It's basically "head room". You run anything to it's max no matter how weak or strong it is and it's not in it's happy place. When it's doing nothing and still make it's goals are when anything or most anyone is happy. Cars, stereo equipment, people it's all the same.

Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Paul. Enjoying your videos and reading your book now. It has actually motivated me to get my hifi out of the boxes again and starting to set up (remodeling the house for some time etc). Thanks for the extra effort you take

My wife surprised me. She said you're right, bigger is better 👍 Never realised she was getting into audio ☺

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

So she said after coming back from a business trip...

@johnsweda2999

3 жыл бұрын

You don't think she's telling you anything

@janinapalmer8368

3 жыл бұрын

It's not how big it is .... it's how you use it 😂😂

@Talia.777

3 жыл бұрын

😂

As an electrician I would say the elimination of voltage drop is the goal in any system to get the maximum performance out of equipment.

Power supply upgrades - usually involving larger transformers in the power supply - was Naim's core business back in the 1990s. In the 1990s, using rechargeable batteries as phono power supplies to completely elimiate the 60 Hz / 50 Hz hum became in vogue. The improvememts is plain to hear given that moving coil phono stages operate with 60 dB (1,000 v / v ) of gain and hum supression becomes of paramount importance.

It’s the same with microphones. I LOVE transformerless mics going into tube preamps, where others like mics with transformers into solid state. I think it might be because we listen for different things..

Sansui was doing this from the 1940's as they were a transformer company before opting into hifi. This is the reason why Sansuis's sound so good and have a large reputation their house sound is second to none. PS Audio did not found this out, Sansui did way before 1974.

Hi Paul 🖐. I saw this with working on Hammond Organ/Leslie Speakers, (and in school hehe) components are only worked minimally. Tubes, resistors, caps... well that's all there is hehe. Warmer tone, less frequencies & harmonics and transients push out/squashed. P.S. Palladium coated contacts= awesome hehe. Science 👍👍👍. Thank you !!!

Yes it does. That's why I like the Naim Uniti Nova all in one audiophile system with its 770 VA toroidal power transformer.

@mdr4670

3 жыл бұрын

@Sheepish Lord The high end combo of streamer, dac, preamp and amp powered by that substantial transformer is why I'm willing to spend 6k. Pleas no interconnects needed.

2:50 you told the same when you were explaining about speakers cables :P

@ktakeshi17

2 жыл бұрын

And guess what speaker cable is mostly about? Impedance.

Yes, I tried this myself years ago on a diy preamp and difference was big.

@weevilsnitz

3 жыл бұрын

There's certainly diminishing returns. What I've learned looking into guitar amp design is that, the same as home audio, is that there's a budget and most of the time the transformers are an easy way to save a lot of money. Big transformers are easy upgrades if you wanted to spend a bit of money

Big Transformers and big capacitors give big sound! Something has to move those speaker voice coils to create a Punchy Bass & low Hz waves. Power!

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

You don't think that the electronic engineer who designed the entire electronic device would also be capable of specifying the correct size transformer and capacitors?

@johnsweda2999

3 жыл бұрын

Actually if you got a big transformer you better off with small capacitors and vice versa

@carlosoliveira-rc2xt

3 жыл бұрын

Not necessarily true.

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

@@johnsweda2999 Any good phono preamp is using a regulated power supply and thus the power rails can remain constant as long as the transformer outputs the needed voltage and power. A crazy big transformer for a phono amp is not making much sense.

@jonlaws4493

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomterrific9459 they design to a cost parameter. With no budget they would design differently.

My old H/K Citation amp had a transformer for each channel. Matter of fact, it had two of everything except for filter capacitors, of which it had two for each side. I’m told that toroidal transformers in stereo hifi typically have at least two windings in them - one for each channel. The Naim Uniti series has a winding for each channel and circuit (amp, preamp, streamer, and CD player in the Star)

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

A power amp can create a very dynamic load on the transformer and it makes sense to keep things separate in such case.

@edthefirst2859

3 жыл бұрын

Citation 12 amp, correct?

