Lightning fast power supply?

1) what is the power supply?

2) what would a lighting fast power supply in a amp do?

3) where can i buy one or do research on one?

???

I'm pretty sure that the speed electrons travel is a constant !!

However a power conditioner can make a difference to your tone especially if you get frequent brown out / spikes etc


I have my studio plugged into an ART 4x4 power conditioner (a whopping 32 bucks) and it really makes a difference. I notice this most when people turn lights on and off in the bathroom. If I have an amp or something direct into the wall I will hear a "pop" as the electricity shorts over the light switch. With the power conditioner, all the noise is gone.

I'm going to assume we're talking about amplifiers here in Canada, OK?

Originally Posted by: Polera1) what is the power supply?[/QUOTE]The power outlet you plug your gear into delivers AC (Alternating Current) at 60 Hz and ~115 Volts. In order for your amp to operate, that has to be converted into several different levels of DC (Direct Current) voltage for different parts of the circuitry. The section of the amp that performs this task is called the Power Supply.

Originally Posted by: Polera2) what would a lighting fast power supply in a amp do?

Because the AC voltage varies from zero to a peak value and back again at 60 Hz, the power supply has to store some of that peak energy in order to have power available while the AC line is at low voltage. Depending on how the power supply is designed, it may not have enough power available when the amp needs it, or it may not be able to deliver power quickly enough to fulfil the amp's needs. A "lightning fast" power supply will have large storage capacity, and low-impedance components that do not restrict the amount of power available to the amp when demand is high.

You will notice the difference when smashing a chord, or even using sharp attack on picked notes. A 'slow' power supply will 'sag', allowing the voltage supplied to the amp to drop. This causes distortion to increase when the amp has to deal with a large signal. The 'brown sound' that old Fender Champs deliver is partly due to a sagging power supply. Great for 'touch' on blues lines. Metal sounds better with an amp that has minimum power supply sag, so a 'fast' supply is needed to deal with chugging rhythm chords.

[QUOTE=Polera]3) where can i buy one or do research on one?

Check the specs when you visit a music store, or leaf through a brochure. If a company goes to the effort and extrra expense to design and build a fast power supply, you can be sure they'll want to brag about it.

If you really want to get down to the component level of 'how & why', hit the library and look for books on power supply design, or look for application notes published by manufacturers of voltage regulator circuits. Books on guitar amplifiers will have power supply info in them too, including schematics.