WOW, after running my P20 the past 2 years in multi wave for most of the time with varying success I switched to sign wave and had my biggest improvement to date. Reading the manual, reviews and forums I thought multi wave was the way to go, but when I switched it to sine wave everything came alive. You could say “now it’s gelling. Too much emphasis is placed on multi wave especially here in the forums and manual.
With this type of product and its sophistication a more in-depth manual is needed to clearly explain differences in functions and usages. The manual doesn’t do this. Only a brief summary of each function is described. Success is only gained by knowledge and not knowing leads to frustration.
It all depends on how the gear connected behaves with each. Just this morning I flipped blind between SW and MW as I recently replaced my amps with a new one.
What do you have connected?
What is the manual supposed to say? “hiendmmoe will find Sine better sounding than Multi-Wave”? 
Experimenting is how we find what works best for our systems and tastes. I think the manual explains the situation well.
Have you played around with Phase settings? That was the surprising setting for sonic differences for me and my P15.
First, the P20 isn’t a toy, so suggest just play around with it to find what works best is kinda foolish. As to the manual and functions a more in-depth analysis of what the function actually does.
Take for instance the word multi-wave used to describe a function of the unit. What’s does it mean and do? When to use it? How does it work?
There are way too many function settings in this unit not to have a full understanding of their PRO’S and CON’S. Anybody who thinks this is foolish to think you need all this info probably never reads their manual’s in the first place.
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But you can’t hurt anything by simply playing with the controls on the Power Plants. That’s one of the cool things about them. Nothing will break, only change or not.
And I’d argue it is a toy mostly for big boys.
Sine/MW is not distinguishable in my system, nor is any level of MW but adjusting the phase to better match the incoming mangled waveform improves sounds and distortion readings.
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I agree that many PS Audio manuals need help; some REALLY need help.
And I agree with Brett that SIne/MW has no influence that I can hear.
And also that you should definitely play around with it. Many users hear big differences and you might too.
I shared similar sentiments with respect to sine being more focused and multi being warmer and diffuse in my system.
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I hear greater differences toggling the phase option on the DS than Sine/MW. Maybe if I listen very closely I hear something changed with the wave (and it’s blind for me, as I can’t see the unit) but absolute phase is much more significant and quite subtle at that.
Well I think the manuals definitely could be improved, but for me they give me enough information to get going and hands-on experience with them teaches me what they can and will do. The manuals are functionally sufficient for me. YMMV. I’ve had power regenerators from PS Audio ever since I first pre-ordered the P300 before it was released.
I hear differences between Sine and every level of MultiWave. And phase is intriguing to play with. I usually end up listening mostly to MultiWave level 2. And If I do “AutoTune” the P15 usually puts me at +5. It sounds more than a little edgy to me there. I usually listen at 0, sometimes on lesser recordings -1 or -2.
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the manuals need some severe help with the power plants
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That’s pretty much true with all of them and I own four different pieces.
I finally changed from Mutiwave settings to Sine. I played around all setting when I first acquired P15 last year, and I preferred the Multiwave 4 setting back then. Today after reading this old post I started playing around again. Now I found Sine gives a better center image and gives up a bit of soundstage. On most recordings of vocals I prefer the Sine setting now.
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I have a similar experience 
In hi fi, it’s really impossible for a manual to explain pros and cons when, as systems vary, one persons pros are another’s cons and vice versa. And @lonson was spot on when he said you must experiment to find what is best for you. The variations of a hi fi system, it’s room, the listener’s auditory system, etc., etc., etc. probably create the most challenging puzzle to solve that there has ever been. Not even Watson could solve it. If you don’t experiment, you will never even come close to getting the most out of it for YOU. The writer of manuals realize this, and just give you the basics. We would not benefit from a complete technical explanation of SW vs MW. All that matters is that it’s there to experiment with, and they let us know that. Exactly what it does varies from system to system as the systems themselves are always unique, and have different synergies with the Power Plants. Oh, BTW, audio systems are toys, and do need to be played with. Just sayin.
I found that the burn-in caused a far greater change than switching from SW to MW. To me, those differences are so subtle in my system, that I have no idea which sounds better. I just know for sure that my systems sounds magnitudes better with Power Plants than without.
I’ve just switched back to sine and I definitely think the tonal balance is slightly more open than when in multiwave, bass might be slightly tighter but definitely less upper bass
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After a couple days of Sine vs. Multi, I found I also need to adjust the Phases to get the best result. When I used Multi 4 in the past, Auto tune usually picked 0 or 2 and I preferred 0.
Now when I switched to Sine, I found Phase 3 gave me the best sound for vocals, but on instrumentals Sine is not necessary the winner.
Of course with a different system in a different room the result will probably be different.
Sinewave sounds the best, my dealer told me the same when I was ready to return it due to SQ changes, images bloated, bass fat, etc. I went to sinewave per his instruction, made sure not to use autotune, and set the outgoing voltage at 120V, he said if you don’t like it then send it back for a refund, well one year later I still have it and love what it does to improve the sound in my system.
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When I tested my P15 where I got the best sound I found that I got the best sound with MW on 4 and after that I also put the “Phase Tuning” on -2 to get the best/highest “Improvement Factor” I could possible get.
With other words, SW could bee best for you but it isn’t the best setting for everyone so you truly have to listen and decide for yourself when you get the best sound.
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True words those.
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