Most experimentors start in the wrong place. They want to build fancy, light-blinking, noise-making, flashy circuits, but they have no understanding of what a power supply is, does, or can do. They have little understanding of the importance of and/or the relationship between voltage, current, power, heat dissipation, line regulation, load regulation, and noise, and they proceed to do things they'd never do if they did.

That's why the first thing an experimentor should do is to construct his own bench supply, with a logic supply that has current limiting and precise voltage regulation to well below the common 5%, along with a bipolar adjustable analog supply with adjustment for voltage, offset, tracking, current limiting and over-voltage protection, along with indicators of both status and magnitude to show what's going on. Output current, of course, sould be significant, and well above the "usual" 250 mA of a low-cost bench supply. Rise and fall times, should, of course, be adjustable as well.

That's a big project, but, when complete, one has not only a useable tool that will serve for many years, but also a good understanding of what a power supply does and how it can influence the circuits it powers. That's why it's very important to construct it thoughtfully, with an eye toward how it will be used as well as how it will look on the bench. After all, it's going to be around for a long time. You have to look at it and work with it for a long time, so it should have the conveniences you want, so you don't have to live with extensive compromises. This may require a considerable investment, but, after all, it will pay for itself in lost time and avoided component damage.

The power supply is the place in which I've found most experimentors' setups to be the weakest.

RE