PSU1 Constructors KIT
Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: And the rest
Forum Name: Power Sources
Forum Description: Where the power comes from has always been a hot topic - even more so now with new World legislation
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=210
Printed Date: 27 Mar 2026 at 12:15am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: PSU1 Constructors KIT
Posted By: Graham Slee
Subject: PSU1 Constructors KIT
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2008 at 5:11pm
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PSU1 Constructors Series Kit It's been the first time in a couple of years that today I've built some of our PSU1 power supplies.  (photo of the 230 volt ready-built version) Although I'd designed it in the first place and then slightly redesigned it again in 2004 to obtain CSA(UL) and IEC safety certificates, John has been putting them together for the past 2 years. I'd just about forgot how to do them in that time. So it was a bit like trying to fathom out a DIY project without any instructions, I thought, and then immediately the thought of offering them as a kit sprang to mind. The case would come pre-drilled/machined to save the frayed nerves of anyone who can't stand fiddly shaped holes like that required for the mains inlet - in fact, its position is important from a safety aspect, so best we machine that bit for you. It will still be a challenge though: It's safety and ultimate performance will still hinge on good construction skills but most hardened kit builders should not find it a daunting task - I guess many will find it a piece of cake! The kit will feature the latest tweaks like the UF4000-series discrete bridge rectifier which replaces the bridge rectifier unit (this change was done sometime last year). The PSU1 is one of the best "sounding" linear audio power supplies on the market, suitable for single rail use. It gives out 24 Volts DC (regulated) and is conservatively rated at 200mA to ensure it keeps its cool, but will deliver far more to satisfy short duration transients. Available in 230 and 120 volt 50/60Hz versions (the 120V will work in Japan). More info to follow. ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Replies:
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2008 at 10:31am
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Definitely interested if postage is a little more sensible than 40 GBP. |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 12:36pm
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It may be much safer to use "normal" post on kits than it is on equipment. We may offer both options. The kit website will be http://www.diy-audio-kits.com - http://www.diy-audio-kits.com but at present there's nothing there to view - working on it.  ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2008 at 12:03am
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Fair comment. I must admit that paying postal insurance seems like a sophisticated version of paying bribes to officials to ensure that they do what you have already paid them to do. Perhaps I am being cynical in this. |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2008 at 11:31pm
You are not being cynical, just pointing out a fact that we as consumers put up with because we are fools I guess. Same goes for tracking and delivery confirmation.  ------------- Miguel |
tg wrote:Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2008 at 2:26pm
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Terry Gilliam has done many a film on the subject ranging from the comically suggestive to the no holds barred "Brazil". The unfortunate thing is that because of anarchy laws we cannot do a darned thing about it! Otherwise we would? I doubt it  ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: dvv
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2008 at 9:17pm
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TG, I second your motion. Plain daylight highway robbery. And it's global.
Graham - about bloody time. I know you are overworked and underfed, no news, but I seriously think you should have done this a long time ago. Mostly because I tried several prototypes I have hanging around with your amps, and they showed promising results.
Especially the shunt editions ... (hint, hint!)
Anyway, better late than never, as the saying goes. I wish you much luck with it, Graham, and will lay down good money it will only improve your products and image. ------------- True audio lives on the fringes of the industry. |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2008 at 12:06pm
So Mr S, any progress in this area (or kits in general) or are you still VAT-whacked  ?
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Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2008 at 10:10pm
VAT whacked Pound/Euro exchange rate whacked That thing called "X"-mas whacked (and so are the chaps) Spice Simulator whacked (better not get myself started as to why...) Website updates whacked (can't get it together because of the above lot) Cannot wait to be kit whacked.... ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 16 Dec 2008 at 7:58am
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So, just a normal "day at the office" then is it ?
Now there is a tempting morsel - enquiring minds will want to know more |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 16 Dec 2008 at 11:57am
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"Now there is a tempting morsel - enquiring minds will want to know more " Ongoing investigation into just why components bereft of alleged hazardous substances (like we all have in many items around the home...) just don't sound the same, and how equipment can be made to sound better using these than it could using the "hazardous" ones now banned under EU RoHS (an ongoing situation I forecast would happen). Previously circuits perilously close to instability would survive as shown by the number of iffy products people have bought and the praise given to them by both press and forum members...  Not so now! Some may remember my costing for the Reflex design at £105,000. This was based on £50 an hour. What I actually got paid was closer to £8 per hour working the clock round, but it just goes to show the difficulties involved in getting a design to function properly. The Spice simulator was installed this year to speed up development but so far has led to several "by-roads" of exploration which could lead to further performance enhancements... more on the subject to come ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: PinkFloyd
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2008 at 7:44pm
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The postal insurance thing (signed for) is not so much to ensure the item reaches the destination it's more a case of confirmation that it has! I used to send things standard mail and, surprise surprise, there were several instances where the customer claimed not to have received them...... erm........ not so with "signed for" post as there is a record the customer has actually received the item. If everybody was honest and upfront 99.9% of the mail would be confirmed as received without the need for it to be signed for.
