DC3 Power Supply
Reference Level DC Voltage Power Supply with CHC-REG linear regulator board and optional Boost Module
DC3 builds now come with the Mundorf capacitor upgrade fitted as standard. This can also be retrofitted to your existing DC3 if you own one of the older DC3 units.
This is our brand new reference level DC power supply, called the DC3. Instead of being based on the older DC1 and DC2 regulator designs, it uses our latest regulator layout - Version 2.0 of our fabled CHC-REG module. The front end of the PSU is a much-improved design as well, using the same large audio-grade transformer and banks of Mundorf capacitors as our much more expensive Naim upgrade PSUs.
This is a truly no-compromise PSU, with a performance well beyond that of the old DC2 or DC1 designs (which themselves were considered best-in-class back in the day!), and it is still very reasonably priced compared to our competitors.
The DC3 is particularly suitable for powering equipment like audio PCs, NAS units, streamers and laptops - we can fit the DC3 with one of our Boost Modules, which will increase the maximum output current of the unit to a hefty 5A of continuous current. This is enough to power small PCs, streamers and a whole range of the latest audio equipment. Please contact us with details of your equipment and we will be happy to advise you.
A note for audio PC owners - the DC3 does not provide multiple outputs for ATX-style sockets, it is usually used to supply an on-board PSU like a PICO PSU or similar - we can also build additional outputs into the DC3 to separately power smaller items like DACs and sound cards if desired.
Our range of DC power supplies is an excellent way to upgrade any piece of equipment that requires a low-voltage DC supply, some examples of equipment that it can power are listed lower down the page but we can build these units to power virtually any DC equipment. The standard power supply shipped with equipment is almost always a cheap nasty black plastic box that either plugs into a mains socket and obscures adjacent sockets, or sits on the floor humming away to itself and injecting a whole load of unwanted noise into your power supply and your hi-fi equipment. They very rarely have features such as shielding, or any form of mains filtering or surge protection, which all adds up to mean that you are effectively strangling the performance of your equipment without realising it.
Custom HiFi Cables to the rescue! We have specially developed a very low-noise DC power supply, which is FULLY LINEAR and NOT a switched-mode supply. Switched mode supplies work by turning a high voltage on and off very quickly to simulate a lower voltage, this puts a large amount of high frequency noise into the output current. This is fine for PCs and laptops, but rubbish for hi-fi use, you can hear the loss of sound quality when you compare one to our linear PSUs! Our fully linear supply uses no high-frequency control whatsoever, instead we dissipate excess energy as a very small amount of harmless heat (usually only a few degrees above room temperature).
To power these units, we recommend the use of our PowerBlack IEC cable. The DC3 PSU is not supplied with an IEC power cable as standard - if desired, you can use a 'free' type (the sort that comes with various electrical equipment, most people seem to have several of these spare around their homes), or an upgraded cable from us for an enhanced listening experience.
Output cables are 1m long as standard, and are fitted with a DC connector to suit your equipment. The only standard colour available is black, but we can make them in a custom colour to special order.
£1320 including VAT
(1700 USD for North America)
3 to 25VDC (fixed) 1.5A max. current & 1m output cable with Mundorf caps
UPGRADE OPTIONS:
High Current Boost Module (up to 5A):
add £300 (400 USD)
Extra separately-regulated output:
add £300 (400 USD)
3 outputs or more: Please email (a larger case/custom transformer may be needed)
Customer Testimonials
I am the proud owner of four Temple Audio Monoblock amplifiers and now I have supercharged them with the amazing DC3 power supply. It honestly is the best, most noticable upgrade I have ever made. Okay, it is not quite as cheap as the battery route that some Bantam owners choose to get a slight improvement in sound, but this is in a totally different league! Every aspect of sound has improved, not just slightly but to a whole new level. Firstly the sound is 'bigger' as if i've got new, more powerful amps. The bass is stronger, punchier, every instrument that produces bass is easily much more distinguishable. Voices sound like they are right there with you and it makes me smile when I hear just how the decaying of cymbals on tracks is so clear. A friend of mine has a system costing about ten grand but with the addition of the DC3 to my modest set up I can honestly say that I prefer the sound of my system! Workmanship and quality of finish is of the highest standard! All I can add is that if you have a Bantam or any other similar amp, do yourself a favour and supercharge your system with the truly excellent DC3!
