quite well covered by existing models of SMPS' as they can be probably slightly modified to provide single voltage main output. Maybe they can be used as they are - using only positive and negative terminals, leaving GND terminal unused. Only the dual voltage would have to be reduced to let's say +-15 to +-24V, to provide single 30V and 48V. But I am not sure if the existing SMPS' can work with siginificantly higher currents if the voltage decreases while the power should stay the same.
Maybe it is not necessary to design so many new SMPS' with small differences in output power, as their production costs would be probably very similar anyway. Maybe 100+W and 250+W would cover most situations.
But again, I am thinking loud and maybe I miss something important...
I pulled the trigger and bought a SMPS500R-Single for my TK2050 amplifier. Sure, I don't need 500 watts, but I doubt a ~300 watt version would be all that cheaper. And the small size is nice.
I agree that quality is the best way to compete with the cheap Meanwell clones. People will pay a premium for performance, which is why Hifimediy and Arjen Helder can charge more for their products.
But quality isn't self-evident, so you might want to stress that Connex power supplies are specifically designed for DIY audio. I suspect most people use Meanwell knockoffs simply because there's nothing better available.
I agree that quality is the best way to compete with the cheap Meanwell clones. People will pay a premium for performance, which is why Hifimediy and Arjen Helder can charge more for their products.
But quality isn't self-evident, so you might want to stress that Connex power supplies are specifically designed for DIY audio. I suspect most people use Meanwell knockoffs simply because there's nothing better available.
the low price and relative reliability comes with low efficiency, around 75-80% for most of them and bulky size and shape.
i will consider all the suggestions and focus towards designing a better, cheaper and smaller size, more compact product for a given power range.
there are many other companies which are able to develop and produce high quality smps's for audio, see hypex for example. they have few smps models, but, i think, they don't concentrate on this aspect more probably because is not worthed for them to invest time and money to develop and produce other models than they have, knowing that the audio smps market is a very small ultra-tiny niche where is quite hard to recover the investment, not to mention making profit. a 500W smps has more components than a classD amplifier module with the same output power, and the BOM cost can easily reach double the price the BOM of an amplifier, same power.
as an example, the power transistors which i use for SMPS2000R cost 14.5 euro each at digikey. is the only place i can buy them in small quantity, 50-100 pcs at reasonable price and guaranteed quality. of course if i would have to make 10000 pcs "meanwell" i could find other sources for parts and the decimal dot of the price could shift one character to left. that's just one of the secrets of the low price of that smps's.
SMPS500R manual available: Connexelectronic
Connexelectronic
http://www.connexelectronic.com/documents/SMPS500R.pdf
Connexelectronic
http://www.connexelectronic.com/documents/SMPS500R.pdf
What makes a particular smps good for Audio?
Hello Cristi, thanks for all the information and the great products you provide. I am still looking at a good smps for my hypex modules (and I am one of those that would not mind paying more for better quality)
I suppose for Audio applications (as opposed to general purpose) one has to pay more attention at filtering the high frequency noise generated by the electronics in the power supply. In addition, there is efficiency and power factor. I don't know how the latter two are related to audio applications.
Can you share with us those areas that makes your smps good for Audio applications? And also, what improvements can be made? For example, in linear supplies larger output caps seem to be a preferred approach for good audio supplies. Thanks...
Hello Cristi, thanks for all the information and the great products you provide. I am still looking at a good smps for my hypex modules (and I am one of those that would not mind paying more for better quality)
I suppose for Audio applications (as opposed to general purpose) one has to pay more attention at filtering the high frequency noise generated by the electronics in the power supply. In addition, there is efficiency and power factor. I don't know how the latter two are related to audio applications.
Can you share with us those areas that makes your smps good for Audio applications? And also, what improvements can be made? For example, in linear supplies larger output caps seem to be a preferred approach for good audio supplies. Thanks...
Along the same lines, what are the advantages of dual voltage versus single voltage? I notice your amplifiers require +/- voltages, while other Tripath amps are built for single voltage. I also see the single voltage SMPS500R has a larger heat sink than its dual voltage cousin - is heat dissipation a factor?
Why these SMPSes are good for audio is explained in the manual: http://www.connexelectronic.com/documents/SMPS500R.pdf
Summary:
1- Soft switching
2- Lower EMI
3- Regulated (constant voltage independent of load) -I thought all SMPSes are regulated
4- High Efficiency (not sure how this would relate to audio)
One question on voltage: I want to use it for the Hypex 180. The spec says 50V max, so the +/- 54V model seems a good fit. I would probably set it at the minimum Vout of 48V. How close to 48V can it be adjusted?
Thanks.
Summary:
1- Soft switching
2- Lower EMI
3- Regulated (constant voltage independent of load) -I thought all SMPSes are regulated
4- High Efficiency (not sure how this would relate to audio)
One question on voltage: I want to use it for the Hypex 180. The spec says 50V max, so the +/- 54V model seems a good fit. I would probably set it at the minimum Vout of 48V. How close to 48V can it be adjusted?
Thanks.
Besides the stock output voltages, i could provide any output voltage in range of +-20V to +-150V for any SMPS. the differences are few. first, the transformer secondary number of turns, then the voltage divider resistors from the feedback loop. also, the rectifier diodes maximum reverse voltage, which should be higher than the sum of the output voltages.