Think about it...... send a £100 item by standard mail, it arrives, the recipient claims it hasn't arrived.... send another £100 item to him... he now has 2 x £100 items...... postal insurance saves a lot of headaches for both the sender and recipient. ------------- Born again caveman |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 30 Dec 2008 at 8:41pm
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So you had the same experience? I had numerous chargebacks (with Nat West's World-Pay) with signed-for as well, but it's a bit awkward for the Banks to argue with a JPEG of the recipient's signature from UPS. I also swapped to PayPal around the same time. ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: John_Walker
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2009 at 3:49pm
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Hello - I'm new to this forum, but I've been a satisfied GSP customer since I acquired a Reflex Era Gold in October 2007. I would definitely be interested in the kits - a headphone amp for my iPod, for example. I have a couple of questions: 1. Power Supplies Could GS power supplies improve the sound from equipment that is normally powered by a switch-mode wall-wart? I can definitely hear 'hash' from my laptop when it is connected to the mains; the sound clears up on battery, but then I run out of juice before the music finishes. (Perhaps I need to choose a composer other than Mahler!) Similarly, the weakest point on some USB/Firewire soundcards seems to be the filtering between the PSU and analogue stages. 2. Balanced operation. I've acquired a 'pro-audio' Focusrite sound card recently, which has led me to think about balanced vs unbalanced interconnections. I recall a Chord balanced phono pre-amp which was favourably reviewed a few years ago. What are Graham's and the forum's views on balanced operation? Can a GS amp design be 'adapted' to provide a balanced signal? (After all, the signal from the cartridge is balanced you unbalance it by connecting one side to earth...) 3. I noted the very objective discussion on mains cabling, and have been following Russ Andrews' attempt to establish a causal link between mains cable design and perceived sound. I am as sceptical as most of you. However, when I installed a PowerLine network connection (which uses mains cabling to transmit Ethernet traffic), I could only make it work when the PowerLine adaptor was plugged directly into a wall socket - even 3m of exposed mains cable on a trailing adaptor would cause the ethernet connection to repeatedly drop-out. I assume that RFI picked up by the cable was the culprit. Any views? John Walker |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2009 at 5:26am
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John, My reply at http://www.gspaudio-community.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=341&PID=2783#2783 - http://www.gspaudio-community.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=341&PID=2783#2783 should answer quite a lot of your concerns. Portability places restrictions on what can be achieved - we want convenience, but convenience isn't really conducive to audio quality. Homes, and all other places for that matter, where audio equipment (including laptops) is used need to be dragged into the 21st century. Enforcers want us to economise on energy without them even once considering the implications... typical! As I discovered one long night surrounded by my colleagues struggling to complete an entire radio studio for delivery onsite the next day: one simple misunderstanding about power supply grounding can bring the whole thing into ruin! Who misunderstood? I put my hands up! Yes me. That was 1991. I had taken the ground one quarter of an inch the wrong side of the power supply reservoir caps (the input side). The whole lot hummed! It had to be cured before the desks and ancilliaries could be spec measured. It took two of us to find exactly what I'd done - both of us were the companies designers. One track cut and a jumper wire later, and we had silence, and the spec measurements could be done... "Cinder's would go to the ball" That was a high current application. A sound card is a low current application by comparison, so such an error would not show up as massive, if at all. All too often it's not the filtering but the grounding sequence. There are only so many printed circuit board designers in this world who understand, but there are lots of boards to design. I broached this issue with the editor of Electronics World in 1993, but he couldn't see the point. And that's my point! Virtually all performance problems are down to something as simple as getting the ground sequence right. They don't need a hi-tech solution at all - they need understanding! So, OK, having worked in broadcast audio, yes, balanced has its positives, but it's used for driving and receiving off long cables. In hi-fi it's used as a crutch! The problem with crutches is that one day they break, and they definitely get in the way. Often the equipment or wiring isn't at fault - it's simply the way it's used. And if only we could understand it! But the above scenario says we can understand when we have to. ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: hooograa
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2009 at 7:53am
| When the PSU kits become available I'll get one or two. My wall wart began screaming like a banshie so I used a STEPS power supply instead. If your solo and reflex are anything to go by I will be happy. David |
Posted By: iamalexis
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2009 at 8:54pm
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is there any news on when the psu kits will be available as i'm eager to get going on my next kit
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Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2010 at 12:24am
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I would be very interested in making one of these PSU1 kits if you are making them available. Is there any way to run 2 GSP devices from one PSU1 with compromising the sound?
