Independent power for Urika

Hardware and software, modifications and DIY

Moderator: Staff

Post Reply
k_numigl
Very active member
Very active member
Posts: 348
Joined: 2008-01-30 12:23
Location: Friesland

Independent power for Urika

Post by k_numigl »

I'm planning to use a conventional power supply (not SMPS) for the Urika (original version). I intended to measure the necessary voltage for the Phono Pre at the Radikal output socket - but without success. No voltage seemed to appear at any of the 5 XLR connectors of the Radikal. Does anybody know what voltage/s is/are needed and what is the XLR connector layout?
matthias
Very active member
Very active member
Posts: 2092
Joined: 2007-12-25 16:47
Location: Germany

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by matthias »

k_numigl wrote: 2019-02-04 13:54 I'm planning to use a conventional power supply (not SMPS) for the Urika (original version). I intended to measure the necessary voltage for the Phono Pre at the Radikal output socket - but without success. No voltage seemed to appear at any of the 5 XLR connectors of the Radikal. Does anybody know what voltage/s is/are needed and what is the XLR connector layout?
Did you try to open the case and measure the output voltages on the circuit board?
As alternative you can call Hoerwege.
http://www.hoer-wege.de/neu.htm
They made a PS for Radikal/Urika, please have a look at the news from last September.

Matt
Matt

MBP / Exposure pre + power (both modified) / JBL3677
k_numigl
Very active member
Very active member
Posts: 348
Joined: 2008-01-30 12:23
Location: Friesland

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by k_numigl »

Thanks, Matt - the point is that the power supply for Urika is located on the Radikal PCB, and there might be modifications of the voltage coming from the PSU to the PCB. This is indeed the case, as I found today:

The RADIKAL will only supply power to the URIKA II when the turntable is rotating. (Linn Docs)

I did not know this and had no LP12 connected. So the problem is presumably solved.

BR, Klaus
matthias
Very active member
Very active member
Posts: 2092
Joined: 2007-12-25 16:47
Location: Germany

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by matthias »

k_numigl wrote: 2019-02-05 14:45 Thanks, Matt - the point is that the power supply for Urika is located on the Radikal PCB, and there might be modifications of the voltage coming from the PSU to the PCB. This is indeed the case, as I found today:
The RADIKAL will only supply power to the URIKA II when the turntable is rotating. (Linn Docs)
I did not know this and had no LP12 connected. So the problem is presumably solved.
Interesting,
please give us feedback how your PS compares to Radikal powering Urika.
Thanks

Matt
Matt

MBP / Exposure pre + power (both modified) / JBL3677
User avatar
Briain
Active Member
Active Member
Posts: 86
Joined: 2008-09-05 14:37
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by Briain »

This has also piqued my own curiosity. I now run an ADSM/3 (in place of my KDS/1 and KK/1) and though I am not Exakt, I do now have Exakt Links on the ADSM. I do also have a LP12, but where the ADSM resides is subject to severe sunlight (through a huge picture window facing west) so although the ADSM is in a small cabinet (to protect it from same) there is nowhere safe to site the LP12 (and thus it has been in storage for many years).

The only sensible place to site the LP12 would be on the other side of the room (which would mean 12 m of cable distant from the ADSM, clearly not a sensible option) but it recently struck me that with the Urika II being connected via cat5 cable, this would no longer be a problem. Of course, the Urika II is hardly a cheap solution, but adding the Linn PSU to the price just takes it to stratospheric levels (considering it's only for playing the occasional LP - ones that have never been released as CDs or downloads - and considering that my LP12 is quite old; Lingo 1, original pressed steel sub-chassis, original Ekos and an ancient Arkiv) so I would also be interested to know what the power requirements are such that one day in the distant future, I just might find a Urika II on eBay and thus be able to rattle up a home-brew PSU to power it (okay, it might not be sonic perfection, but it would be a heck of a lot better than having no turntable, at all).

This being very, very long term project, of course!

Bri
User avatar
ThomasOK
Very active member
Very active member
Posts: 4358
Joined: 2007-02-02 18:41
Location: United States
Contact:

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by ThomasOK »

As Klaus has already figured out you have to turn on the LP12 for the Radikal PS to send power to the Urika, so hopefully he has his answer.

As to Briain's dilemna, that does seem a somewhat convoluted and expensive way to go about getting the old LP12 up and running. I have a suggestion that would be less expensive an might be worth looking at. The Lejonklou Slipsik (now in version 7 and sounding pretty amazing) is capable of driving very long cables. I have a customer who has a Rega turntable on one floor and the rest of the system on a different floor (I didn't ask him about running up and down the stairs to change records). After talking to Fredrik Lejonklou about it we felt it should work fine in his situation. The Slipsik is driving a 30ft pair of Linn Black interconnects into his integrated amp and he has been very happy. No noise or loss of fidelity problems noted.

The Lejonklou phono stages are MM only, except for the forthcoming SINGularity, so you would need to change to something like an Adikt. But it would get you back into vinyl for a lot less than Urika IIs and power supplies.
The LP12 Whisperer
Manufacturer, Distributor, Retailer and above all lover of music.
User avatar
Briain
Active Member
Active Member
Posts: 86
Joined: 2008-09-05 14:37
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by Briain »

Hi ThomasOK

Thank you for the heads-up on that and it is very useful to know of the Lejonklou Slipsik's capabilities, in that respect (I'll keep that in mind as this sort of issue has cropped up with other installations of which I am aware; I still occasionally help out a semi-retired ex-Linn dealer on some home installations and rearrangements). I'd be tempted to try it like that, then to compare it to using balanced cable (by using a couple of KDS type audio transformers) and then pumping that into the ADSM's balanced input. Unfortunately, though that sounds like a great solution (particularly so if a MC variant is on the cards), unfortunately it would be completely impractical to install the required cables.

The key problem for me is that when I fed the second last cable down from my Hi-Fi area into my cellar, I swore that it was the last possible cable I could get into the already very busy space (it's jolly tricky as I have to cut T&G cedar wood panels, then get it past all sorts of below floor obstructions - some being steel ones - to get it into the cellar) then somehow, I later managed to get yet another [thin] cable down there (took me a very long time and it involved inventing a whole new class of swear words) so I have absolutely no chance of getting another pair of audio cables installed, whereas I could easily free up one of the existing infrastructure cat5 cables (there are 4 to the Hi-Fi area) and very easily divert the underside end of it - via accessing my cellar - to the proposed LP12 location, so that was my thinking behind keeping an eye open for a used Urika II (even if it takes many years before one appears on eBay) and building a suitable PSU to feed it.

Kind regards,
Bri
Catweazle
Active Member
Active Member
Posts: 84
Joined: 2019-11-03 13:48

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by Catweazle »

Hi Bri,

just came across this thread, wondering if you made your LP12 sing? With the free Karousel promotion out now, the cost may appear a bit more bearable?

Cheers, CW
PC or LP12-Krsel-KRad/1-Keel-Ekos SE/1-Akiva-Urika II | KRDSM | KEB/2 | C6100/D | AV5140/038
pdcman
Active member
Active member
Posts: 111
Joined: 2009-11-01 11:19
Location: Wales

Re: Independent power for Urika

Post by pdcman »

Haven’t heard from Briain for quite some time. Is he still around?
Post Reply