@billd9667

3 жыл бұрын

@@edthefirst2859 Actually, it was a Citation 19 - the little brother of the huge solid state Citation 16: www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/harman-kardon/citation-19.shtml The Citation power amps were all dual-mono if memory serves. The 19 was pretty damned beefy for a "100 watt" amp and put out 180 into 4 ohms with at least 3dB dynamic headroom. It was a high current design (6.3A into 4 ohms). I paired it with an Apt-Holman preamp. It still couldn't power a pair of Magnepan MG-1s though lol. Those suckers were thirsty! It did a lot better with stacked Advents and really pissed off the neighbors. I miss the whole set. A brutal setup with a delicate B&O turntable and 20CL cartridge.

I once met an audio designer from Sony Japan which would make use of much oversized power transformers, feeding both his preamp and amps all at once. The sound was amazingly good and effortless, "juicy", and stereo image was jaw-dropping. His goal was to reach ZERO IMPEDANCE at all audio frequencies, something hard to attain. However, I guess there's an optimum size for designing an oversize transformer above the nominal rating required, but it should not be an overkill-sized transformer either, or else it becomes to sound dull and hard.

@anonymousmc7727

3 жыл бұрын

I once met Santa clause.......he told me I was a bad boy:(

@anonymousmc7727

3 жыл бұрын

@@wramrobertodecamargoaccors4679 bot comment beep boop

My Onkyo TX-NR 5010 Receiver is heavy with a huge transformer and it's sound is AMAZING!

@ericnortan9012

6 ай бұрын

I have the TXRZ 820, pretty similar, that thing has some power. Williston Audio Labs did a dyno test of the 810 and it beat the specs. Onkyo has been doing right by their customers, at least on the spec front. I really like mine, if I ever decide to do a more advanced surround set up I may upgrade, but for theater and rocking the house I am pretty content with its current capabilities. Its the best AVR I've owned, though I have a very nice TEAC from the late 90's that was pretty nice for it's time, another receiver with a really big transformer and powerful amps.

It has almost nothing to do with impedance. In fact, the real way to look at this issue is not to say that oversized transformers sound better, but rather than undersized transformers sound bad. At the end of the day a power transformer simply has to take 120v rms from the wall and convert it into any given voltage you want. Assuming you already have an amplifier and we can't change the turns ratio of the PSU transformer, then what you need to do is make sure the transformer is capable of providing PEAK current to the amplifier. That means that the PSU transformer has to be capable of providing quick short bursts of current without sagging down the voltage, saturating the core, or distorting in any way shape or form. This usually means that you end up with a larger core transformer than you absolutely need. However, going to a much larger core will not result in better sound. In my experience a larger than necessary core can actually sound worse. The reason this myth of "bigger is always better" has plagued the audio community for so long is simply because a lot of manufacturers will put undersized or poorly designed PSU transformers into their product in order to cut cost. There are a ton of factors that go into choosing the right PSU transformer for the job. A large transformer core is usually a good idea to avoid unwanted distortion while the amp is trying to make music. Going beyond what is logical by more than 40% is just a waste of money. Trust me, I have tried.

@neway518

23 күн бұрын

I am building a Pass Labs Aleph (single ended class A) clone to drive the Martin Logan Quest. Its impedance is 6 Ohm nominal and 2 Ohm minimum. The recommended power amp is 80W to 200W, since it wasn’t stated at what impedance I assumed it is at 80W-200W@6 Ohm. I think I will build one that is 150W@6 Ohm, going by my rusty P=VxV/R, so V=30V, the +-VCC should be approx. +-45Vdc, is that right? Transformer secondary output should be 30Vx2? At 2Ohm, current going through to the speaker would be 15A, and to compensate for the low efficiency of 20%, the transformer will have to pump out 15x5=75A? So the minimum transformer VA rating is 75Ax30Vx2=4500VA? Add the 40% that you mentioned and I am into the realm of 6300VA! Did I make any mistake with my calculations? It will be an enormous transformer.

Well said.

