As titled, i would like to have your sharing on how the real differences that you have in your system when using the power regen, in 1-10 scale , how much it would archive in orveral sounds with the power regen.
Let the power voltage regulaton aside (obviously, we all know that), we just talk about the contribution to the sound quality only.
And with the pair of M700s and GCD preamp, the P3 is suficient enough or need more headroom power plant, how much if P5 or P20 can improve over the P3 ?
If you think you can control yourself and stay with a particular set of components then perhaps a P10 could be a good entry point for a power regenerator. I would buy a P3 for my mother if she had audio gear.
If you are seeing hints that you may actually want to try other gear on a near continuous basis similar to what I have been doing then maybe moving up the ranks isn’t a bad plan.
I own a P20 with a power cable that cost almost as much as the P20 cost me. It is the foundation that my system is built on. It earned that spot from the very first time I put it in use. I hope others will speak favorably about the various models as well.
Thanks @aangen , To be honest and very true that, the P3 is my first step before moving up if have money, and that’s P3 is what i can afford for now.
So i would like go back to very first question and may be a dumb question, how much the P3 ( the entry level) contribute to the sound compare to without P3.
My current power source is just 500w isolated transformer to “filter” some EMI, RFI from grid
the previous supply source is from 4kva power from solar panel direct to the tranformer via DC inverter of solar system, but at night i still have to use the grid.
The system sounds OK, but i don’t know how much more “OK” if i have a power regen, i have’nt been owning any power plant before. Really excited to hear your real experience with and without PP in your system, how much noticable differences can it be ?
I’m in complete agreement with Al.
If you’re a restless, curious audiophile, with the means to upgrade over time, I’d look on the used market for the biggest Powerplant you can afford.
In this case, bigger really is better.
It is difficult to quantify how much difference a PowerPlant makes.
The challenge is each system is different with its own issues as to incoming power.
If you readily hear the differences swapping preamps makes you will easily hear what a PowerPlant brings to a system. But, in a way, it is not dramatic. The system will sound the same with its basic personality intact, but ever so much more so.
The system sounds like it is not working any where near as hard, instrumental and vocal timbres are richer with more texture, details quietly present themselves naturally out of a blacker background, there is an effortless liquidity.
The improvement may initially disappoint as you are not hit over the head. But listen for a couple of weeks and take the PowerPlant out of the system. The sound collapses, it becomes cold and distant, uninvolving.
Keep in mind PS Audio provides for a home trial. Install the unit, listen, take it out after a couple of weeks. My expectation is you will become a convert.
(Be sure to take the transformer completely out of the system when trying the PowerPlant.)
It is so easy if i lived in the US, i would do the trial without any hesitation ,unluckily i was not.
In my audio journey, i have to accept the risk of placing order without being pre-experiences so it is basically just base on people review, that why you see my question here
leann, for me it’s the dynamics that are so good with a power plant (I use two P10s and one SP3), however, I think you need to load the PPs very lightly to get the best lout of them. I have an efficient active system and by loading each PP very lightly the dynamics are astonishing.
I have a similar setup to you with the Stellar stack and MA Gold 200s. I bought a used P3 from a forum member not because I was looking for a regenerator at the time, but because I was curious about all the hype. I was skeptical that a regenerator could make a noticeable difference. I was completely surprised by the immediate and obvious improvement in sound quality. It was like all the sound in the background took a step forward.
As a comparison, I also had doubts on the benefits of power cables. I bought some AQ cables that were on sale for the SGCD and M700s. And I don’t hear any difference in the sound quality.
Obviously the benefits of the regenerator will depend on your system and your incoming power. My house was built in 1951 and still has most of the original wiring, so I suspect my incoming current is probably not ideal.
I started with a used P5. I heard an immediate overall improvement in sound quality.
Then I went with a P12, then a P20. Each one gave an incremental improvement in all aspects of the sound.
As one might expect, the P20 had the biggest positive effect.
I believe it is more than enough if P3 is used to drive SGCD+M700. I have SGCD/M700/DSDAC/PST plus two sub with 750W class D, all plug into my P12, a typical listen session, my P12 never exceed 160W.
Same as you, I started with SGCD+M700 and decided to add regen, since PSA voicing its gears with regen. At that time, P3 just came out, although, the P3 price is very attractive, and fit SGCD/M700 ok, considering the future gears I will add to my system, I went for P12.
As others already mentioned, the sonic performance open up with regen, this is what I heard on my system too ( Initially, I don’t think electricity will impact sound, but it did. Well, it might be just a psychological effect. Either way, it doesn’t matter, since I indeed enjoy the music more! ) Does the sonic improvement on my system alone justify to have a $5K P12 on my system, maybe not, but with a stable regen power to my system means a lot to me, since it implies a state and consistent sonic performance of my system.
i’ve read all the comments here and there in the forum about the headroom which P3 is still sufficient for the GCD + M700s. I plan to use the P3 just for that number of component only, the DAC if add to P3, will comsume just about 20-30w only, So we may say the P3 continuos power is alway above 300w or more, so i belive P3 can be enough. The current draw i observe on whole stacks + DAC is just 175 - 200w all the time running.
For the dynamic range, background , details sound of current stacks, i’m happy with what they bring back, so the idea of going with P3 as initial step make sense to me , P10 is long and future plan which will be 2-3 years later, partly because of current budget limit, partly by other thing together with P3 like power cables which can be half of the P3 and The REL T7i i had, is always plugging into the the wall.
So any people here still using the P3 in your system and your experience can help
In my country, PS is not popular brand, we don’t have the official distributor, agency and demo system for buyer to experience. all Stellar stacks i have is to order directly from PS distributor in UK for 230 Voltage version which i have to pay much more than its price because of imported tax, VAT and kind of Excise Tax (or Luxury Tax), but anyway, i’m happy to pay for that.
I decide to go with the brand new P3 even the used one can be a half cheaper, but the risk of used one is that we are not sure any issue, exceed warranty, or broken that have been fixed and void of warranty.
I bought a Stellar Strata last year and added a P3 to it a couple of weeks ago. The P3 made quite a difference across the board in sound quality. I have Ohm wT2000 speakers and they are not the most efficient speakers out there and with the P3 the Strata really cleaned up its bottom end handling of the Ohms.
The P3 improved my system’s SQ at least a couple levels. Even when I was breaking in the P3 and there were a couple of days when it sounded a little brittle to me it still sounded better than without. Now that it’s broken in it is much sweeter and I ask myself “how was I satisfied without it?”
Either way, it doesn’t matter, since I indeed enjoy the music more! ) Does the sonic improvement on my system alone justify to have a $5K P12 on my system, maybe not, but with a stable regen power to my system means a lot to me, since it implies a state and consistent sonic performance of my system.