I admit I’ve never tried, but the first thing the supply see’s on the Nucleus PCB is a DC to DC converter (switch mode) so I can’t imagine an outboard linear PSU making much difference. There are believers though, if you use search.
Some might also say that running LMPS is less noise to the rest of the environment in your house/hifi area too. personally I run LMPS where I can but honestly can’t say with any degree of certainty there is any improvement in SQ to my old ears.
You might check out the Upscale Audio You Tube channel for the Sbooster BOTW LPS. Of course it is sales motivated but Kevin has a lot of information on how it works and what it does to the sound.
Hi John, I actually have an Sbooster BOTW LPS for my Mytek Brookyln DAC +, and I got it from Upscale Audio. I am surprised that no one who has a Nucleus has responded to the question who may have tried a LPS with it to see if they noticed any improvement in its performance.
I use a Keces P8 LPS with my Nucleus+ and I heard an improvement when I swapped to it from the stock switched mode supply. How much of an improvement? I remember thinking it was significant at the time but that was some time ago and I can’t remember enough to put an estimate on how big the improvement was. I’m glad I bought it, especially since I got it at around half price because it was being used as a demo unit in the store.
As with all these things, YMMV. Listen first if you can, otherwise buy with a return option if you don’t have the opportunity to try it in your own system first. When it comes to comparing one LPS to another, count me out. I’ve only tried the Keces.
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@David_Benson, The lack of response may have something to do with voiding the warranty on the Nucleus. I would take Kevin at his word.
I too have the Keces P8, and agree with everything @David_Aiken said.
Well worth the money, but these things are all depending on the quality of incoming power and are system dependent so yes, YMMV.
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As long as you stay within the power specs of Nucleus, I doubt you’d be voiding warranty? Not sure though, so I’d love to see some official statement on that.
Sorry but some absolute nonsense in the previous replies.
Firstly, power is everything in this game. Adding a better PSU like a Keces, SR4 or Farad will absolutely improve the sound quality.
Never owned a Nucleus but I had two NUCs (Roon server and endpoint running Audiolinux) and they both really responded to better power.
Also on what planet does connecting a different DC power cable void your warranty? If you take a screwdriver and open the Nucleus then your warranty is at risk. Adding a different DC power supply. Firstly there is no way a manufacturer could argue that voids the warranty. Secondly, how would they know?
Many of the LPSU suppliers offer trial periods. Buy one and if you don’t hear a difference then send it back.
Cheers,
Alan
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I think the warranty position is if a PSU is in spec, you should be fine.
Do the folks who think a linear power supply changes the sound have a DAC attached directly to the Nucleus? Or are you proposing that a linear supply on a computer spitting out packetized digital data is making your component elsewhere sound better?
Also there are only switching supplies these days, a linear supply is just a switching supply running at much lower frequency.
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As with others on this thread, I use a Keces P8 and believe it has a salutary effect. As I employ the P8 to power my Nucleus (19V), etherREGEN (12V) and opticalModule (5V through its USB output), I am using it optimally. For those who question whether a linear power supply is beneficial for a Nucleus, it’s worthwhile to read the words of @danny back in February 2019:
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@Nepherte Went back and read the Nucleus White Paper. It says they made the decision for using the wall wart to keep costs down, knowing that some users would want to use a LPS. So it’s OK to use a third party power supply.
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BTW, I am using the SBooster BOTW with the Nucleus as a core and streamer into the DAC of my preamp and it sounds great. I can’t give you a comparison because I started with the SBooster form the very beginning.
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Adding a power supply does have a sound effect. The vendor of this thing „sounds“ much happier if you buy one. 
Apart from that: Nada.
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You guys do realize that on the other side of that power plug is a big switching supply on the underside of the motherboard that generates all the needed voltages from the input DC.
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I have found that linear power supplies make a difference on other devices in my network so I would expect at least a small improvement in sound quality if I used one with my NUC. However, 19v LPS products usually are pretty expensive, sometimes more than my NUC cost, so I have been reluctant to experiment. (NUC 10 does require 19v, not 12-19v like previous generations, I have confirmed.) Also, I only play over my network and not directly into a DAC over USB, and I wonder if that makes an upgrade to an LPS less audible. Have any of you used an LPS on a streaming server or are you all directly connected to your DACs?
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I did buy a Teddy Pardo power supply for the Nucleus. It does make a difference in sound. I hear a wider and deeper soundstage, quieter background and better dynamics. After listening for a few days, it is impossible to go back to the switch-supply. Everybody who cares about sound quality should get a good power supply.
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Same here with the P8.
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