I’ve got the same phone stage and I’m using the Power Box RS Uni 4-way linear power supply

Thanks for that very interesting video. Although I think I follow your argument about impedance, as an engineer (of another sort), my guess is that there must be diminishing returns with bigger and bigger transformers. I’m also puzzled at why the Debut designers, in this case, can’t compensate for a smaller cheaper transformer in other parts of the circuitry? I’m also wondering at whether this magic of thicker wires is one reason the bulky air cored impedance in speaker crossovers are said to ‘sound better’ than the cheaper ferrite cored ones, ie because the less bulky ferrite cored ones have thinner windings? Your videos always teach me something I didn’t know! Thank you! The older you get the less you seem to know (I’m 75).

@jaymart2828

8 ай бұрын

😮

@jaymart2828

8 ай бұрын

Fat is better..

I have quite dramatic results with my Yamaha CP-50 stage piano, I ordered a hand build power supply, filtered, regulated, lineair, it's insane the amount of difference. I was always intrigued by the standard phone charger like plug in the wall transformer on a 2000 dollar instrument...

@markwind1661

3 жыл бұрын

Oh i love this. Its why Manley Labs is touting their new power supply. Its a huge factor apparently (I believe it, just never experienced it yet :))

I have a Schiit Mani Phono Pre... it is a standard 16v wal wart... i one day tried using a 24v power supply from an old laptop... the already good sounding Mani all of the sudden sounded incredible!

@100bsl

3 жыл бұрын

I think you might be confusing Amperes with Voltage. Higher Amperage in a transformer would be the one to look into as this is what gets pulled. The Voltage is dependent on the caps in the system as this gets pushed into the system. The caps should have the capacity (pun....) to hold the Voltage being pushed in by the transformer.

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

Do you think it is a great idea to put a 24V power supply on an electronic device that came with a 16V power supply?

@SantanKGhey1234

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomterrific9459 it works fine... been over a year... went back to 16v and it sounded dull

@geoff37s38

3 жыл бұрын

Probably sounds better after all that smoke came out.

@100bsl

3 жыл бұрын

@@SantanKGhey1234 The only reason it would not have burnt out is because the system would have 24V or 25V capacitors.... A 16V capacitor would not be able to take 24V from a 24V transformer / power supply.

Very true Paul concerning opinions. Everybody has one.

@richardlast5850

3 жыл бұрын

Well, that's your opinion.

Yes it does.

Impedance, core material and shape most likely plays a role in the coupling and transfer of AC signals. I remember Bob Carver's hand made tube power amplifiers needed output transformers that were meticulously hand wound by Bob Carver himself.

@carlosoliveira-rc2xt

3 жыл бұрын

Not true.

It does make a difference - in a demanding role, with a resolving system... Many are missing out... they argue.

If bigger is definitively better this begs the question, then, why the new Stellar Phono Preamp has a tiny internal psu instead of a large transformer in a separate chassis? 🤔

@carlosoliveira-rc2xt

3 жыл бұрын

Because bigger and better costs more.

They sound better. That's One reason why gryphon amps sound so good

I put a 12lb Mercury output transformer into my Fender Vibrolux Reverb guitar amp, replacing one that was maybe 3lb. It does sound better. I also replaced the 2x10" Jensen speakers w/a 12" Electro Voice PA speaker w/a 20lb ceramic magnet. The amp sounds great (I favor a clean sound) - but the amp is like carrying an anvil to shows now. SO...if I upgrade to a bigger power transformer, more improvement? I might do it

I agree wth you. The bigger transformer sounds better because it uses bigger diameter wire as R = p l/ A, whr l = the length of the wire, p is ρ is the resistivity of the conductor in Ω.m & A is the cross-sectional of the wire. So the bigger the wire diameter which redulting in bigger A the lower the wire resistance (R). The problem is only it becomes more expensive.

Interesting as l have a Spectron musician MKII class D amp designed by John Ulrick in the mid 2000's I use it to drive my Maggie's as It has tons of watts at all loads but l think what really makes a difference is it's ability to produce 65 amps for 500 milliseconds My Maggie's love all that juice! The amp has a transformer that is 8 inches in diameter and 5 inches thick! The Spectron amp weights in at 54 lbs!

