Announcing the next generation: UltraCap LPS-1.2 (Now 5/7/9/12V! ; Now with parallel LT3045 regulators!)

Despite my aging camera not wanting to cooperate, I managed to snap a few photos this afternoon of the UltraCap LPS-1.2 for the web site.

Circuit boards arrive Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Crossing my fingers that all goes smoothly.  I'll keep everyone posted as progress is made.

Have a great weekend everyone!  

--Alex C.

A quick good news update:

(The below is excerpted from an e-mail just now sent to all those who ordered an LPS-1.2--up through today's order number 6876.)

While the circuit boards for this new model arrived a week later than expected, they are at last here and test perfectly!  

A few important tasks remain before we can ship your wonderful new power supplies: 
a) Load the software onto each board. Yes, this crazy-sophisticated power supply has an FPGA controlling everything, and custom software runs it all.

b) Hand-solder on one large resistor that had to be left off by our board house (it is a long story, but a last minute change we made would have resulted in a longer delay if we had the production firm wait for that one part).

[EDIT: Some people mis-understood this. The place for this part is already on the board as designed. It is just that we changed the value at the last minute and the board house could not wait for that one part to start production. So we had them leave the part off--and the pads already have solder on them, making it very easy to attach the part.] 

c) Test each board at full 1.1-amp load; re-flash with different firmware code any boards that run above or below limits; retest those to certify to 1.1A.

d) Slide the fully tested boards into the partially assembled cases and put the back panel on.
e) Wrap and package each unit with charger, cords--and ISO REGEN and accessories if part of a bundle.
f) Prepare all shipping labels, export documents and customs invoices--and then get them all out the door!

Does that sound like a lot to do and to orchestrate by just myself and my assistant?  Well it is a good thing we have a lot of experience doing this over the past few years!

Will we get all of that done for all 200+ units--in time to ship this coming Thursday, February 15th?  I wish we could, but such is not likely.

Yet you can bet that we will be working day and night on all this, and I am sure that at least 75 units will ship this week.  
Of course the earliest placed orders will ship first. But please don't e-mail to check--just watch for a shipping notice with tracking number.

Looking closely at the calendar, and assuming working through next weekend, I feel confident promising that all your orders will be shipped by February 21st. (Just please excuse me if non-urgent e-mail and forum questions go unanswered during this period.)

As always, your business, your enthusiasm, and your patience are all greatly appreciated. We promise this will be worth the wait.
 

Here is a pic of one tray of the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 circuit boards:

9 hours ago, R1200CL said:

So next batch will have another revision on the board, including that resistor ? ?

No that is not correct.

Seems I was not completely clear, as I also received e-mails from a few people asking to wait for the next board.  The place for this part is already on the board as designed. It is just that we changed the value at the last minute and the board house could not wait for that one part to start production. So we had them leave the part off--and the pads already have solder on them, making it very easy to attach the part.

Here is a photo showing the part that I am attaching.  Soldered every bit as well as the machine-placed part right next to it!

Hi All,

I finally had some time to take a production LPS-1.2 into the listening room and try it out! 

I have an ultraRendu powered by an LPS-1 (powered by a JS-2), feeding a Bottlehead DAC (DAC I designed about 5 years ago), The DAC was powered by the new LPS-1.2 (which was powered from the same JS-2).

I was not prepared for this. It was jaw dropping. I've been alternately crying, smiling like an idioot, and getting goose bumps. I thought I had this system sounding incredibly lifelike, wonderful to listen to, as good as it was going to get. Boy was I wrong! Just this addition of the new power supply on the DAC transformed it yet again.

First off was the bass, WOW, this has all got to be just perception but it seems like it is shaking the room much more, with less "boominess", that I didn't even realize was there. Not only does it sound "more there there" but I can now hear subtleties in the bass line I never noticed before. Like one song has TWO bass players, I never realized that before, now it is obvious.

The whole sound field seems much richer now. The transformation over time as my system improved, went from a kind of haze over the whole space which got energized by instruments and voices, like looking in fog, the light sources tend to light up the whole space, but individual source are spread out and indistinct. Then the fog went away and I could hear individual instruments and voices, but they were kind of grainy and the whole thing felt a little "thread bare". The previous incarnation, was filling out the sound field and the graininess was gone. But with the LPS-1.2 the whole sound field  is much richer and full and each sound source has so much more detail and finesse, like going to 4K HDR from DVD.

But it's not "etched" or hard or any other form of hyper detail, it is just organically "there", not hidden but not pushed forward either.

And this is just CD rips.

Summary:  WOW.

John S.

10 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

The DAC was powered by the new LPS-1.2 (which was powered from the same JS-2).

Hi John,

Very nice report. I'm looking forward to my LPS-1.2 now with even more anticipation.

One quick question for you. Have you tried driving the DAC straight from the JS-2? The JS-2 is no slouch. How would that compare to the JS-2 energizing the LPS-1.2 driving the DAC?

UPDATE:

Well it took several VERY late nights of flashing and testing circuit boards--to be ready for my assistant to assemble each morning--and a lot of time preparing shipping labels and export paperwork, but I am happy to report that today 80 UltraCap LPS-1.2 units shipped around the world.  About 1/5th of those were part of ISO REGEN/UltraCap LPS-1.2 bundles.

All of the shipped units went to clients who ordered from end-of-November through to January 13th.  These were all the people who thought they were ordering the original LPS-1 (and paid the $40 lower price) and instead, as reward for their patience, are receiving the new generation product.

In addition, two of our finest overseas importers were shipped a dozen or so units via FedEx.  So folks in the UK and Singapore who would like to jump ahead and be among the first to get hands on an UltraCap LPS-1.2, just contact either Martin Smith at VortexBox UK/Audiostore  or Alvin at Vinshine Audio.

This weekend I will be testing another 100 units.  Monday is a holiday here and my assistant asked for the day off.  So Tuesday she will begin putting the tested boards into cases and kitting up the boxes.  On Wednesday and Thursday (February 21/22) we will begin shipping more orders.  These will be the first orders placed specifically for LPS-1.2 units (starting with @rickca's order #6726) , from the announcement date of January 14th.  All of these were originally promised shipment by February 15th--so in the end we will have been only one week behind. If you knew all the behind-the-scenes trials of making this happen (John decided to rewrite the entire codebase for the FPGA last week!) you would understand what a minor miracle this is.

John and I are very happy but quite tired.  One more big push through these next 5 days and then I'll take a few off.  

I am hoping to actually put an ear on an LPS-1.2 myself sometime this weekend.  Glad to see John's report above.  But what really matters is what everyone else hears once theirs arrives. 

I'll start a new thread for user experiences and questions shortly.

Have a great weekend all!

--Alex C.