Question. I have a new P12 and currently have all of my gear connected. It replaced a P3, which I still have. So far the peak wattage has been 150w. Should I keep the P3 and connect my sources or sell I. My gear is listed below.
PSA BHK Pre, PSA M1200’s, PSA P12
Cambridge Audio Alva TT, Auralic Aires G1
Dual Sumiko S5 Subwoofers.
Audioquest Rocket 44 speaker cable, Mackenzie IC’s
I forgot to include speakers. Dynaudio Special 40’s
I have M1200s, a Mark Levinson No. 28, a Mark Levinson 390S, a Nakamichi 580, a AR turntable, a tunner (forget the brand) and a Teac CD player plugged into my P12. I’m driving a pair of Magnepan 3.7is and a pair of Magnepan DWM bass panels. I think the most I’ve seen that drawn is on the order of 140 watts, so the P12 is a little over 1/10 capacity. In other words, plenty of head room. If you sell the P3 you can always buy another toy you’ve wanted. It doesn’t seem you really need it. The M1200s are extremely efficient. Source components don’t seem to draw much or varry much with volume. My two cents, for what it’s worth. Others may have different opinions. Have you check to see what you’re drawing watt wise while listnening? I’ll bet it’s no more than a couple hundred watts.
Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Yes, I’ve checked the Watts while playing at what I consider loud levels with volume at 40 and it is reading 150 watts. At idle it pulls about 63-66 watts.
I had wondered if I could get by with something smaller than the P12 and PSA strongly suggested that I not go smaller than the P12 so I’d have plenty of headroom. Would something smaller have worked? Maybe. I obviously haven’t done an A/B but I’m super pleased with the P12 and I bet I have some room for more power hungry components. Of course, I’m out of outlets so something would have to go.
When I bought the P3 I had the m700s and GCD Pre. When I upgraded to the 1200s and BHK Pre I used the P3 in HC mode for the M700s and it seemed to work fine. Happy I was able to get the P12 when PSA had the promo. I still have 1 unused outlet on the P12.
FWIW… I use a P3 with a DS DAC, BHK Pre AND BHK 250 in REGEN mode with no issues! (Much to my surprise and delight,lol.)
Good to know the P3 is working out for you. Thanks for the feedback.
I have the same gears and did the same with my BHK250, until I plugged it directly to the wall coupled with a noise harvester - the improvements in dynamic and liveliness were pretty substantial.
Connecting all devices to one power plant ensures all are receiving the same wave form & aligned phase. Will that improve fidelity, and how? I will leave it to the experts.
Of course, running equipment on Power Plants improves sound quality, but I don’t see any advantage in having them all run on the same synched waveform from one Power Plant. It’s perhaps instructive to remember that Power Plants are already synchronized to the line. So one, two, or five Power Plants are all in lock step together.
Thank you for the info Paul!
Thanks Paul! Great to hear if I end up keeping the P3 an using it for my source components. Appreciate the feedback.
I cannot say enough great things about the Stellar P3. I have my streamer, two LPSs (feeding my DAC, turntable and DSP unit) and surprisingly my Integrated amp—all on Regen. I was placing it into a 20a dedicated circuit for fear it would draw too much current, but have since simplified a few things and tried it on the P3 to see if it could handle it. It has been a few weeks and the P3 doesn’t sweat it in the least. Really happy about this.
Just purchased 2 M1200s and BHK Preamp (and DS dac and PWT transport)… Right m1200 plugged to 1 P12 HC and left M1200 plugged to another P12, HC too of course. Wonderful soundstage, incredibly open but most of all transients surprised me during these first listening hours of burning in. Along with a general smooth feeling, all seems to be easy, natural, relaxed. A good giant gently breathing and whispering but ready to show immense power.
Just a curiosity; why the 2 monoblocks have different power consumption?
The left one shows on P12 display a power value of 120 (with BHK Preamp dac and transport plugged) vs the right one shows (turntable Technics SL1200 G and phono preamp Roksan) a power value less than 40-50. The same values indifferently playing vinyl or digital.
As always @jamesh asking please answers, if possible. Thanks a lot.
Great to hear you’re loving the system! Likely just a matter of the BHK pre, DSD, and PWT pulling more current than the TT and phono pre. I can’t say how much the TT and phono pre should pull, but 120w for 1 M1200, BHK pre, DSD and PWT is almost exactly what I’d guess.
Thank you. I will enjoy my system as long as @DarrenMyers will announce the new PerfectWave Phono Preamp to complete all PS Audio elements. As for P12 I confirm 2 of them would be great for headroom, I suggest them.
I am also happy to find that my P3 works fine with either ATC SCM20asl mk2 (2x 250w active monitors) or BHK250 driving KEF LS50s.
Welcome, @taotao2021 !