Nick (UK)
I decided to order a DC3 with the booster module fitted... It was delivered about 6 weeks ago and i've waited until now to write this until it had a good few hours on it. Albeit from the initial set-up and switch on the improvement was obvious. The increased dynamics were one of the immediate things I noticed, along with more spacial awareness around each note and individual instrument. As time has gone on it has just got better! Things you didn't notice straight away are now very much present, such as the bass being cleaner and tighter and also the increased focus and depth of the soundstage. If I had to capture and describe what it has done in one sentence; it would be that another veiled layer has been stripped off the music with an extra increased level of realism and detail.
So, overall it has been a very positive upgrade to my system and another move in the right direction. To anyone considering or contemplating anything similar, I would highly recommend it....and to also give Sean at Custom HiFi Cables a go!
Terry W (UK)
My Jaw went slack, mouth wide open... UN-BELIEVABLE! I must have swore at least 20 times before I could think anything intelligible to say. The DC3 is a monster, and that is from stone cold! It's magnitudes better than the DC2 that I also own with respect to the layers of mix that are revealed, and most astonishingly the textures now laid bare in the bass. Get this, it's running an Amptastic Mini-1 (£100) and it's the best power amp I've ever heard in my system. Yes, a 5 to 1 ratio price wise, it just shows how important the power supply is and how important that first Watt of power is!!! I am in awe!
Peter (France)
Just to let you know the PSU is really opening up and sounding rather special! Best way to describe it is that it has a new set of lungs, great dynamics and effortless ebb and flow to the music. Everything is crystal clear but in a way that is musically satisfying. Along with my new DAC, familiar albums sound unfamiliar if you know what I mean. Trying to avoid the usual cliches mate. I thought this amp was capable of more, and I was right!
John (UK)
I thought it was about time to put a few words down about the DC3. For a start, it's worked flawlessly since day 1 – it gets a bit warm, never hot, even after many hours so functionally it’s been perfect. You were extremely patient and helpful in designing it for me and once the design was completed you had it built and back to me very quickly as well
More importantly really is the audio quality – I have been on a bit of a mission since starting down the road of building an audio PC – every step seems to make such a big difference and there are many steps to take with it.
At the heart of all these is the DC3.
The second I put it on it made a huge improvement over the switching supply I was using before. Cleaner, clearer, more transparent, more focused, tighter and cleaner bass, far more harmonically rich. Now after a lot of tweaking and further upgrading I am hearing more and more how good it is. Its providing my audio PC with really good quality power which is one of the most important factors and I am now getting sound I feel is miles better than a very expensive streaming system I owned before. I have listened to another system with a very low noise ATX power supply and there just is no comparison.
It’s even managed to escalate the quality of a mere Asus sound card to very high heights by providing it with very clean power and a good power source. I can’t praise it highly enough really – its doing exactly what I wanted it to do / expected it to do.
Terry E (UK)
Upgrades of the DC3 compared to the DC2/DC1
- Uprated audio-quality toroidal transformer (with a significantly higher power rating that that of the DC2 transformer, letting it provide a lot more 'punch' much more easily)
- Completely new design of rectifier and reservoir capacitor board, mounted separately to the transformer and the regulator module(s) to remove mechanical vibrations and electrical interference. An improved configuration of rectifier is used, which gives an extremely low ground impedance for the PSU, which in turn means the PSU can supply a constant voltage more easily under transient or difficult load conditions; the output is extremely low noise and ripple-free
- Larger reservoir capacitors (twice the size of that used in the CHC-CAP and four times of that used in the DC2), for much better smoothing of the AC input on the regulator board. We use Nichicon KG audio grade reservoir capacitors, which are very highly regarded in the audio community
- Capacitor board and regulator board are both separately filtered for superior noise rejection
- Nichicon KZ 'Muse' capacitors are used throughout the regulator board - these are some of the finest audio-grade electrolytic capacitors available, in fact they are the absolute best caps that Nichicon make! They are extremely highly-regarded, and are used to great effect in the new design
- Very low-noise metal film resistors are used throughout the design
- Wima polypropylene and polyester capacitors used at critical decoupling points - we use more than in the original DC2 design. Ceramic capacitors are used for critical RF-frequency filtering, which polyester/polypropylene capacitors are not good at.
- Silver-plated interconnection wires are used for optimum transfer of power around the different sections of the circuit boards
- A new circuit layout is used, to optimise flow of power from one section of the circuit board to the next
- A new, larger case is used to house all of the extra parts and larger transformer. It is in the exact same style as the CHC-CAP case.