My 29 Lbs (boat anchor) Crown CT-210 from around 2000 sounds pretty good. I bet a big part of that weight is the power transformer. My ears aren't precision instruments so I'd need to get some other people to hear it. I already know that Crown is a controversial choice that people like to bash, but I have a limited budget.

@ericnortan9012

6 ай бұрын

I have a crown XLI2500 for my Cerwin Vegas. I bought it because any true hifi amp with that kind of power would cost a fortune. It's class AB, weighs like 30lbs and has a huge transformer. Really clean sound and unlimited power for my needs. For a $600 PA amp I love it, great match for a set of 15" Vegas. Crowns are tough to beat for quality, probably hit and miss for sound. I owned one years ago, can't remember what series, just a Plane Jane pro amp, but that sucker was tough and had so much ass. I love Crown, maybe not high end, but they defiantly have their place and generally do a pretty good job.

is this also the case with audio output transformers on tube power amplifiers? I mean I have a 5 watt amplifier, would I gain anything by replacing the audio output transformer with one that is 10 or 15 watts? If so how would i benefit?

this simply means one good indicator for a good amp is by its weight

Howdy. Just a thought. Have You tried replacing the monster el. cap.s with Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH) ? My thinking is that should provide very low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) and thus low impedance. High Regards.

I wonder is a bigger "capacitance" power supply, or a larger transformers, effect the way DC motor sound/work on CD drives or record players. hmm

Hey Paul. Forgive my slow response to a past video. I want to know, not about a third channel, about adding a sub. I notice that there isn't an LFE sub out on my DAC or preamp or amp. Can I use a multi channel mini DSP. I could use the two in from the amp. I could then have two out to the bookshelf speakers and one of the two remaining to the sub. This would also provide room correction. I think.. Does anyone else do this or am I just out of luck for adding a sub?

I have a Pure Class A DIY single resistor and mosfet. My toroid transformer can delivery 12vac and 36A(2 separate output parallel,2*18A) and my Bias is set based on rectifief and filtered dc 14v to around 7 volts. I have output speaker load made for 4 4ohm speakers with parallel to get 1ohm resistance. Sound is amazing, thanks to my coupling capasitor, 100 000uF/16v. My question is: Do you think my toroid transformer is good for my setup?

My wife is agree with you. Nice video And thanks for your time 👌🏼

@oliverlison

3 жыл бұрын

My wife is agreeing with your wife

Ok know I'm confused. where talking about a phone pre-amp? isn't the output around 1 volt and in ma's? i totally agree with Z matching and noise shielding. But how big a transformer are we talking about?

Strange result. on a power amp, yes it should help a bit, however on a pre-amp? Assuming the supply can keep the volts up, (not drop out of regulation) then a bigger one should be exactly the same, but you say they were not....

I certainly found that a much bigger transformer, (coincidentally also feeding a phono-stage power-supply circuit) vastly improved the sound quality & made the hiss I heard that annoyed me greatly on the smaller transformer feeding the power-supply, almost totally disappear on m.c. gain. I told this to an electrical engineer (my father) at that time who said "it can't possibly make any difference because of the phono-stage"s current requirements" ...but it clearly does. I understand why people theorise to imagine it shouldn't make a difference because of the low-current requirements of the phono-stage & all I could also think was: the larger diameter of the bigger transformer's windings causes less resistance in those windings, enough to hear a substantial difference

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

If you can truly hear a difference, it should be measurable. I would love to know what is changing electrically when you put in a bigger transformer.

@geoff37s38

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomterrific9459 it is called confirmation bias.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

@@geoff37s38 It is called trusting your senses. If our senses could not truly be trusted, then mankind would not have survived for thousands of years. If we heard a bear stalking up behind us with the intention of having us for dinner, we did not roll our eyes and proclaim "There is no bear stalking up behind me. I know this to be true because I cannot measure it!" No, instead we said *"AAAHH!* *A* *BEAR!!!* and we ran away, thus avoiding being eaten.

