P600 powerplant

Hello folks. I have an p600 power plant that is in mint shape but unfortunately started acting up lately. For some reason it blew the 10 amp fuse which I replaced and soon as I plug it in it pops the fuse. I called Ps and spoke with a gentleman in service and he said there is a 750 fee to service this but did not clarify what I would be getting for this service. Does the unit get recapped and updated or is just the issue at hand addressed. I really like the 600 but with shipping is it economical to put this money in an older unit?

Welcome to the forum!

Some company’s have a flat rate repair fee, whatever the fault. If all a fix needs is a $2 diode, or major work requiring board-level replacement, the cost to the customer is the same. You don’t get an itemized bill showing what work was done, what parts were changed, or the labor time taken.

If it were me, 750 + whatever shipping saved would be better invested in something new.

On an older generator like this if it should blow its mains fuse, that means the regenerators need to be rebuilt. The unit gets new outputs and drivers and if the caps need a refresh, and often they do, they get replaced as well. They go through the device
pretty thoroughly and breathe new life into her.

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Hello Paul and thanks for the reply. I think I will send it in for repairs. It makes a very substantial difference in the sound quality of my system.

Hi @richvito we’ll be able to get it fixed up for you. Shoot me an email at jamesh@psaudio.com and we can work out the details.

If I was in your position I might save the money and put it towards one of the newer power plants, even the budget ones have had good reviews. I’m not sure if you could maybe get some kind of trade in on your old unit too?

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It will differ by region (distributors outside the US offer their own trade-in programs), though in the US we certainly do offer trade-in credit for older Power Plants towards the new generation. The amount will differ by which current regenerator one is looking at.

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I can get a power plant premier for a really good price, this unit has been serviced by PS and had the power module replaced. Are these pretty reliable?

What is a PPP power module?

The forum search function can be useful to get a better understanding of the legacy products. Here are a few:

As with all products, sometimes they fail. And when they do, people post here to ask for help.

The vast majority who have had no issues do not bother to post. :slight_smile:

Maybe so. If there is anybody out there with a PPP that was purchased new and has had no issues with it they might wish to jump in here and say so.

I’m one. :slight_smile:

The others are happily listening to their systems and not on-line. And today will be quiet as it is a national holiday in the States.

All enthusiast forums are peppered with posts seeking help with various issues. Pick any BMW or Mercedes forum as exemplars.

Lucky you! I’ve owned three. They all failed. I suspect the PPP Export version has had far more in-service difficulties than the US version.

While I have not owned this particular model, there has been lots of discussion on it. As Brodric pointed out much of it is not so great, the main issue has been the regenerator which I am assuming is the “power module” you refer to. Given that the regenerator was replaced the unit should be good to go for a few years. I would say a “really good price” would be $900 or less. I think that is well below what many ask for them, but it originally sold for $1695 (I think) and if you are spending much more do yourself a favor and get a used P5. One thing to keep in mind if you get the PPP, is it can be traded in towards a new regenerator and would be worth $1500 towards a P12 (replacement for P5) which has similar output power capabilities, but much better performance.

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Let me just say: IMHO the P5 and up are vastly superior to any regenerator (from PSA) preceding them. If it was me, I’d think carefully before repairing an old product; or buying a pre-P5 model.

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The newer units are indeed much more capable, and while the P600 is just capable enough to power many systems the newer units have greater capacity.

Given the P600 is approaching twenty years-old, even a recently refreshed unit should be sold only at “a really good price.” If available inexpensively it could make a great introduction to power regeneration.

I know this is an older thread, but it’s worth saying this over again. If you really don’t have the ability to invest a large chunk of change on a newer regenerator, there are options for repurposing older equipment, and worth the time and lesser investment for the return. If you are asking yourself “what is the next step in upgrading my system,” and you don’t have regeneration, you are missing out on one of the greatest sonic upgrades that you can make to any system.

Find yourself an affordable unit within your budget, and even if service is required, the investment really is worth the trouble. Here is my P600, had at a very reasonable price and the $100 of electrolytic capacitors, has taken this from broken to like-new. Net yield on the output was <0.1% THD after refurbishing. Don’t throw them away or crush them, rebuild them.

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