Home Review Syntaxx bi-volt power supply

Review Syntaxx bi-volt power supply

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Pros

  • Sounds good
  • One 'box' with multiple connections
  • Custom configurable

Cons

  • Competition sometimes more musical
  • Finishing

Price: € 1250

Build quality
Usability
Sound
Price
Syntaxx dual PSU

Intro

Contents

External power supplies are like the following product… they’re becoming increasingly popular, especially now that the computer network has become part of the signal chain. There is quite a bit of pollution coming in via both the Ethernet cable and the switching power supplies of the switches, routers and modems. If we can get rid of that noise with a decent diet, it’ll make a big difference. But what about external, upgrade power supplies to a d/a converter? Does that work? Let’s find out… We test the Syntaxx Bi-Volt PSU with 12 volts and 5 volts.

Syntaxx is part of Lexicone Acoustics from Rijsbergen. Jan van Ginkel – owner – builds his own power supplies. And he does so in an admittedly old-fashioned, manual way… it’s a perfected design. Central is a large toroidal power supply and each ‘step-down’ is modular.

This has the advantage that services are easy and that Lexicone can customize power supplies. Do you want four times 5 volts? That’s possible. Do you want two times 12 volts and two times 19 volts (e.g. for a NUC)? It could also be… You’re asking… Jan van Ginkel is turning. The version with four exits is around 1250 euro. In other words: 625 euros per voltage to which you can connect two devices. There’ll even be models with even more exits… Interesting.

One box

Another advantage of the Lexicone power supply is that you can power four devices from one cabinet. By the way, to our taste the cupboard is too old-fashioned and not really beautiful. But anyway, most of the time it disappears into a piece of furniture. We wouldn’t necessarily put him in an open rack. Also the cables… well, you can put a sock around it, Jan… (tip :-)) Bare wire often contrasts with today’s beautiful models. Of course it doesn’t matter at all when it comes to sound.

About the size… and price. Of course there are smaller – cheaper – power supplies. Think of the Farad, Sbooster, IFI, but think about it: what if you want to feed four devices linearly? Exaggerated? How about a switch, d/a converter, streaming bridge and a NUC? That’s four. You’re on it faster than you think. Not only do four separate power supplies take up a lot of space: they also quickly become expensive.

Type test
Single Test
Accessory type
Cabling
Conductor material
Copper
Type of conductor
Stranded
Shielding
No