@geoff37s38

3 жыл бұрын

@@HareDeLune this is why whenever I walk in the woods I always go with a slow running friend.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

@@geoff37s38 Lol! I appreciate your sense of humor. : )

Hello, I do not know decide between amplifier atoll in100 and in80, the in100 has two toroidal transformers of 340VA, it is NOT dual mono, amp is 2x100W thi in80 has one transformer of 340VA ammp is 2x80W both have the same capacitanc about 31000 microF, isnt this small for 2x100W? Which one is supposed to be better by teory?

What about output transformers? Is bigger better

So if I’m reading a spec sheet, how can I determine how big the transformer is compared to another product? Is there a unit of measure that I should pay attention to?

@che1602

3 жыл бұрын

Weight. For something using a linear power supply, eg. a class A or A/B amp, weight is a hint. Big transformers weighs more.

@regitregnskap

3 жыл бұрын

VA= volt ampere

@jamesrobinson9176

3 жыл бұрын

@@regitregnskap yup plus duty cycle

Well I am right after rega elex , rotel a11, 12, denon 900hne, musical fidelity m3si. The last two are claiming some "high current" stellar technology at the same time they have the smollest transformers by eye. It is dificult to find out real size. Gues which one has leanest sound. .....I appreciate this video a lot because was not sure with my conclusion. I am angry because the denon hes perfect sound. Its bigger brother 1700 ne has two of the same transformers instead of one and it has only 10 W per channel more which sound promisable. Will this help considerably also to sound weight?, or the transformer has to be bigger?

Actually, a phono preamplifier is using little power and what matters is that it internally has constant DC voltage rails without significant ripple or other noise. Rather, it could be worthwhile to add some capacitors, if there is too much ripple noise present. But a good phono preamplifier has a regulated power supply with very low noise to begin with. A larger transformer that is just over-powered and thus emitting more airborne RF noise (50 or 60Hz) or more common mode current noise (capacitive coupling between the primary and secondary windings) is more harmful than good for something as sensitive as a phono preamp. Of course if the transformer is truly under-powered causing the amp DC voltage power rails to fluctuate, you gotta get a bigger transformer. Perhaps some US$50 China brand preamplifier could have such problem, but then the problem is you got a wrong preamplifier!

@graxjpg

3 жыл бұрын

This was was a lot for me to chew on, but I think I understand what you mean. Thanks for the detailed information!

How to Get Much Better Stereo Imaging Recently I assembled used stereo Borberly's headphone amps wth its 2 separate PSU (2 PCB boards) but without the transformers. So it's actually a monoblock. Result: at the beginning I was shocked. Why sound heard expanding. The gap/ distance of sound from one player to next of him/ her becomes longer. I thought thr's something wrong wth the amp. Later I realised tht's the effect of monoblock PSU. Each L & R amp has its own PSU (& its own transformer). I use 50 VA instead of standard 25 or 30 VA. It's more expensive. Next time I'll build my own monoblock amps (just 10 W. It's already very loud if it's fully opened) wth its separated PSU, bigger transformer & bigger caps.

Thats what she said........had to do it

idol

Great question... Bye!

My 2 ATI 2505 amplifiers each have 3Kv Toroidal Transformers, this equals 600v per each of their 5 channels. I think the Transformers are 60+ lbs.

@Oystein87

3 жыл бұрын

3kV? You mean 3kw? :P 600watt per channel minus heat loss (if it's class AB it's about 40-50%) sounds legit.

Transients?

Complete hypothesis here: What if you designed a power transformer the way you would design a wideband audio transformer but with the ratio needed? Now all that high frequency noise that used to get rejected by the core getting reflected back up into the line causing even more distortion instead gets passed straight thru to the secondary, down through the high speed rectifiers and into the capacitors that are bypassing the main rails. Far less in standing waves can only be good.

