iFi Audio iPower Elite PSU - The Official Thread

RnRmf

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Apr 29, 2015
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I agree with no significant burn-in changes attributed to the iPower Elite over time. I'm surprised about the aftermarket cables. Running them with Shunyata Venom V10 NR's...works/sounds great to me.

I didn't try a Shunyata cable but I'm glad to read that one pairs well.
 
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AUDIODREAM

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Feb 7, 2023
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I tried the iFi Power Elite with the Node 2i (LHY Bluesound PSU Kit)this weekend simply AWESOME... Wow, the iFi Power Elite dropped the sound floor considerably. Everything just became more individual and pronounced—wider soundstage. It sounds at least 15% better than the original Node 2i without the upgrade. Made me smile.
 

AMR / iFi audio

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I tried the iFi Power Elite with the Node 2i (LHY Bluesound PSU Kit)this weekend simply AWESOME... Wow, the iFi Power Elite dropped the sound floor considerably. Everything just became more individual and pronounced—wider soundstage. It sounds at least 15% better than the original Node 2i without the upgrade. Made me smile.
Thank you for the kind words! It's great seeing our products put to good use. I hope it serves you well.
 

kennyb123

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Nov 30, 2012
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I have one of these supplies on the way from Amazon. It should arrive Sunday. I’m looking to hear if it provides an improvement to a Unifi Security Gateway that is essentially playing the role of a router. I will also try it with a few other devices as well.
 

AMR / iFi audio

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I have one of these supplies on the way from Amazon. It should arrive Sunday. I’m looking to hear if it provides an improvement to a Unifi Security Gateway that is essentially playing the role of a router. I will also try it with a few other devices as well.
Please let us know if it does! Interested in hearing your thoughts on this use of the Elite!

Cheers!!

Bubba
 

kennyb123

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Nov 30, 2012
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Please let us know if it does! Interested in hearing your thoughts on this use of the Elite!
It was delivered Saturday and I immediately swapped it in for the stock SMPS that came with my Unifi Security Gateway. My initial impression was that of being surprised. It seemed to bring a bigger improvement than I expected. I want to wait a bit longer before I share any conclusions though as I want to do some A/B comparisons after it’s had some time to settle in. How long before it’s fully burned in, typically?
 

Gregadd

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Apr 20, 2010
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IME burn-in is short but critical ifi products
Enjoy
 
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kennyb123

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Nov 30, 2012
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Kirkland, WA
Please let us know if it does! Interested in hearing your thoughts on this use of the Elite!

Cheers!!

Bubba
Last night I finally got around to some A/B testing. It was good exercise as I had to run up and down the steps as my router (UniFi Security Gateway) is on the first floor in a wiring closet while my audio system is on the second floor.

My reference tracks are files that have been upscaled with PGGB and stored on the internal drives on my Antipodes K30. Thus what I was evaluating was the impact of a power supply on my router to music stored locally on my server.

There was an improvement with the Elite supply over the stock supply that wasn’t difficult to hear. Some listeners might say that it was a subtle improvement but I’d say that it’s still an important improvement.

Music played off the K30’s drive sounds great with either the iFi supply or the stock supply on the router, but some harm is done when the stock supply is used. The stock supply knocks things slightly out of focus. Swap the iFi Elite back in and it’s as if the fine focus is better dialed in. The improvement is important as it improves believability as voices and instruments emerge from a more realistically sized position in the soundstage. With the stock supply images are less focused and more spread across the soundstage. The Elite supply makes my favorite female vocalists more convincingly real and in the room with me.

At some point I will repeat the evaluation but using streamed music. I heard enough though to determine that the Elite is a keeper. My gut tells me that it’s contributing even more than I was able to glean from the A/B testing last night. That wasn’t the easiest process due to having to run up and down and also having to wait for the network to come back to life afterward.
 
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kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
Please let us know if it does! Interested in hearing your thoughts on this use of the Elite!

Cheers!!

Bubba
I didn’t see a thread for the DC iPurifier2, so I hope you don’t mind me asking here. Given the positive results with the Elite on my router, I thought it would be a good idea to apply some noise reduction to the Unifi switch that follows my router. Unfortunately, the power supply is 48v. I believe that’s due to the switch having a single port that supports PoE. I’m guess this voltage be too high for the DC iPurifier2, but just wanted to confirm.
 

barbz127

Member
Jun 4, 2022
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Last night I finally got around to some A/B testing. It was good exercise as I had to run up and down the steps as my router (UniFi Security Gateway) is on the first floor in a wiring closet while my audio system is on the second floor.

My reference tracks are files that have been upscaled with PGGB and stored on the internal drives on my Antipodes K30. Thus what I was evaluating was the impact of a power supply on my router to music stored locally on my server.

There was an improvement with the Elite supply over the stock supply that wasn’t difficult to hear. Some listeners might say that it was a subtle improvement but I’d say that it’s still an important improvement.

Music played off the K30’s drive sounds great with either the iFi supply or the stock supply on the router, but some harm is done when the stock supply is used. The stock supply knocks things slightly out of focus. Swap the iFi Elite back in and it’s as if the fine focus is better dialed in. The improvement is important as it improves believability as voices and instruments emerge from a more realistically sized position in the soundstage. With the stock supply images are less focused and more spread across the soundstage. The Elite supply makes my favorite female vocalists more convincingly real and in the room with me.

At some point I will repeat the evaluation but using streamed music. I heard enough though to determine that the Elite is a keeper. My gut tells me that it’s contributing even more than I was able to glean from the A/B testing last night. That wasn’t the easiest process due to having to run up and down and also having to wait for the network to come back to life afterward.
Thankyou for sharing that.

Is there a switch between the gateway and the k30 or any access points?

I'm planning out some network changes and trying to move away from or segment out a Poe switch.

Thankyou
 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
Is there a switch between the gateway and the k30 or any access points?
Yup

Unifi Security Gateway > UniFi Switch 8 > long run between walls to wall jack in listening room > Sonore opticalModule > 8m fiber > EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma > K30

I'm planning out some network changes and trying to move away from or segment out a Poe switch.
I should do the same. In fact I just swapped the switch into which this segment is plugged. I also have a Unifi Switch 8 PoE. This provides PoE on all ports while the Switch 8 provides only a single PoE port. So now both my streamer and NAS are connected through to ports that don’t support PoE. There’s likely still some leakage so I might be able to do better.

I will eventually try iFi’s new network purifier doohickey.
 

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