charliehatch
Posted
5 years 6 months ago
OK, audio gang, here's my update on the PS Audio P20
Executive Summary: Amazingly enough, this regenerator has made a significant improvement in the sound of the system.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had been using a Furman Pro C 20A conditioner that was plugged into a non-dedicated 20 A line. My two TRefs were plugged into separate outlets on the same line. This line was daisy-chained through several additional outlets through the kitchen from the breaker box.
Before ordering the P20, I had an electrician install a dedicated 20 A line that would be used to feed the P20. (PS Audio requires this if you’re going to use the P20 to its full 20 A capability.) The 12 AWG line cost about $400 and runs outside the house along the wall in conduit.
Once the dedicated line was installed, I switched the Furman conditioner to that outlet to see if I could hear a difference. I kept the TRefs plugged into the daisy-chained line. I found no significant difference in the sound with the dedicated line. (See? I don’t just imagine things….at least most of the time.)
Because I live in the middle of audio nowhere (Western Nevada, just East of Lake Tahoe), I ordered the P20 direct from PS Audio. It took only two weeks for it to be delivered to my door via FedEx. All 100 lbs of it. Somehow I was able to schlep the box into my living room, unpack, and install it.
I hooked up all my audio equipment AND the TRefs into the P20. I kept the TV plugged into the conditioner just in case there was too much total power draw.
The P20 has a built in oscilloscope, and I could see that the incoming power waveform was clipped on top and bottom with additional high frequency noise and a strange little bump showing at the bottom of the waveform. (According to PS Audio, the bandwidth of the scope is around 2 - 5 kHz, so it may miss some of the digital hash that might be floating on the line.) The input power company voltage measured 123 V (I saw 124 at one point, and 126 (!) a few weeks back). The P20 output waveform looks very clean, as it should, and the system was set up at the factory to supply 120 V. This is adjustable.
The P20 also has a power meter, so I cranked up the system to pretty loud and listened to Bela Fleck The Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, which has some pretty intense low frequency bass. This was to get the TRef subs going. The meter on the P20 showed I was using only around 250 W at most, a lot less than I expected. So I went ahead and plugged the TV into the P20, which took me up to a little under 500 W when everything was cranking loud. The P20 can do 2000 W continuous, so it isn’t even breaking a sweat.
That’s the big benefit of Class D amplifiers. The Bel Cantos, 300/600 Wpc (8/4 ohms) each, and the TRefs, 1800 W each, theoretically would melt down the local power grid, but they never use more than a fraction of that in my system. The TRefs are very efficient, so my system pretty much idles along most of the time.
Now….the sound. I gave the system several days to settle down, and WOW! All the usual cable and power cord improvements apply, only more so!
There is much more detail in the highs. This has tightened imaging and the sense of 3D holographic space. Highs are smoother, too. The sound is so much more involving and musical. There is a greater sense of being there, and I hear instrumental details I never noticed before. Sharp transients like rim shots are even sharper and more tightly defined. And, I can hear ultra-small details better than ever. I know, we’ve all heard this before; this is typical of the kind of improvement you hear with cable and power cord upgrades, but the degree of improvement this time around was bigger!
The other big improvement is in bass power, authority, and definition. I notice it the most with kick drums; there’s just a whole lot more bass power there, and the bass is tight and tuneful and well defined.
When I started this exploration of the power side, I didn’t think power cords or conditioners or regenerators would make much of a difference. I have discovered that they do; each step has produced additional improvements, and I think the regenerator was the biggest step of all on the power side. I suspect that my Auralic Vega DAC/Pre is where most of the improvement is happening because I think it has the most marginal power supply. But surely there must be additional improvement in my amps and in the TRefs. I just think it’s likely to be smaller changes there.
So what’s going on here in the world of physics? I think a big part of it is because the P20 has less than 5 milliohms output impedance. So when something needs to draw makeup power, it’s RIGHT THERE. On the other hand, I’ve measured voltage drops on my utility power when I turn on power hungry things. That tells me that there is significant resistance/impedance in the incoming power delivery system. When something needs power and tries to pull it off the grid, the voltage will sag and the component will not get to where it needs to be. This makes for compressed dynamics and distortion.
I think the other aspect is noise reduction. There is probably some noise that gets through the power supplies and rides on the signal. This noise can obscure ultra-fine details in the music.
So the bottom line: The P20 makes a big positive difference in my system. This improvement is probably component dependent, so, as they say, your mileage may vary. Is it worth $10k? It was painful to spend that much money, that’s for sure, but I am very pleased with the result. Whether it’s for you, that’s up to you to decide, but I should add that even without the sonic improvements, for the first time I now have solid protection for my entire system. I don’t have to worry about power transients frying my TRefs anymore.
Charlie
Digital source > multiple boxes and cables that are always changing > Triton Reference speakers
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