One person disliked the video for reason: size does not matter :D hehehe

Within reason, maybe. A low power supply output impedance is generally a good thing and will improve performance in some relatively small way. Op-amp circuits largely don't care, some class A circuits are little more sensitive to it. So bigger power trasnformers and larger caps can and do help. That said... the law of diminishing returns DOES come into play, and there's another side to this. You get a power supply with 100,000 uF of capacitance with 80 volt rails, if something in the output stage shorts, there's going to be a not-so-small explosion and the PCB will almost certainly be totaled. If there's a monster transformer to deliver huge power continuously, then you're going to have a fire inside the amplifier. I am of the belief that people who put this sort of power supply in an amplifier have never actually seen this kind of power supply fail, or they wouldn't think it's a good idea. Unless we're talking about an amplifier the size of a Crest 10001, I shouldn't need an arc-flash suit to service your amp. You could add rail fuses (and you should), but then you're sort of defeating the whole point of having a huge low-impedance power supply since the fuse adds some finite amount of impedance.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

I remember back in the 1990's, Denon made a receiver that was prone to catching fire after a while. Have to admit, I don't know whether it was power supply related or not, though.

@H-77

3 жыл бұрын

@@HareDeLune A Denon receiver probably didn't have an oversized power supply. That was probably some other design issue. Sometimes it's by nature that the power supply is big, but a good amp shouldn't completely destroy itself if it fails. MC2 MC series amps do this well- they have a big power supply with a huge toroidal transformer, but they have rail fuses. In the few instances where I've seen output devices go in these, the damage is minimal as a result. Some Crest amps however, will turn the PCB into charcoal if they blow up. This isn't anything against Crest- The Pro xx01 series amps are beautiful designs that are equally at home driving studio monitors as they are on the road, but some of their stuff is so big that any sort of failure ends up being pretty violent.

Yer sr!!

It's the same with guitar amps. The bigger transformers of a 100w amp will provide more punch and fullness than a 50w amp.

@graxjpg

3 жыл бұрын

My tube amp is rated for 50w, but the transformer is the big old Marshall kind that’s nearly a foot tall. The thing rarely ever comes in at 50w! Always higher, with peaks up to 120w. Sounds incredible

More mass = Less hum ?

Paul need to demonstrate live, between two transformer, so no haters out there. same amp, speaker, wires, different transformer.

@QoraxAudio

3 жыл бұрын

It's always the same, they complain about haters, but never do a demonstration to show that those haters are wrong.

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

@@QoraxAudio If I disagree with a statement, that certainly doesn't make me a "hater". We have bigger fish to fry in the world right now. By the way, bigger fish are better.................

@QoraxAudio

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomterrific9459 Unless that bigger fish is a shark out there to eat you 😜

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

Why do you call people that do not agree with you, "haters"?????

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

@@QoraxAudio True

Can't beat a good stiff one (power supply that is).

@jamesvw769

3 жыл бұрын

So you like big stiff ones. Great.

@GaryB007

3 жыл бұрын

@@jamesvw769 Yep. Lots of Amps.

@jamesvw769

3 жыл бұрын

@@GaryB007 We all know what you really meant. Your sick man.

Paul. How about explaining HOW a larger transformer makes it sound better. Specifically.

@geoff37s38

3 жыл бұрын

He can’t. He is a salesman not a qualified engineer.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

Completely irrelevant. You are trolls. If you were a "qualified engineer" yourself, you would have the resources to experiment and find out for yourself the answer to your question. Therefore negating the need to ask such a thing. Indeed, the only logical reason for you to ask such a question, is as a setup for a putdown. There are other ways of deriving pleasure from life, than making yourselves appear to be adolescent butt-heads.

@ryanschipp8513

3 жыл бұрын

@@HareDeLune Wow. I'm a troll? Looks like you are the tough guy behind the device. Listen. Paul says.....like a caveman....bigger is better. It sounds better if it is bigger. He is an engineer. I am not. I'm asking........how does it make it better. A very logical question. If anyone is the troll here its you. I'm asking a valid question. He is being very vague and isnt explaining it very well. Get over it.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

@@ryanschipp8513 Are you new to this channel? Do you read the comments section often? If so, then you must know by now that this is a very common occurence. Paul will answer a question as best he can, while keeping his explanations *simple.* Sometimes, as in this case, he will offer up an anecdote from his own personal experience to demonstrate his sincerity. Then comes the demands for detailed explanations of why we cannot see the air that surrounds us, and why one person's thoughts differ from another's. And always, *always,* the demands remain unanswered.

