Hi All
I’m just the music lover and not the one who will die without music everyday. So to me i just want to get some advices for what i’m going to do this year to try with PS audio
I’m currently have a gear of Cambrigde Audio CXN V2 and CXA 81 integrated Amplifier that drives my Monitor Adio silver 100.
To tell the truth, i’m not really sastified for the soud of the current gear. Deep dive on Internet i saw peoples having good review on PS M700 monoblock and i decide to try these guys
But there are some consideration before getting the M700 , I just want to step by step trying on, first i will buy the M700 monoblocks. and use my current CXN v2 as DAC and pre-amp to see any real different sound ? and if that good, should i get the PS GCD later to be full match as recommended ?
In term of power comsume, what’s the Power isolated transformer wattage should i change the current one ? ( the current transformer i used is 500w ) I’ve heard that the M700 is Class D with PWM then we don’t need the double power for both monoblocks to work ? usually i just listen at 30% volume on CXA 81 and i metered at 200w or so at playing. I’m in 220V country then i need a transformer.
I would be grateful with anybody here enlighten me with the answers.
I could not hold myself from placing the order for M700 eventhough i talked to myself that just wait .
but anyway, i just did buy it.
a bit thing that made me not 100% for M700 buying that it’s just 100v input from Japan while we are 220V country, but an isolated transformer will do the job.
Now I’m so exicted, still have a week to deleivery, counting from now
Anybody here can give me some recomends that i need to know or to do something before i turn the M700 on ?
I began my PS Audio journey with the M700’s and SGCD and can tell you pretty confidently you will like the step up. To answer your question, there isn’t much after hooking them up that you have to do, mine sounded great out of the box and only got better over time. As to the isolation transformer, the voltage conversion should be ok but are you 50 or 60hz coming out of the wall? This may be a problem that the folks at PS Audio can assist you with but maybe not. I would be certain before I connected and turned them on.
Welcome to the forum, you’ll find many friendly and helpful folks here. Good luck with your new gear, may it serve you well!
Cheers, Jim
Thank you for reminding me the 50 or 60 hz from the wall, i will check with the seller from Japan,
Basically i can buy the gear directly from Amazon that for the US market, however we are in COVID19 and i’m afraid that the shipping back to my country may not smooth as it used to be before COVID, so i’d better get it from ASIA seller that will have less issue in shipping.
From my experience with Japanses electronic devices the manufacture often do auto 50/60 hz since in Japan there are some places still use 50hz , others 60. BUt i do need help from PS Audio guys to confirm this if the M700 for Japan will be auto 50/60hz at 100 voltage. if the M700 for Japan is fixed with 60hz then I have to find another coversion that transform 50-60hz. There will be bit anonyance this case and make the gear not out perform as many peoples had.
BUT how about your gear? it’s 60hz specific or it is auto 50/60hz that we don’t need to care to that ?
I am in US, I have SGCD/M700s/DSDAC/PST/P12.
My opinion, PSA gear sell to Japan, M700 spec says Japan 100v https://www.psaudio.com/products/stellar-m700-power-amplifier/#tab-specs.
M700 (as well as other PSA gears) might work directly with 220v.
But I am not sure if sound quality with 220V will be impacted.
I add P12, because PSA voicing their gears with power regenerator.
From spec P12, it can take in 220V and regen to 230v for PSA gears.
Just my opinion.
PSA supports are extremely friendly and helpful, sent email to them, they can help.
Welcome to the forum Quang. You will enjoy the support of the community and PS Audio team.
Your English is better than mine
Congratulations on your choice. The M700 is an excellent amplifier. I would not replace my M700s unless I am going for vacuum tubes or pure class A solid state.
M700 comes in 3 factory-set versions: 100V, 120V, and 230V. They work on 50 or 60Hz. I am not sure about power cords shipped to Japan, but each component I got from PS Audio (EU version) came with 3 power cords US, UK, and Schuko!
Monitor Audio silver 100 are rated at 88dB, so the M700 will perform well. I would not crank the volume with any speaker to protect my ears, my speakers and the amplifier.
A pair of M700s take about 200 - 300 hours to burn-in and sound their best.
I spent hours on youtube and internet to read all reviews and arguments on PSA components. it is an endless story of pure Analog vs digital music which one is better. To me i don’t really care digital or analog sources, and i personally have more favor on what compact, power horse and less connectivity with decent sounds.