In your case, i could provide a SMPS with output voltage adjustable within +-45 to +-54V.
In your case, i could provide a SMPS with output voltage adjustable within +-45 to +-54V.
Looking at the schematic, there is a 78xx regulator for Aux. Could be 7805 for 5V, 7812 for 12V, etc.
I guess we have to tell Cristi what we want when order.
Cristi what is the auxillary voltage on the SMPS250 before the regulator and the maximum current? At the moment I'm running a 41Hz amp 3 (TA2021B) off a dedicated 12v PSU for the top and and amp 5 (TA2022) off the SMPS250 for the mid / bass. I'm going to try and combine them all in one box.
Even at high volumes the Amp3 in this arrangement only draws a couple of hundread mA at full volume so I was thinking of running it off the auxillary winding either before or after the regulator.
Will adding extra capacitance to the aux winding affect the stability of the converter and what is the ripple like before the regulator? Does the voltage vary significantly when the primary output is loaded?
Also I have had a problem where the power supply goes into oscillation when the power is switched off and the amp has to be left for a couple of minuites before switching on again. Do you know why this might be?
Thanks, Nick
Even at high volumes the Amp3 in this arrangement only draws a couple of hundread mA at full volume so I was thinking of running it off the auxillary winding either before or after the regulator.
Will adding extra capacitance to the aux winding affect the stability of the converter and what is the ripple like before the regulator? Does the voltage vary significantly when the primary output is loaded?
Also I have had a problem where the power supply goes into oscillation when the power is switched off and the amp has to be left for a couple of minuites before switching on again. Do you know why this might be?
Thanks, Nick
The SMPS250 voltage before the voltage regulator varies between 16 to 30+V when the main output is fully loaded and the aux. has no load due to topology used which regulates just the main output voltage, not the aux. I suggest only using the voltage after the voltage regulator, not before. Extracapacitance can only have negative effect at start-up but since the regulator ic itself is self-protected, should not be problems with capacitors up to 10mF.
The SMPS250 has the symptom of not starting immediately, just after few minutes in case of short-circuit on the output or a high load, huge capacitance added in addition with the existing ones, or over-temperature. the switching IC has few protections, such as over-current, short-circuit, over-temperature, and each are latched-shutdown, and to reset the protection the Vcc of the ic must drop below the start-up threshold. but this is happening slow, because the Vcc is continuously feed from the +300V bus where there is the big capacitor, which take some time to discharge completely. a simple solution would be to add a 47K-100K at 2-3W resistor in parallel with this cap to discharge faster, or better to avoid this to happen, removing the cause of latched-shutdown.
The SMPS250 has the symptom of not starting immediately, just after few minutes in case of short-circuit on the output or a high load, huge capacitance added in addition with the existing ones, or over-temperature. the switching IC has few protections, such as over-current, short-circuit, over-temperature, and each are latched-shutdown, and to reset the protection the Vcc of the ic must drop below the start-up threshold. but this is happening slow, because the Vcc is continuously feed from the +300V bus where there is the big capacitor, which take some time to discharge completely. a simple solution would be to add a 47K-100K at 2-3W resistor in parallel with this cap to discharge faster, or better to avoid this to happen, removing the cause of latched-shutdown.
Just received my SMPS500R-Single - alas, I discovered a problem as soon as I opened the package.
The height of this power supply was described as 44mm (or 40mm in some places). However, the unit I received has two Elite capacitors (located at C4 and C10 on the diagram in the manual) which add an extra 8mm to the height for a total of 52mm. Not a lot, but just enough to make it impossible to use this power supply in my 1U case (~44.5mm).
Considering how much this power supply cost, and the fact that I bought it mainly for its size, this oversight is extremely frustrating. Is there any way to get replacement capacitors which don't extend higher than the heatsink?
The height of this power supply was described as 44mm (or 40mm in some places). However, the unit I received has two Elite capacitors (located at C4 and C10 on the diagram in the manual) which add an extra 8mm to the height for a total of 52mm. Not a lot, but just enough to make it impossible to use this power supply in my 1U case (~44.5mm).
Considering how much this power supply cost, and the fact that I bought it mainly for its size, this oversight is extremely frustrating. Is there any way to get replacement capacitors which don't extend higher than the heatsink?
Hi Cristi, I have just been trying to discover why my Trypath TA2022 mutes at high volumes and I discovered that the SMPS200 output voltage is +-26V regardless of how many times I turn the pot in either direction. I noticed when I installed the PSU that I was only getting 26v - 30v with the pot turned the full range but I was happy running the amp at 30V.
Using a multimeter, it looks like the amp cuts out when the DC link drops below 20 - 22V.
Do you think the pot is faulty or is there anything else that I should test.
Thanks, Nick
Using a multimeter, it looks like the amp cuts out when the DC link drops below 20 - 22V.
Do you think the pot is faulty or is there anything else that I should test.
Thanks, Nick
Hi, maybe a stupid recomendation : did you try the other pot ? one controls main output, the other controls aux.
my SMPS200 output voltage does vary when turning pot. The voltage does not drop at all, even at heavy load (tk2050 amp).
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