P20 Power Plant launches

For those of you waiting for information on the new P20 Power Plant, our largest yet, we’ve finally gotten the webpages finished.

You can go here: http://www.psaudio.com/directstream-p20-power-plant/

If you want the specs click on the purchase button at the top or go here: http://www.psaudio.com/products/directstream-p20-power-plant/

The majority of information is on that first page. We’ve done the pages a little different this time. The product’s such a beauty we thought it deserved some love and photography lavished upon it.

Hope you enjoy.

Are they built to survive Australian conditions?

It sure is pretty … but not in my future. I’m thinking small, say P5 or perhaps P10. The new page layout is interesting, but on my iPad the pictures were partially covering up the text. I was able to manipulate it enough to read all the text (at least I think I could), but it was a little disappointing. I’ll check my PC later (This Old House is on, mandatory watching …).

Edit: I checked my Windows 7 PC and it was actually worse! Could not read all of the text below the green circuit board picture or the black P20 picture. I rechecked on the iPad and I was able to see everything, with manipulation, though the whole page was slightly over sized and cut off along the verical edges. Nobody else has this issue?

Congratulations!

brodricj said

Are they built to survive Australian conditions?


You bet. Kirkham’s had one running in for a good while now and is in love with it.

Paul McGowan said

You can go here: PowerPlant 20 – PS Audio

Found an error or two, Paul, that you may want to correct there. Under the photo of some of the circuit boards it says the following: "pure copper, 1/4’ thick gold plated buss bars". First of all, I will eat my hat if those buss bars in that image are 1/4-inch thick, much less 1/4-foot thick!!! And you might want to add some hyphenation as follows: "pure-copper" and "gold-plated".

Also, I am a little lost on the references to a “DSD engine”. I thought DSD applied to audio signals?

“FPGA based DSD engine” may mean it regenerates the AC sine wave output similar to how the Directstream generates its AC music output.

I enjoy the touch screen displaying analog appearing gauges. Delicious.

Maybe “delta-sigma modulation” is the more accurate terminology? Every scholarly reference I can find about DSD ties it to audio signal.

Amazing piece of kit. I’m drooling but not sure there is room in the budget.

Rob said

Maybe “delta-sigma modulation” is the more accurate terminology? Every scholarly reference I can find about DSD ties it to audio signal.


It is an audio signal for all intents and purposes. Remember that the power in your home runs from a 60Hz (or 50Hz) sine wave. That frequency is right at the lowest end of the human voice (more accurately 80Hz but who’s counting?). The quality of that audio sine wave is one of the keys to the Power Plant’s success. The old PCM DAC had only 12 bits and wasn’t anywhere near as good as this high performance DSD DAC.

Thanks Paul, everything I was looking for ;o)

In my setup with 3 amps how would you recommend to use the high current outputs of the P20?

Amp A -> Bass + Treble L

Amp B -> Bass + Treble R

Amp C -> Medium L + R

I was thinking amps A and B (LR bass + treble) on one zone and amp C (LR medium) on the other one.

Does the software report on power statistics per outlet, to refine these kind of choices?

Sure, that’s fine. Remember, the high current outlets are only different in how they start on power up. They are not actually higher current. These are where you plug in big amps that may need help starting because they could kick off a cic=rcuit breaker in the house. Other than that they are the same. Essentially and other than that, all the outlets are identical.

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The DirectDream 105_gifhehe - Mums
http://www.psaudio.com/directstream-p20-power-plant/

Wow, it looks massive, but in a stylished way! Well done!

And since we are giving suggestions for the website, let me give another one… Given there are separate columns of specs for the various regions (US, UK, mainland Europe and Australia), I propose to also put the dimensions and weight in the metric system. Pounds and inches are not our thing, please use centimeters (or millimeters) and kilograms to be more customer oriented!

Excellent idea

Of the 4 build options shown in the link, I don’t see an EXPORT version with the US type NEMA power outlets. The P3/5/10 230 Volt versions all had a US NEMA output option, which is highly desirable for those using the PS Audio AC power cables.

Up it’s available but not yet mentioned. I updated it to reflect that. Thanks!.

And in the feature comparison chart for each of the different models, the way the information is presented (in the link) could be improved. Basically most of the numbers for the different P20 models are all the same. It’s a bit laborious to read through the information the way it’s presented and pick any differences between the models. I think a better way to do it is via a chart, with the feature set down the left hand vertical column, and the different models across the chart. Just use a tick at each data element in the matrix if the relevant feature is supported.

And mention of the shipping weight/dimensions might also be useful…

And I see no mention whether a remote control is included.

jones said

Wow, it looks massive, but in a stylished way! Well done!

And since we are giving suggestions for the website, let me give another one… Given there are separate columns of specs for the various regions (US, UK, mainland Europe and Australia), I propose to also put the dimensions and weight in the metric system. Pounds and inches are not our thing, please use centimeters (or millimeters) and kilograms to be more customer oriented!

43cm W x 36cm D x 27.9 cm H - Unit Weight 43.5kg - Shipping Weight 47kg

The data is provided here, so it can easily be transferred

http://www.psaudio.com/products/directstream-p20-power-plant/#tab-specifications