NUPRIME LPS-205 LINEAR POWER SUPPLY REVIEW

Chris Baillie takes a look at the Nuprime LPS-205 Linear Power Supply.

Although Nuprime will be a new name to many readers, as they were to me until fairly recently, many will remember the name NuForce. Californian-based electronics designer Jason Lim acquired  the assets of Nuforce around eight years ago. The manufacturing of the products is shared between facilities in both the US and Asia. The company has a considerable portfolio of products, including several CD players, DACs, a network switch, streamers, all-in-one digital players, amplifiers, and a natty little portable DAC. The company aims to produce products that provide performance well above what is expected at their respective price points. Within the Nuprime ecosystem, the LPS-205 is designed to power selected DAC’s, streamers, and their Omnia SW-8 Network Switch.

The LPS-205 is a Balanced Linear Power Supply, designed to provide a lower noise DC output, than the standard Switch Mode wall wart type PSU’s, which are supplied with many products, such as network switches, CD drives, streamers, and DACs. When I was contacted by the agent for Nuprime and asked which product from their growing portfolio I would like to review, I confess to being a little selfish in choosing this product, as I have wanted to try out a Linear PSU with the Melco S100 & D100 for some time.

Around the back of the LPS-205

BUILD AND DESIGN

This kind of product is somewhat tough to write about, as, essentially, it is just a box of components designed to make existing products sound better. Thankfully, the LPS-205 is built to a high standard, feels reassuringly substantial, and looks smart. After removing the LPS-205 from its box, I was initially confused by a sticker pointing downwards warning me I must select the required voltage for my mains supply, 230v for the UK. I was stumped for a good few minutes, at one point even breaking the habit of a lifetime and reading the manual, which failed to mention the location of the switch. After much head-scratching, I eventually discovered the switch was on the underside of the product, I mean, where else would it be, huh? With the idiot test completed, it was simply a case of removing the wall wart SMPSU’s (Switch Mode Power Supply Units) that were powering the Melco S100 switch and D100 CD transports in my system and connecting both Melco units to the LPS-205. Both of the Melco products are powered by 5.5mm x 2.1mm sized circular sockets, but two additional outputs are using USB-A sockets. The LPS-205 outputs 5v via each of these sockets; each socket auto switches between 1A or 2A, depending on demand. However, users must not attempt to power two devices simultaneously, which require 2A from the same bank of sockets. Nuprime offer the LPS-212 for products that require a 12v output. At the front of the unit are four white LED lights, which illuminate to show which output is being used. The lights are not labelled, but nor do they need to be.

PERFORMANCE OF NUPRIME LPS-205 LINEAR POWER SUPPLY

I used the LPS-205 to replace the wall-wart SMPSUs supplied with both the Melco S100 network switch & D100 CD ripping drive. Consequently, my observations are based on it being used to feed clean power to these products. The rest of my system is as follows. Melco NA1/2 server, Moon 780D DAC, Moon 600i amp, Totem Forest Signature speakers. I used the ENO Ethernet filter and cable from Network Acoustics, between the Melco NA1/2 and Moon 780D.. Analogue cables were from Tellurium Q. All components were fed by various mains cables from The Chord Company, via their newly released PowerHAUS S6 mains distribution block. As I have learned from previous experiences with network switches, somewhat surprisingly they influence the performance of both cloud-streamed and locally stored files. I am told by those who understand these things far better than I do that this is down to network noise having an influence, even on signals sent between components in a network-based system, post-network switch. I am afraid I cannot expand on this other than saying that my experiences back this up.

After allowing the LPS-205 to warm up for a week or so, I put on Agnes Obel’s fabulous sounding Myopia, a 24/48 FLAC file, streamed from the Melco NA1/2’s hard drive. Immediately I noted the presentation allowed me to hear the multiple layers of the production with less effort. Front-to-back imaging was more defined, and there seemed to be a little more texture to the vocals than via the freebie PSU. I was experiencing more of the sensation of the stereo image hanging in free space, rather than being bound by the placement of the speakers. Although we are not talking about night and day differences, someone like myself who values stereo-imaging qualities will appreciate the improvements. Next up was a Qobuz stream of Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela’s Rejoice – 24/96. I have been listening to this album regularly, often to help me assess products for review. This recording does not possess the imaging qualities of Myopia, but I felt there was a slightly better sense of soundstage depth. I also noted a little more sense of shine and body to the trumpet sound and a little more shimmer of the cymbals.

Using a ‘dedicated for audio’ CD ripping drive hypothetically should not be necessary. However, I was so taken with the improvements in my CD rips, using the Melco D100, that I ended up ‘re-ripping’ my collection of some 600 discs with it! When Melco originally sent me a D100 to review, they did include an SBooster LPSU as they felt it helped produce slightly better rips. I appreciate that again this makes no sense to many, but the concept is again the rejection of mains-borne noise, which they claim can enter the digital data stream and degrade the rip. The SBooster was returned with the review sample, but I subsequently purchased a D100 ripping drive and used the supplied ‘wall wart’ PSU. I have previously compared rips made with both the SBooster and the supplied PSU and although I felt the rips using the SBooster were slightly more solid sounding, with again slightly better definition and a cleaner top-end, these improvements were very subtle at best. Therefore I could not justify the cost of rack space the SBooster required. Comparing rips made via the Melco D100 powered by the LPS-205, I felt the results were broadly in line with the rips made using the SBooster to power the D100. The advantage of the LPS-205 is that it takes up considerably less rack space than the SBooster, and it can power both the Melco S100 and D100 together.

CONCLUSION

I would consider the LPS-205 to be a great value upgrade in the set-up I have used it in. I love that it takes up so little space and looks great. The results I experienced suggest it lowered my system’s noise floor, and I see no reason why it would not be equally beneficial in other set-ups, especially powering Nuprime components.

In my set-up, spending £449 to improve the performance of the Melco S100 significantly, giving me slightly better rips using my D100 and freeing up one mains socket would be a no-brainer.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality And Design:

It looks great, takes up very little space and is solidly made

I am a sucker for the subtle LEDs on the front panel

Performance and Sound Quality:

I feel it has improved the performance of my set-up, lowered the noise floor and improved stereo imaging.

Value For Money:

Considering it can potentially improve the performance of two components, I believe it to be of great value

We Loved:

The LPS-205 seems to do what it was designed to do, delivering a lower noise current to the components I used it to feed. I really liked the design and that it takes up so little space

We Did Not Love So Much

Yet another product I have reviewed for HiFi Pig that I do not want to have to return

Price: £449

Elevator Pitch Review: A very positive introduction to the Nuprime brand. The LPS-205 delivers low noise power to two components, which had a positive effect on the performance of my system, improving stereo imaging in particular. It looks good and takes up minimal rack space.

SUPPLIED BY NUPRIME

Chris Baillie