Power supply unit good idea?

[LonerGenius]

I am planning an purchasing the Audio Technica HA5000 (to go with the W-5000's) and was wondering if anyone has experience or enough knowledge to offer an opinion about whether or not a PSU would be a needed item or if the HA5000 would suffice by itself.

 

[Amarok]

If you mean an external higher quality PS, then, unless they totally screwed it up, yes.

Bad power is a stealth sound killer that is often overlooked. Music (but not Muzak(tm) has huge transient power demands and only a good PS can deliver. As Mikhail from Singlepower says, "An amp is essentially a modulated power supply." And modulated crap sounds like, well, crap. If the amp doesn't get the power it needs it will clip. Clipping is one of the most (to me) unpleasant distortions there is. In fact, one thing some EEs actually agree upon is that tubes clip more benignly. And according the this paper, clipping is more common in music playback than people realize.
In a previous house I owned, one of the largest (and cheapest) tweaks I did was to have a 10 gauge wire run from my breaker box to my living room to a hospital grade outlet. It was < $200 and it improved the sound tremendously. This was for a speaker system, but IMO, shows the benefit of good power.
But go by your ears and audition if you can or return if you don't feel it's worth it.

-=A=-

 

[MaloS]

+1.

It could be better worded, but it is exactly what you need to know. Quality of power is essentially the quality of your system, because honestly, thats all the amplifier delivers. Power.

 

[LonerGenius]

Thank you, that clears it up for me. Just learning about this world of great sound and my initial outlay will likely be near $4000 with no regrets. Thanks again for the help to all that given me input!