Kenneth Lau PSU

mdkim

mdkim

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Joined
Apr 5, 2013
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Location
Manhattan Beach, CA
I received my unit today.

I'll start with a few minor annoyances. Upon unpacking the unit I heard pieces rolling around inside the chassis. I freaked out thinking my unit was damaged but upon opening it up here is what i found:

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The two screws were rattling about. They were not the black flat headed screws used to hold the top plate down but round. I didn't look too hard but I could not find a round headed screw used anywhere on the inside so I'm assuming that nothing will spontaneously fall apart on me in the future. Where the heck did they come from though?!

The other minor flaw in my unit was a ding in the faceplate. It was packed pretty well but I suppose it could have happened in transit so this may be the fault of the shipper.

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The above didn't bother me enough to derail my wanting to try the unit so I fired it up. Initial thoughts are the vocals a touch more forward and detailed, and, I think I hear better dynamics. The bass did have more energy but perhaps had more texture as well before I placed my Synergistic MIGs underneath the unit. I'll let the thing run for a few days and give my thoughts but my initial reaction is positive.

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Dear Michael,

Sorry about that, as I know, the round black screw is used to hold the faceplate inside, I am afraid the faceplate had been impacted deeply when delivery. That's why the screws loose and the faceplate get hurt. For this issue, I will send you another faceplate. I will pack the machine even more stronger next time.

Best regards,
Kenneth Lau
 
Hi mdkim.
I am interested in Kenneth PSU. You could give your opinions after having it in his possession for several days?
 
nonesup said:
Hi mdkim.
I am interested in Kenneth PSU. You could give your opinions after having it in his possession for several days?
Click to expand...

I recently upgraded my cables and have lost a bit of my baseline for reference. Everything is burned in now but I'll need to swap back to the stock unit for a true comparison and I've been a bit lazy :blush:. Hopefully I can give some detailed comments shortly.

Having said that, it does not inhibit anything as I'm currently enjoying the best sound I've had to date in my room. I will say that the Lau PSU appears to have brought the vocals a bit more front and center which I like. I do feel like I lost a touch of timing, however. I don't know if this is attributable to the PSU or the Lumin. I will try and find the cause.

The unit definitely benefits from isolation, however. Without my MiGs underneath, there was too much bass energy and it was slightly bloated as well. Another plus (although not sound related) is that the case is heavy enough to keep my power cords from tugging on it.
 
My KL PSU now has > 200 hrs on it and it is so much better than when i initially put it into the mix.the bass is so much better....tighter..quicker..more authoritative.everything has improved...it does take time but it is really worth the wait.
 
Hi Calloway.
With regard to the higher frequencies, have you noticed any changes?
Regards
 
Ok I had a spare hour or so and I swapped back and forth between the Lumin's stock PSU and Lau's PSU determined to conclude one better than the other. The short of it...the differences are, for me in my system, not smacking me in face.

The Lau PSU seemed a tad smoother to my ears but retained a hint more bass energy than the stock unit (not bloated and not a bad thing). While I initially thought the Lau unit placed vocals more front and center, today I felt they were closer to being indistinguishable but, again, the Lau unit made for slightly less harshness.

Dynamics and stage width were so close that I'd be just declaring one better without any real conclusive proof.

Am I imagining the smoothness? Quite possibly. But for now, I think I'm getting something out of the unit. At the very least, its extra size and weight holds down my power cord :snicker:.

For those on the fence, I don't think you'll be hearing a huge difference. While I ultimately am happy I purchased the unit, I would probably be just as happy had I never know of its existence. As always, YMMV.
 
Thanks mdkim and calloway for your feedback. I just bought a new cable, so I have no hurry. Also be very interesting when it comes out next S1, with its improved PSU, read the comments on this Power Supply connected to A1 (sure someone will)
 
Thanks Michael's and Calloway's comments, really help to improve my work!


Best regards,
Kenneth Lau
 
Kenneth:

Thank you so much for sending an additional faceplate for my PSU. While it was neither necessary nor expected, I am appreciative of your efforts.
 
Having recently added a Shunyata Hydra 8, Python Helix PC, and a Python Alpha Digital PC (feeding the Lumin) to my system, I am hearing many of the same SQ improvements attributed by others to the Ken Lau PSU. I can't help but wonder if there would be further improvements with the upgraded PSU making it worth the investment? I suspect not. Comments?
 
MtnHam said:
Having recently added a Shunyata Hydra 8, Python Helix PC, and a Python Alpha Digital PC (feeding the Lumin) to my system, I am hearing many of the same SQ improvements attributed by others to the Ken Lau PSU. I can't help but wonder if there would be further improvements with the upgraded PSU making it worth the investment? I suspect not. Comments?
Click to expand...

This is my first post here and I want to share my experience, which is close to what Tom has said.


I have my Lumin for more than 6 months. Bought it as my CD player broke down and wanted to try out the new hi-res music. While I generally enjoy the convenient of Lumin, I still enjoy the music from my modest turntable setup much more. As a result he Lumin was used to warm up my system most of the time, not serious listening ;-(. I have email Kenneth on his PSU last year but didn’t go ahead as I was still not sure if I will keep Lumin for long. Also the PSU can only be used on Lumin.


I have a Shunyata Triton on my system. Two weeks back I acquired the Shunyata Alpha Digital power cable for Lumin. Wow, what a transformation this PC makes to my Lumin’s sound. There are improvements in all aspect. Significant improvement to the bass, which I consider the weakest of Lumin. Most importantly, I can now sit down and enjoy the music from Lumin, just like from my vinyl.


This is my experience with Lumin on my system, may be very different from the rest here. I have witnessed the effect of changing IC and PC on various equipments but never one as significant as the PC on Lumin. I am not here to promote Shunyata PC. It looks to me that power supply is an area on Lumin that can be tuned for great effect. Therefore I am also wondering how much Kenneth PSU can further improve my Lumin. Unfortunately there is no way of auditing it.
 
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