[Later I bought a PSU1 ready-made by GSP and am very glad I did. And I read on this website that you could power two devices from one PSU1, but neither should be an Elevator] ------------- Jon Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC. |
Posted By: on-ga-ku
Date Posted: 21 Dec 2011 at 7:57am
Just nudging this thread in case of any good news such as the festive arrival of a PSU1 kit ?  It would suit me ( me me me ... so selfish ! ) immensely as I could buy the transformer locally and possibly save a bit on shipping. I do sometimes ponder if Mr Posty makes more off GSP international sales than the man himself ! Paul edit: realised immediately after I posted this that the transformer is of course a custom one, so no chance of buying one locally and relieving the tired shoulders of Mr Posty. |
Posted By: Laramy
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 3:14am
We in the USA are free to bitch about the Postal Service and do so at every opportunity. We also have effective competition in the form of UPS and FedEx. Brazil is one of my all time favorite films, a true classic.
------------- Government is a necessary evil at best and an intolerable one at worst. |
Posted By: Laramy
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 3:36am
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Never underestimate how important a good supply is. There is a lot of truth in the adage "Amplifiers simply modulate the power supply." I have a Cambridge Dac Magic, which comes with an AC wall wart, which is simply a crummy transformer in a plastic case. I replaced it with an Avel 30VA toroid, and the results were significant. Sound images became far more specific, dynamics improved, and the whole music gained a foundation that was not there with the stock wall wart. Any decent piece of gear can benefit from an upgrade from a wall wart to a real power supply. ------------- Government is a necessary evil at best and an intolerable one at worst. |
Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 5:53pm
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Agreed. The PSU1 gives a very clean low noise supply and makes a positive difference on every GSP unit I have owned. I have seen the transformer inside my PSU1 and it is a very high quality unit, not cheaply acquired or substituted.
I did the same thing as you with the DACMagic I had with a big linear (transformer) PSU to replace the AC wall wart. Fuller and clearer sound from the unit.
Better (low noise) regulation and capacitors have improved my digital sound from the Squeezebox Touch I use. The EDO and Toolbox mods helped a lot, well worth investigating if you have a compatible Squeezebox.
------------- Jon Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC. |
Posted By: BAK
Date Posted: 10 Aug 2013 at 7:55pm
I too would be interested in a DIY kit.
Bruce ------------- Bruce AT-14SA, Pickering XV-15, Hana EL, Technics SL-1600MK2, Lautus, Majestic DAC, Technics SH-8055 spectrum analyzer, Eminence Beta8A custom cabs; Proprius & Reflex M or C, Enjoy Life your way! |
Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2013 at 10:44pm
Such a kit would be a very good learning exercise for me Graham.  I might check out some of your kits in the future although I do worry that I could wreck some of my electronics if I make a mistake.
------------- We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are. |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2013 at 12:47am
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We make them to IEC60950 and they carry an IEC certified-body certificate no: NL-8023 http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/images/iec-certificate.pdf - http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/images/iec-certificate.pdf They are flash tested as part of the certification agreement. In my opinion a novice making this power supply could easily make something lethal. I have had plenty of 230V AC shocks in my life, and I am aware that one day one could kill me. I try to avoid contact with the mains! You should too (here I am referring to all who have asked). A death could easily happen to a constructor, and it would not matter if I printed a disclaimer, I would be had up for manslaughter. Ever heard of those accident solicitors? I am sorry, I will never sell any mains item as a kit. Other manufacturers are not as accountable. ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: BAK
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2013 at 7:19am
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"We make them to IEC60950 and they carry an IEC certified-body certificate no: NL-8023 http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/images/iec-certificate.pdf - http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/images/iec-certificate.pdf They are flash tested as part of the certification agreement." I agree with Graham. His company is holding all the electrical safety responsibility. Flash testing ensures a unit is safe.
Bruce ------------- Bruce AT-14SA, Pickering XV-15, Hana EL, Technics SL-1600MK2, Lautus, Majestic DAC, Technics SH-8055 spectrum analyzer, Eminence Beta8A custom cabs; Proprius & Reflex M or C, Enjoy Life your way! |