Guys I’ve got a confession - I took the P3 we’re bringing to Axpona home last weekend. Shh, don’t tell Paul.
I replaced my Dectet with it, and I wanted to share my thoughts.
First off, here’s my system - Rega P3 and GCPH for vinyl, or Chromecast Audio for digital (using FLAC through Plex as well as Spotify Premium). That gets fed into my Gain Cell DAC and M700 monos. Speakers are Dynaudio Focus 160s. Random sub that is on long term loan from a friend. XLR and speaker cables from Anti-Cable. Optical for the Chromecast is from Audioquest.
So, what’d I hear? Two things in particular stood out - first was what I’d describe as improved articulation. Bass was tighter and more controlled and mids and highs had more detail, though it was not the kind of artifical, over-etched sound you can sometimes get with bright gear or speakers. It sounded more organic and lifelike to my ears.
The second things I noticed was an improvement in imaging, perhaps as a consequence of the greater level of detail/articulation I heard. Each performer had a rock solid position in the soundstage and they did not budge.
Taking it out of my system was quite difficult, and I’ve been bummed about it to the point where I haven’t hooked things back up in the Dectet. I’m trying to figure out when I can get a P3 to keep at the moment.
A technical note on the P3, I ran my entire system on it and it did not break a sweat. The green light on front will change to yellow if you drive it close to the max limit and red if you go to the max power output or beyond. I did not manage to push it to yellow, and that was with some quite loud listening.
Glad to hear you like it! Regenerators are almost mandatory for most folks, better power makes for better performance. Also a good thing that you are breaking in the new P3. Big mistake that a lot of exhibitors make is setting up with brand new equipment, usually it improves over the weekend (with break in), but why not get it operating optimally from the get go? You should tell the “boss” he needs to send the whole system home with you for doing such a great job on the forum! (Disclaimer: this is shameless brown-nosing )
The green light is indeed quite bright. Even before I took it home I asked engineering if they could make it not as bright. It sounds like the fix they made is if you push the dim button on the remote it will turn it off.
As for P3s in Norway, our Norwegian distributor has a handful on order that will be shipping next month
That was one of the things that surprised me - it’s completely passively cooled, yet it stayed warm to the touch. Didn’t get hot through my time with it.
There should not be any trouble putting it in the cabinet. I just didn’t because if I had I might not have brought it back
Thank, Schroedster! I put my current line conditioner (an Adcom ACE-515) inside a cabinet with doors on the front but some passive air vents on the back. I don’t know if that placement would provide enough air circulation for the P3 or not.
You’d be a-okay in that case. passive air vents in the back is all the P3 really needs. Just make sure you keep a couple inches above it clear. If you want to stack it, it’s generally best to put it on top.
Delivery before the end of the month depends on where you’re located and where you’re at in the pre-order queue. We will be shipping the pre-orders starting on 3/25, so most folks will have theirs by the end of the month or the first week of next
I can’t wait to find out more about this P3. It’s on my list to take my system next level. I just got some Isoacoustic stands for my Kef LS50s, it’s like getting a new pair of speakers for $200.
Apparently, they aren’t shipping yet. Even though the product page still says “Early access, limited quantities available! Orders place now delivered by the end of March” and even though Schroedster said “We will be shipping the pre-orders starting on 3/25, so most folks will have theirs by the end of the month or the first week of next” I don’t think they’d get one to you by Sunday, the 31st. I placed my order February 22nd and haven’t received a shipping notice yet.
The units are getting built and sailing through test - so far everything is going smoothly, if a small bit behind our original timeline. We should still have things cruising out the door today, tomorrow, and perhaps over the weekend. I was talking with one of our production guys about the P3 yesterday and he said it was a great build - straightforward, enjoyable to learn and wayyyy lighter than a P20
@powerfreq and anyone else on the forums with a P3 on order - if you’re working with a tight timeline because of work or travel and you might need expedited shipping, please reach out to me at scott.schroeder@psaudio.com and we’ll figure something out for you
Received a FedEx Delivery Manager Email this evening. My Stellar P3 has shipped and will be in house next Wednesday, Thanks Schroedster and all at PS Audio!
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