@erikpoephoofd

3 жыл бұрын

@@HareDeLune How is the physical explanation irrelevant? If the phenomenon that Paul is talking about is real than there should be a reasonable explanation and it should definitely be measurable. Without the physics you don't even know what kind of rating you need on your transformer. Don't take things for granted, think critically, even from a trustworthy source.

Bigger is better, always. It's just as simple as that.

Another one from Norway without Paul saying how he wants to visit. :(

@RickMahoney2013

3 жыл бұрын

Or has been there

Hahahahaha. Hate mail for audio! Gold. Yeah we’re a funny bunch. I don’t always agree with your thoughts Paul but love your channel and content. Keep it up!

@Jet00

3 жыл бұрын

I love when a person says that he disagree with a professional hi-end audio engineer who designs real products for almost a century.

@Nightjar726

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jet00 no. I said I sometimes do not agree. Next

@Jet00

3 жыл бұрын

@@Nightjar726 oh, "sometimes"... That changed a lot (no). Look at yourself You arrogant as f (I bet you've been told before).

@Nightjar726

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jet00 ha what in the world?? How did this get to you cursing at me ? Lol Geezus man. Have a beer and relax.

@erikpoephoofd

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jet00 What's with the nasty attitude? Nightjar said nothing mean or offending. I guess you're just having a bad day and that's okay.

I don't know but the one on your 7k dac doesnt. Audible distortion and high noise floor. The 9 dollar apple dongle measured better.

@sergeysmelnik

3 жыл бұрын

@@vegaslimoguy2376 it's on the Audio Science Review forum. Theres a 78 page thread about this dac with all the measurements.

@vegaslimoguy2376

3 жыл бұрын

@@sergeysmelnik On a forum??? HA!

@sergeysmelnik

3 жыл бұрын

@@vegaslimoguy2376 did you even check the measurements? They're even better and more in depth that what stereophile does or are you gonna laugh like a moron and keep believing in unicorns?

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

@@sergeysmelnik Yes, I agree. ASR does legitimate testing.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

@@sergeysmelnik Did you even listen to it yourself to find out?? Or, are you basing your information on a pie chart that you read somewhere? The proof is in the pudding, binky, not in the receipe.

Haha :) I guess his name is "Jørgen" not, "Jurgen" ;P I always laugh a bit when americans, english etc can't pronounce the letter "Ø" :P We have the letters Æ, Ø, Å after Z in the alphabet. Always funny when trying to pronounce my name too.. :P

Optimus Prime does

A power supply can never be “too big.”

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

As someone who has worked in industrial controls design/engineering for over 40 years, can you please explain that statement to me?

@poserwanabe

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomterrific9459 you stole my comment 😆🤣😂

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

Of course it can be too big and this is especially true for a phono preamp. Bigger transformers come with a higher cost, higher weight, more EMI noise and perhaps even more common-mode current noise. And with a proper circuit to regulate the DC voltage inside the preamp, a heavy over-specified transformer is of no added value. Paul remember something from 1976 and I'm sure there is a very proper engineering explanation for what he observed. It could be, for example, that the original transformer was indeed underpowered, or it had too low output voltage, perhaps a European model used in the USA. These things are completely measurable.

Why not place a "power amp" to the output of the PS? a transistor is cheaper and more compact than a transformer, and will give you the lower impedance.

@H-77

3 жыл бұрын

The power amp will need a power supply using (you guessed it) a transformer. It'd be better to just use a capacitance multiplier circuit if you don't need regulated power rails. Regulation adds its own can of worms because some regulators have very slow transient response.

@amitraam1270

3 жыл бұрын

Not necessarily. But, thing is, he's talking about phono stage. how much current is there anyway? transients? Sounds like he was using a really tiny transformer, an insufficient one even for that.

@H-77

3 жыл бұрын

@@amitraam1270 Lots of ways to do it. Of course, if it is that sensitive to the power supply it's connected to, then someone has obviously done a pretty bang-up job of designing a phono stage. If I were designing the power supply for a really good solid-state phono stage and wanted to "do it right", I'd probably do a linear supply (with a normal-sized transformer and reasonable filter capacitors), then regulate it with one of the Linear Technology low-noise regulators. Then I'd throw sufficient output decoupling capacitance (using a mixture of electrolytic and ceramic capacitors) to ensure it maintains a low output impedance throughout a reasonable frequency range. The power supply for a phono stage does not need to be complicated or expensive.

