Just received the beast p20 today. With less than 2 hrs on it first impressions jet black background without adding any sonic character of its own to the music. Will update my impressions of it as it brakes in.
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Thanks!!
I’ve had the P20 for 4 days now and would like to give it a short review. The unit replaced an Audioquest Niagara 7000 power conditioner I had owned for less than 2 yrs. my system includes a pr of bhk 300’s, Audioresearch ref 6 and ref 3, bhk DMP and DSD, pr of very revealing Martin Logan Renaissance 15a spkrs, Clear audio innovation wood table with universal tone arm and Dynavector xv1s.
With the Audioquest I wasn’t very happy. Yes it lowered the noise floor but at a cost it inriched the sound too much. Any recordings that where already on the brite side where impossible to listen to at higher volumes. The Niagara outlets are set up in an order that certain groups are ment to be used with certain components this made using the Niagara a nightmare. Most of the outlets outside of the four high current ones couldn’t handle the the Audioresearch massive power supply’s they use in their ref series 6 and 3 pre-amps. Come to the rescue the mighty p20 and I mean mighty!
If I could only use one word it would be power. I use that word because it represents life in my system. That’s what the P20 has brought, everything has come alive. It has done this with no sonic signature of its own. I’ve never heard what the M.L 15a’s could do till the p20 unleashed its power on them. I’m talking about the electrostatic panel coming to life to the highest frequency’s with the fullness and weight the recordings have to offer. What I’m hearing now is the most beautiful,natural sound I’ve ever heard in my system to date.
There’s something very special going on in Boulder Colorado maybe it’s the air they breathe what ever it’s it’s been unleashed in the P20 and in my opinion will result in it being the benchmark or reference level all others will strive to acheave when designing their own products.
M. Moe
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What a great review. Thanks. I think that as more P20s get out in the field this is exactly what people will find. Despite the fact that the AQ Nagra is a decent device for a passive cleaner, there’s just no way a passive cleaner - of any design - can compete or compare to an active regenerator like the P20.
This testimonial says it all.
Thanks!
Fantastic review!
The more interesing insight will come from me swapping out a pair of P10s for a P20. Regrettably, I have not taken possession of the unit I ordered yet. Should be shipping any moment now I hope. But great and insightful review. Thanks. My expectations are sky high - as usual.
Dear Paul
As great as the P20 is I’ve to report a glitch in the unit. When the unit has been running for a few days and the display is shut off I’ve run into an issue with it ,2 times so far, when using the remote control command buttons the unit doesn’t respond also touching the screen or pushing the stand by button the unit doesn’t respond I’ve the shut it down for it to come back to its normal operating conditions, remote and screen then work. Sounds like a software issue?
Mike M
Paul
It’s freezing up and unfreeze it I’ve to completely shut it down to get it to operate normally again.
Mike Moe.
Definitely sounds like a software issue. A new bug. Can you email me? paul@psaudio.com
Run me through exactly what the process is and we’ll do our best to duplicate it. If we can duplicate we can fix it and send you need code to load with an SD card. Thanks for helping and sorry!
Paul,
The P20 needs an adjustable 5V to 15V (~5A) a very low noise, low voltage output for fiber optic links and audiophile equipment accessories. I found this (4) channel low noise Wyred 4 Sound selectable power supply for my Ethernet - Fiber - Ethernet connection between the router & DS DAC. That would be a really cool addition to the P20.
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That would be very handy!
i have owned the p20 for about 3 weeks and here are my initial issues with it:
- Unit does not get rid of the hum from my amplifiers. It actually does the exact opposite. I own a pair of monster hegel h30s which are running in mono mode and the amps DO NOT LIKE the p20. They hum internally when plugged into the unit, but if i plug them into the wall then there is no hum.
- Unit was frozen yesterday. i had to restart it. It is time someone begins to write a software update for it
- i bought an expensive ethernet cable yesterday to connect my streamer and i got excessive noise through the speakers. I tried to trouble shoot and figure out WHY when every single component including my router is connected to the p20. I unplugged everything and plugged it into a furman 15i reference piece i own and i have zero humming of any kind.
i am not understanding why this unit is giving so many issues with humming in my set up. i have owned the furman 15i reference before it and i have never had any sort of humming happening anytime i plugged anything in it.
It would also be nice to know how much current each component is sucking from the p20. For instance, i would like to know how much power are my hegels drawing when just idling vs when i am listening to music? That would have been more useful than the dashboard the unit has. how about having a configuration where you can just want to monitor the amount of current certain devices are pulling? how about giving the option to get rid of those needles and give you numerical characters instead? it would be easier to read when sitting down…
have you tried calling PS Audio service to troubleshoot, maybe your unit is defective.
magicknow
This doesn’t sound right. Can you check something for us? See if the output of the P20 is in sine mode or MW mode and change between the two to see if there’s any difference in hum. Some amps do not like MW. Let us know. The P20 should not increase hum internal to the amps.
Nothing. That button does nothing to alleviate the problem.
I actually proceeded to plug in one amp straight into the wall and the other one in the p20 and you can hear a slight mechanical hum from the amp. Is it a loud one ? No it’s not but the amp plugged into the wall is dead quiet.
I also wanted to say that I’ve managed to make the unit go into protection mode and shut down. Here’s what I have plugged into it:
Belcanto black dac
Router
Modem
Lumin s1 renderer
Oppo 205
Lg 77inch oled
Hegel h30 Monos
Audio research ref 10 preamp
NAS DRIVE
Yesterday I had everything on except the Blu-ray, and ref10 preamp. I went ahead and powered the preamp on and the unit went into protection mode. The Hegel Monos and the preamp are connected to the high current outlets (3 out of 4 are being used in this zone) and so the p20 apparently couldn’t sustain it all. Also, no music was playing at all.
I believe this unit still has some bugs that need to be worked out. This was the same issues that he bh300s had when they first came out. My salon 2s made them go into protection mode and so then they had to fix them once the problem was identified. Maybe the p20 is still in early development and we will be finding out what issues need to be resolved. For now, I don’t recommend you load this unit with massive amps like the krell 900e, Hegel h30s and certainly no monster class a amps like pass xa200.5.
How many watts does the P20 say is being consumed when all your equipment is powered simultaneously?
I don’t think it is reasonable for you to be making recommendations when you don’t yet know if the unit is defective.
Give PS Audio a chance to diagnose this issue and if they say the unit is working correctly then please make recommendations.
magicknow
Quite right. Need to discount any defect with the unit and proceed accordingly.
Hello amp_guy79,
Thanks for bringing these issues to our attention.
One suggestion from our chief of engineering was to try lowering the output voltage from the P20.
As well, I recommend you reach out to me at service@psaudio.com or call 1-720-406-8946 ext 2
We would like to look at the P20 in Power Play if possible.
This will let us know the full specs of the unit.
We’ll keep an eye out for your reply.
Thanks,
- Jeremy
I am running a P10 which sits in my rack between speakers…Soon to go full on tubes mono blocks with limited rack space and was considering getting another PS 10 and take out of the rack and put each behind the speakers mainly to free up the rack and make the cables more direct.Interesting to hear of the PS10 mk 2 …