Cardas Clear Reflection.
Had 15A on P12 and bought a 20A version for puritan
1 Like
Not worse. I believe the P12 was justified because of poor power quality where I live.
On top of cleaner power, I can definitely hear the benefits of lower noise, blacker backgrounds and more life to the music. So I have no plans to get rid of it and my experience with a power conditioner was not great.
But what it did do, which might qualify as âsounding worseâ, is that it showed up shortcomings in my integrated amp and phono stage. Not critical ones - but I could hear the harshness of cheaper tubes in the integrated and a bass-shy presentation in the phono. I added a subwoofer for a while, but it didnât work for me.
I have subsequently upgraded the tubes in the integrated and my phono was upgraded to its latest spec. Absolutely nothing to change (for nowâŚ).
Also, run-in took several weeks. There were some days early on where I wondered whether I made a mistake, and I also think my brain didnât quite compute the advantage of a lower noise floor. But one day it just âclickedâ and I couldnât live without it.
TL;DR - sounding worse only during run-in and insofar as it highlighted pre-existing issues with my kit.
3 Likes
My house power is awful also, however the P20 did not sound good powering my monoblocks ( tried with 2 different pairs). When I investigated this I discovered the wall impedance was less than half of what the P20âs outlets were so it made total sense. The power units I use now have the exact same impedance as the wall power. These are what sound the best in my system. I do however use a modified Power Plant Premiere for all front end gear to help with power distortions on the more sensitive equipment.
I have no knowledge in the field of electronics, so Iâm not equipped to doubt your experience and subsequent findings.
But my question to you is, do you think your findings re impedance showed a defect in your particular P20 or an issue in the design of the product?
PSA specify output impedance of a P20 at less than 0.005 ohm. What did you measure?
We measured .009 ohms on both the P20 and a friends P15. Direct from the wall and from my current device is .002 ohms. I have two dedicated 20a lines with #10 wire.
You would have to ask PS Audio about defect units however the P20 and P15 measured and sounded the same on my amps. I donât think the impedance is quite as important on source gear as it is on power hungry amps.
Wow, both of them!
After this conversation, I decided to try removing the P20 from my system, including the 500 watt amp.
Iâll forgo all the audiophile superlatives, but in my system the P20 is worth every penny.
I live in a condominium and the power from my dedicated 20A line varies quite a bit. Yesterday afternoon, when I did this, the meter was reading 115V in. And the meter on my amp, which displays current was down from normal without the P20. I guess Iâm just a lucky so and soâŚ
3 Likes
I can understand how it would be considered beneficial in a condo situation.
It helps out my system and big monoblocks. I surmise their big capacitors donât get drained with normal two channels listening so the P-20 keeps up up until multiple 1200 watt peaks if watching aggressive home theater movies. I wish the high current outlet switches worked differently. In that they could take a preamp trigger Because P-20 is on 24/7 keeping router and streaming gear on line. The P-20 allowance for over current is usely. The big 1.25KW amps will drain and send P-20 into shutdown when preamp kicks and the monos kick. Even with the 0.3 seconydtrigger delay circuits fro McIntosh enabled the P20 often can keep up with initial capacitor charge ups . So i have to manually turn on monos then set back to auto trigger off. It hD similar issues with my MC1000 monoblocks.
Do yourself a favor and try one of these on just the amps. They do have a 12v trigger to turn on some of the outlets. These can be found used on eBay for under $150.00 in new condition. They are built like a tank. Make sure itâs the 20A version. They do not add to the impedance like the P20 does and can take just about any in-rush surge which circuit bypasses after a few seconds.
SurgeX SX-1120-RT
2 Likes
I have P20 running krell evo400 mono blocks. It sound better on P20 for my power amp in my apartment. When running directly from power outlet, the music have the life suck out of it. I think my apartment power line is very bad.
2 Likes
My Parasound JC5 on powering up on occasion will swing my P15âs
power meter all the way over and peg it there long enough to
for my P15 to go into autoprotect and shut down as the power caps
charge back up againâŚeasy fix though just pressing the on button
brings it back to lifeâŚpower up my JC5 a second time and all is well.
With my JC5 plugged into the P15 the sound is fuller cleaner than plugged
into wall directlyâŚ
My P15 has greatly benefited my systemâŚit is a keeperâŚ
Best wishes
2 Likes
My MLâs sounds better plugged straight into my dedicated wall outlet. My P15 removed the low end dynamics. I use it strictly for the front end. It helps using it this way.
1 Like