Not just another black box…
By Roy Gregory
Back in September, I related the tale of my search for a better power supply to feed the Roon Nucleus+ that’s an increasingly necessary evil in the Reading Room system – and occasionally in the Music Room too. Seeking advice – always a smart move when you don’t know, even if you think you do – I settled on the apparently extravagant solution of the clumsily named Mini ARC6 DC4 LPS, built by Sean Jacobs of Custom Hi-Fi Cables. https://gy8.eu/review/making-the-nucleus-make-music/ Despite the company name, Dr. Jacobs’ background and considerable abilities rest on precision power supply design. At £3,600 (inc. UK sales tax at 20%) the Mini ARC6 DC4 costs around 50% more than the Nucleus+ and, at twice the size, ain’t so ‘mini’: but then, that’s how I like my power supplies. Just as the power transformer in a tube amp should be bigger than the output transformer(s), serious power supplies are as essential to audio performance, digital or analogue, as they are bulky to execute.
Read the review of the Jacobs’ supply and you’ll see that I was bowled over by its transformative impact on the Nucleus+, allowing the server to function far better while also reducing its ability to upset other units in the system. There’s no escaping the deleterious impact of multiple wall-warts on high-performance audio components. In stock form the Nucleus might not be the quietest or most musically organised file replay solution, but sorting out its power supply goes an awful long way towards delivering the sort of performance so many listeners assume they’re going to get from file replay. It also prevents the shoddy little plug-top SMS that comes with it from dumping noise into your system’s AC supply – the very definition of a win-win scenario.
The Nucleus LPS was a custom build. In fact, such is the range of options on offer, from internal component selection to the number and specification of the outputs provided, that almost all of Sean Jacobs’ supplies might be considered custom. Having said that, an awful lot of his power supplies find themselves feeding Naim or Chord Electronics units, especially the DAVE series DACs. It’s an impressive indicator of the performance, quality and value offered by the Jacobs supplies. A wise man once told me that the secret to audio success was that, once your company starts to grow and you start hiring additional bodies, choose specialists who are better in their area of expertise than you are. Sean Jacobs is extremely good at what he does and the existence of external power supply options on so many audio components, offers you the chance to make the choice that companies so often don’t.
All of which got me thinking. If a Jacobs power supply is not only better but more affordable than many of the options offered on mainstream audio components, where else might that expertise be applied. I don’t use Naim or Chord electronics and my network switch gear already features excellent linear power supplies. But if the Mini ARC6 DC4 could transform the lowly Roon Nucleus, what might it do for a genuinely front-rank musical performer like the Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable?