Honestly i was in the midle of choosing the Stellar Strata vs M700 monoblock cuz they are thousands buck different. But the more i read, the more i watch video Paul’s video saying that the integrated Strata amp sound good but the mono blocks are better at every aspects, i was convinced and decided to go for M700 with no doubt. I ordered the pair of M700 and now waiting to unbox it, still 7-10 days to come, but really excited.
PS Audio devices are not so popular in my country so we dont have much PSA guys over here. I hope i can find not only the advices in this forum but new friends as well.
The sound will reach maximum smoothness when left on continuously for about 2 weeks
Use balanced connections from your CXN V2 to the M700 (versus unbalanced RCA).
(if you prefer maximum smoothness, a cable like Cardas Parsec might work well with your intended dac as a preamp, though inexpensive versions of Audioquest cables are good but not as smooth).
Would not go with the SGCD (it is a GREAT preamp/dac) but would suggest a preamp with tubes and balanced inputs and outputs (would highly suggest a BHK Preamp or if cost is a factor a Schiit Freya +)
Thank you for your advices. There are couple things i still consider:
Will tell when i have these beast delivered and unbox it
for the interconnect, i already have the Better Cables Silver Serpent II XRL, and AudioQuest Diamondback RCA which i liked very much, so everyone recommend the M700 should sound best with XLR connectivity, if i need to swap to XLR which budget XLR cable should be OK to go with? , and how far the difference of other XLR get over my current DiamondBlack RCA?
For the speaker cables, i’m using the Siesta Lab speaker cable - a comapny in Japan made and i was happy with that, i have serveral brand like AQ Rocket 11 biwire cable ( much expensive but don’t see much different i can tell), Monster Cable but i eventually come back to the Siesta Lab cable. i’m using it every day on the old system, i don’t have any reference cable to do compare. So what is the suggested speaker brand cable i should upgrade to go with new M700?
I personally don’t really spend too much on the cable if they are over a half of the gear( except the case i can go crazy if they really good in sound and apperance )
Talking about the DAC/pream, the reason i have CXN V2 of Cambrigde Audio is that it have a good moble app to control with all the sources, sound quality is acceptable, can play via many protocols from air stream to wire , i just use as the network streaming via DNLA that Synology NAS will serve contents with flac, wav and dsf, dsd files. It’s so convienence. That’s my current setup, i prefer the network connectivity than any other extra physical connect
As i stated , i may get the SGCD as DAC/pream in between the CXN V2 and the M700, this time CXN will pass thruogh to SGCD and just does the job as transportation only, The dirty job left will be processed by PSA components.
Btw, Cambridge Audio did very good job on user experience with the StreamMagic app and i like it alot.
Update: I ordered teh AudioQuest Mackenzi XLR from Amzon for M700 interconnect.
You will now be able to compare cables and see if XLR makes as much a difference in your system as everyone else’s. I have a few old pairs of Cardas Quadlink (rca) interconnect, and insist on using those when I connect my tube preamp and poweramp (which can only use rca), but Audioquest’s Red River XLR’s sounds light years ahead of the Cardas rca between my BHK Preamp and the M700, especially in midrange transparency.
How about the Mackenzi XLR? , i see it was recommended by PS Audio for best match with Stellar and M700 .
Auout the Cardas’'s, their interconnects are so pricey and i see it not worth to buy a thousand bucks for a pair of XLR. speaker wires while your gears are just only double higher.
I would rather save more bucks on pream to upgrade the speaker as the next route of hi-fi , the MA Gold 200 ($4500) will be enough for my space, the current MA Silver 100 just OK for now and i guess i will soon upgrade it.
Hi Quang - I have the SGCD and M700s combined with the MA Gold 200, and the sound is amazing. I haven’t spent a lot of money on cables at this time. Mostly Blue Jean Cables or the equivalent. Good luck on your audio journey!
I agreed!, as for me the connectivities of our system should not be exceed 20% of total, we invest more on these items but it’s improvements still a little untill we do really upgrade the speaker and the apmlifier.
MA gold 200 is my ideal speakers in the system, i have a love for MA since i just step in hifi road. They look nice with decent and detail sounds, among colors, i like the satin-white most. Place them in the living roon next to the bookself will make the home look different
The Mackenzis are excellent with the M700s. They really hit a sweet spot in price to performance with the M700s. Paul, Darren, and Scott really liked them when they did the demo in the Stellar ref room.
