The Article
The Supplier: Russ Andrews’ new power supply upgrade
29th July 2017
Russ Andrews has introduced The Supplier, a replacement DC power supply to upgrade a large selection of popular hi-fi products
The Supplier has been developed to work with a variety of different products and is ordered direct from Russ Andrews by specifying which third-party product it is to be used with. Customers can also contact the company with requests for a unit compatible with their product if it is not listed. The correct DC voltage output, with a correctly terminated linking cable, which fits into the XLR output socket, will be supplied. The 0.25m standard length link cable may also be ordered in additional lengths to accommodate individual system set ups.
Based around a heavily modified Switch Mode Power Supply, that has been rewired with Kimber cabling and fitted with Kimber Kap and Panasonic audio-grade capacitors, The Supplier, which is also fitted with the company’s tried and tested Silencer mains filter to reduce mains noise, is available in 5v, 9v, 12v, 15v, 19v and 25v variants and has a 60W rating, making its compatibility very wide ranging. It can be used with any AC mains input from 90V to 260V, ensuring worldwide operation is possible.
The compact enclosure, 150 x 53 x 210mm, features UL approved custom-casework, a high-gloss acrylic faceplate with hidden LED indicator and an IEC connector on the rear panel for use with a mains lead of the user’s choosing.
The Supplier is available now from www.russandrews.com and costs £449. It comes with a two-year warranty and is part of the Russ Andrews 60 day money back guarantee programme.
When you have a single supply voltage feeding a device like shown in the picture, in most cases internal is a dc to dc converter to create the typically used bipolar voltage. That dc to dc converter is a switching power supply. So although this is sure to make some improvement, it’s better to remove the switcher altogether and have a proper outboard linear bipolar supply, or quite frankly, it’s a bit of a wank..
Hi Jonathan – this was just a news item so I have no idea about the pros and cons, as it where. I did wonder about the design myself. I did manage to find this RA quote from the man himself, if it’s of any help. ‚ÄúSome people are surprised when they learn we use a switch mode power supply, thinking them inferior to the traditional linear supplies. I‚Äôve done extensive evaluations of both types and, while it is true that linear is often better, it‚Äôs not always the case and the switch mode unit specified for The Supplier is one such example ‚Äì it sounds considerably better than many linear supplies.‚Äù He continues, ‚ÄúWith the modifications we‚Äôve made to it, this unit provides a very powerful upgrade for users of the popular DACs, headphone amps, phono stages, streamers and turntables for which it is designed.” Would you be interested in seeing a review or is it a waste of time for you?
I’d be interested. The point I’m making though is the switcher internal to the device it is powering. No doubt a switcher can be made for audio that is very good and I am sure he did make this good, he seems into it. I ‘m not trying to be a troll. Actually using a LDO after the switcher (a linear low drop out regulator) I have found can clean things up nicely and make things way better, and it probably is what he does… Not sure though how much replacing the external wall wart will improve things if the bottle neck is internal to the device his unit is powering.