- As with the DC1 and DC2, you can choose the colour of the power LED! Blue, Green or Red are standard, or we can supply others to special order
Further Information
We custom-build each power supply to suit your particular voltage and current requirements - this information is usually printed on your existing power supply on on the back of the equipment, or in the manual, but if in doubt ask us and we can find out for you. A list of just a small selection of the products that we can power is given at the bottom of this page.
The rear panel of the power supply has a high quality IEC inlet with integrated power switch and fuse holder, and also the output socket with a removable output power cord (length can be specified by user) included with the supply.
The end power connector is also selected to be compatible with your equipment - in most cases, this will be either a 2.1mm or a 2.5mm DC 'tube type' connector, but we can get just about any type that you may need. If you are unsure as to what you need then just ask!
Note that the DC3 can supply up to a maximum of 1A continuous, or peaks of 1.5A, OR we can fit the Boost Module to give up to a 5A continuous rating. This is an actual continuous current rating, not to be confused with the current ratings given on cheap switch-mode PSUs that power low-current equipment. Your actual equipment probably draws less than 1A, but it might come supplied with a 3A power adaptor because that is what the manufacturer can get cheap from China that month. We have used DC1s to power some equipment that came with 5A PSUs, so don't go by that figure on the standard PSU. Just contact us to see if your equipment is compatible, and we can advise which of our PSU range is the most suitable for your needs.
Compatible Equipment List
This list is not definitive, if your product is not on the list then just contact us and we will be able to tell you the type of supply you need (see the above note as well). The voltage and power ratings of the original PSU are given (actual current draw will be lower though), along with the internal hole diameter and length of the DC 'tube type' power connector (or a different type is noted if required)
Amptastic Mini-1 Class D amp 12-14.8VDC @ 1.5A, 2.1 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Antelope Zodiac Plus DAC 18VDC @ 560mA, 2.1 x 14mm DC conn.
Arcam rDAC 6VDC @ 600mA, 2.1 x 14mm DC conn.
Arcam irDAC 12VDC @ 1.5A, 2.5 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Beresford Caiman DAC 15VDC @ 500mA, 1.3 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Beresford Caiman mk.2 DAC 15VDC @ 500mA, 2.1 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Beresford Caiman SEG DAC/pre 15VDC @ 500mA, 2.1 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Cambridge Audio DACmagic 100 12VDC @ 2A, 3.0mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus 12VDC @ 2A, 3.0mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Cambridge Audio iD100 12VDC @ 1A, 3.0mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Chord 2Qute DAC 12VDC @ 600mA, 2.1 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Chord Hugo DAC 12VDC @ 600mA, 2.1 x 9.5mm DC conn.
Chord M-Scaler 15VDC @ 4A, 2.5 x 14mm DC conn.
Chord TT2 15VDC @ 4A, 2.5 x 14mm DC conn.
Innuos Wave Music Streamer 5VDC @ 1.5A, 2.5mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Innuos Zen Mini Music Server 16VDC @ 5A, 2.5mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Logitech Squeezebox v1 5VDC @ 1A, 2.5mm x 14mm DC conn.
Logitech Squeezebox v2 5VDC @ 1A, 2.5mm x 14mm DC conn.
Logitech Squeezebox v3 5VDC @ 1A, 2.5mm x 14mm DC conn.
Logitech Squeezebox Duet 9VDC @ 1A, 1.0mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Logitech Squeezebox Touch 5VDC @ 2.5A, 2.5mm x 14mm DC conn.
M2 Tech Hiface Evo 9VDC @ 2.5A, 2.1mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
M2 Tech Young DAC 18VDC @ 2.5A, 2.1mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Musical Fidelity V-DAC 12VDC @ 1A, 1.3mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Musical Fidelity V-CAN 12VDC @ 1A, 1.3mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Musical Fidelity V-LPS 12VDC @ 1A, 1.3mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Naim Audio (NAPSC) 18VDC @ 1.5A, 2 pole locking ring conn.
(pin 1 = +V, pin 2 = 0V)
Naim UnitiServe 12VDC @ 5A, 2.5 x 14mm DC conn.
Onkyo ND-S1 iPod dock 5VDC @ 1A, 2.1mm x 9.5mm DC conn.
Temple Audio Bantam 12VDC @ 1A, 2.1mm x 14mm DC conn.
Temple Audio Bantam Gold 15VDC @ 2A, 2.1mm x 14mm DC conn.
Temple Audio Monoblock 18VDC @ 3A, 2.1mm x 14mm DC conn.