P12 vs P15 for my current system!

Hello,

I am new to the forum and have been watching Paul on YouTube for years! I learned a lot of information from him and I certainly appreciate his hard work.

I am interested in purchasing either a P12 or P15 Power plant and I wanted to ask the forum members for advise. I was hoping a P12 would be adequate for power in-regards to my current setup.

McIntosh MC205 5-channel amp 200Wx5 channels.
McIntosh MX121 pre-amp. 75W
LG OLED 65" 4k. Estimated 125W
REL T/9i Subwoofer 300W
Apple 4K
Lumin D2 wSBooster.
Sony 4K Dvd Player.

In closing, my hopes are the P12 is enough to power all the equipment, but I am willing to wait to afford the P15. I spoke to PS Audio already and they are leaning me towards the P15, but I wanted to see if anyone else would like to offer their opinion.

Thanks,
Leo

You have too much draw with everything plugged in. Demanding passages of music will overload a P12. Idle might overload it. You need P15 or a P12 without amp. Rule of thumb is that the transformer in powerplant needs to be as big or bigger than your amps.

Thank you for the feedback, Watchdog!! I was thinking the same thing, but I had to ask. I am currently using a Furman Elite 15PFI in my system, but with my amp plugged directly into my wall. I was hoping I didn’t have to break the bank with the P15 and save some coin during the holiday season.

There’s always gently used stuff around. PS Audio has transferable warranty of 3 years.

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I decided to purchase a P 15. I will let the forum know about my review after I hook everything up.

I’ll put it out there again, I think a used P10, in great shape, is the sweet spot of PSA power regenerators. I’ve owned a PPP, P3, P10 and P20.

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This is my first PS audio regenerator. I bought a P 15 new to try it out and make sure I like it. I am very optimistic that I will considering I am using a Furman right now.

Hi @Leo1. I’ll be interested in hearing your thoughts on how the P15 compares to the Furman. I compared my P15 to what was my tried and true Running Springs Haley and the P15 was much preferred.

Hello Tony22,

I certainly will let you know my opinion when I hook it up. I don’t receive it until next week with the holidays. My Furman has been just fine in my system and has improved the sound. However, I don’t have my amp plugged into it and directly to the wall.

All I hear is how much the P12,15, and 20 improved the performance in their own systems. I had to take the Pepsi challenge and see for myself. How much did it improve your performance by? I try to use percentages, even though it’s all subjective.

Merry Christmas!!

Hmm, that’s tough to say, @Leo1. I don’t think of looking at improvements in terms like that. I can tell you where the improvements were heard in my system. Improved resolution and detail retrieval resulting from an improved sense of “blackness” - lowered noise making everything sound “clearer”. I don’t know - maybe 15%? May not sound like a lot, but my system was and is already pretty d@mn good. :grin: Good luck!

That’s awesome to hear, Tony! I know it’s hard to quantify based on a percentage base. I’m in the medical field and always use physical measurements in my practice. Lol. I like hearing from other members about improved “Blackness,” lowered noise floor. That coupled with better dynamics and a wider sound stage make this purchase very enjoyable. If I can get a 15% improvement like you have, I’m pretty excited.

I’d say my P20 improved SQ by about 5%? The improvement I hear is consistent with tony22’s experience. Icing on the cake!

Thanks Kylemillsap, I appreciate you sharing your experience. I do realize it’s system specific with the amount of performance expected. There are so many variables that play a key as well. I am hoping to see a significant upgrade, but only time will tell.

Well, I officially have my P15 set up in my system for the last 3 days and I’m impressed. There was a lower noise floor immediately that I noticed. Also, better dynamic range, especially in the base region. The soundstage was wider with more air. You could really feel the snare drum snap and symbol crashes.

I would say there was a noticeable 10 to 15% increase in my system overall. I’m still working out what sounds best with upsampling between Roon and my LUMIN, but it is actually fun.

Lastly, I am trying to figure out what multi-wave setting to keep it on. It seems to me that the majority in this forum likes the number six setting?

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I use the MultiWave setting that gives me the best “Improvement Factor” and that is a bit different depending on the time of the day but generally I get the best/highest “Improvement Factor” with my MultiWave Strength on 3 and my Phase Tune on -3

I also have a P15

Thanks for the reply, Birger. I did notice an improvement on MW 6 and 3. I haven’t played with phase tune yet, but I read the normal setting should be on 0? I’m still trying to wrap my head around these settings and what they do.

Yes, Paul says that you should only use Phase Tune in “Extreme Conditions” but I don’t understand why they’ve even put it there if you should never use it and in the same time gives me the highest “Improvement Factor” so I happily use my Phase Tune anyway.

It also gives me the most silent P15 in the same time as a bonus.

I agree that if you found Phase Tune to improve your audio experience, then by all means keep those settings. I enabled Auto tune a few times and it kept using a setting of 4 & 6 on MW. However, Phase Tune was kept at 0. I am getting O.1% for THD on my output side, but I will certainly play with PT to see what kind of improvement I may or may not receive.

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When I use Auto Tune my Phase Tune varies.
Most often it stays on 0 but sometimes it can also come to +2 or -4