Always use a transformer with good regulation ! Simple 😆

@thespotlightkid1011

3 жыл бұрын

& i'd say (if youre handy with a soldering iron) always have pricey top-notch voltage regulators after your tranny ...& then the filering caps but why stop there, i.e if your not loaded to buy the top-draw stuff

Go big or go home!

As an EE student, im going to have to go with mostly NO on the question. If both the transformer and circuits are designed properly, there should be no change in sound when increasing the transformer size. However, a lot of transformers and power supply's are designed to barely meet the requirements, so in that case yes. I for one usually design my power supply's to handle at least 150% the expected peak load.

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

Any audiophile phono preamplifier will have adequate voltage on the regulators to maintain a stable DC voltage to the amp circuitry and adding a larger transformer will just cause more EMI with the transformer (50 or 60Hz noise) and possibly also more common mode current noise.

@dnealuk

3 жыл бұрын

... aaaand ... that's the difference between student and 45-year practitioner.

@ThinkingBetter

3 жыл бұрын

@@dnealuk Paul's claim of some observation from 1976 could easily be explained with simple measurements. If truly a larger transformer made an audible difference, you would be able to see it on the DC power rails inside the amp as reduced voltage ripple or fluctuations. There is no magic here. It's easy to store a before vs after oscilloscope measurement of the power rails and compare them. "Separation of instruments, depth and body" are not meaningful metrics on a DC voltage rail issue. Paul's talk is too much voodoo science on this topic.

@thegrimyeaper

3 жыл бұрын

It's supplies, not supply's. Be an English student some day.

@adamsonlinearrayspeakersha87

3 жыл бұрын

You are wrong, the earth is not flat.

Electrical engineer the signs does not support having a bigger transformer equalling better sound

So that huge transformer in my Carver HR 772 makes it a great receiver

@RickMahoney2013

3 жыл бұрын

Yes it does Rick lol

I'll have to refer to the "That's what she said" quote....😁

Paul, if you were talking about a power amp, I might believe you. But a preamp? Not very likely unless it was poorly designed to begin with.

Does having a larger amount of gold, transform you into a better person? Current is the factor. If current is vey low, a large mass transformer is detrimental. Magnetism is a balancing act on a thin or heavy wire. Opposites in magnetism do not attract. The same direction of magnetic flow does.

Yours is big ... mine is Bigger !!! Yours is small ... mine is Smaller !!! Yours is ... ???

Yup, no magic here just impedance.

No.

Yeah headroom. More bottom. Bottom that wasn’t there before so yeah , introduce your own idea of someone else’s song. Yay

This sounds crazy :) i use constant current sources in all my preamp stages... 10VA or 1000VA does not matter....

I would caution not to conflate hate with passion.

In 5 -10 years commercial movie cinema's will have speakers that have plastic woofer cones.

@HareDeLune

3 жыл бұрын

K

The one governing rule of audio equipment is that the older something is, the better it sounds. Conversely, the newer something is, the worse it sounds. All old technology sounds amazing and new inventions sound horrible. In a few hundred years, the latest technology will sound like screeching static. We're lucky that we can still faintly make out the melody of music played on gear made in this modern era.

@tomterrific9459

3 жыл бұрын

Can't say I agree with this.

that's what "she" said

These videos are becoming more and more banal. The size of a transformer is not relevant and the question is meaningless. Just design or choose a transformer that meets requirements for the circuit design. What next? Are high frequencies better than low frequencies? In Paul’s anecdote, if there was a huge sound improvement then the original transformer was faulty or not suitable for the job.

@natehaiden

7 ай бұрын

Audio isn’t so cut and dry, and there are thousands of natural variables that aren’t spelled out in the on-paper requirements of a circuit that will effect the sound. Like the interleave in a transformer or the surface are of the laminations stacked both don’t change the values required for the circuit but they make an impact. It’s a just question and no questions are meaningless.