The ALWSR Super Regulator

Stop 1 - The Super-Regulator (click for larger image)

The above work of beauty is the first stop on our route to musical heaven. Before examining it in detail though, some stops along the way will be informative...

PSU's really are the heart of audio electronics, and the extent to which they can bring improvements has not ceased to amaze me. The above circuit is based closely on the work of Walt Jung, it's gestation has been a long one, the details of my modest contribution follow...

The system that I use to enjoy music primarily consists of components from a UK-based manufacturer, Naim Audio. The importance of power supplies to audio systems has long been a part of this company's ethos, and hence the equipment I use is ready for some simple 'plug 'n' play' style upgrades. The supplies needed are nominally 24V, dual-rail.

Being generally rather frugal, and having the necessary electronics skills it seemed logical to make my own power supplies -  after all the originals only consist of a basic linear PSU, with LM317T / K regulators, copying that is easy, isn't it?

Those PSU's might look simple, but for some peculiar reason my own design didn't quite cut the musical mustard, in a direct comparison. Naim say they've never heard a DIY PSU that is measurably or audibly better than theirs, something I started to believe from my experience.

But I love that kind of challenge, so the first stop on the journey resulted in the building of the POOGE discrete regulator.

The Sulzer regulator, and to an extent the POOGE unit presented an interesting challenge - I'd been measuring the simple noise voltage of various regulators using a PC sound card (SB Live)** and some FFT spectral analysis software. The noise from this unit though dropped below the noise floor of my existing measuring system (a single-ended, AC-coupled, op-amp-based interface, built around a low noise op-amp I had kicking around).

On to Measurement Methods.

** Author's sage advice - don't connect DC power supplies to the input of a PC soundcard without proper clamping / buffering, two SB Live Sound cards have laid down their line level inputs to the cause, as a result of my impatience ;-)

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Last modified: Saturday July 19, 2003 09:06 +0100