Which power plant for me?

Hi guys, I am upgrading my system and it has come time to consider a P12 or P15.

My #1 goal is SQ and I am willing to pay the extra to get it.

My current Hifi system

  • Mac mini
  • DSD DAC Jr
  • Schiit Freya+
  • BHK 250 (y’all know)

I also plan to use this to plug in as much of my home theater system as possible

  • Yamaha A5200 (processor only)
  • Outlaw 7220 (220 wpm @8ohm)
  • SVS SB16 (1500 watt X1 sledge class D)
  • Crown 2502 powering a second sub (1500 watt x1)
  • Apple TV
  • LG OLED C7
  • Panasonic Bluray player

I know that the only regenerator with enough plugs is the P20 but I think its beyond what I can accommodate at this point.

From a SQ perspective, is the P15 >P12?
From a power perspective, is the P12 sufficient for my setup? Or will I need more power on demand from the P15?

At minimum, I want all the Hifi gear plugged in, the Yamaha processor, and Outlaw 7ch amp. If I have room, ill add others.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Wow! That’s alot to plug in.
I have a 65" LG OLED, BHK Pre, M700 monos, 4k blu-ray connected to a P12.
When all of these are on, the P12 says the power draw is about 150 watts continuous.
I have 2 SVS SB3000 subs, but they are not connected to the regenerating portion of the P12.
The idea is to not overtax the powerplant with a high demand for continuous power, but keeping the continuous power draw to a reasonable amount so that there is ample power reserves for musical peaks.
In your situation, I definitely would not connect the sub to the regenerating outlets of a powerplant.

Sounds reasonable. I could plug both subs into the outlets and it wouldn’t be regenerated power correct? What does the high output portion of the power plant do exactly?

P15 for sure. The bigger the Power Plant the better the SQ. That’s because of the increase in power supply and the number of output devices in the amplifier.

I have P12.
From the spec, all the outlets are re-gen power including High output. The High output is for power sucking amps that will draw lots power initially. I have my power subs plug into these (even through, the build-in power amp is class D).
I love the small form factor of P12, it has same look as my DS DAC (and the future BHK pre - saving my $$$ now). But, not to mention, P12 only has 8 outlets, it also has two fans inside for cooling. I always worry one day these fans might give up first. (I guess I just worry to much!)

The tech within the current PPs is very similar. As some already know, the P3 came out quite a bit after (2 years?) the 12, 15, 20. When Darren was designing it, he was looking at Bob’s designs, and doing his best to simply do a paired down version of them. This is why the P3 is such a good regen.

However similar the tech might be, the improvement in sound quality makes a BIG leap as you go up the chain. It’s noticeable.

Like Paul mentioned, bigger power supply and better quality output devices makes for a huge sonic benefit with the bigger PPs.

If budget allows, P15 is your best bet.

Thanks for this. Would the P15 support all of the mentioned devices?

The subwoofer amps will go into the high current plugs. But will the outlaw and BHK be okay together?

I have Tekton DIs for LCR and SVS satellite surrounds in a medium sized open room. My guess is the BHK will never put out more than 50w even during the most demanding movies. My guess is the P15 should have no problem there. It’s the outlaw amp that I’m a bit more concerned about.

Yes, you won’t have a problem with a P15 powering this whole system.
The outlaw will be the piece to keep an eye on. A fun thing I like to do on occasion is watch the scope on the P15 as I’m turning on gear and see how much power each piece draws. This allows you to see if a component is pulling too much current. I think you’ll be more than OK, but at least there’s a tool to let you know for sure.

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Darnit. I just ordered one. Why does the smaller one need 2 fans? How many fans does a PP20 have? I am running 2 of those. From my listening position in a sound sealed room with no source I hear no fans at all. You mean to say the larger units only have one fan? That would seem like backwards engineering. Unless it is a single much larger fan. I certainly hope I do not hear the PP12. Fans are easy to replace though, and with better ones. Quitter, more CFM ETC… Most components it actually improves the performance. The PP12 I have no clue if it will impede it’s functionality, Just wondering if the larger units have 1 fan? That I would find odd

The larger units are all passively cooled, i.e. heatsinks and no fans. I’d have thought you’d have known that ):-

Nah, I never took them apart or anything. Just knew I did not hear anything. That makes sense because passive cooling is more expensive. However you would think it would be no feat to passive cool such a small one? If I get it I will have to put in the better Thermaltake fans. I assume they are either 60mm,80mm or 120mm. A standard size, If not I really do not care much for one. I

I hate to say this here but for the PP12 the P9X1000 is a cleaner machine, I mean you will get 100% pure energy for less money. You just need to know how to read a schematic and solder, Than get SLA batteries cheap online. Replace them for $50 instead of $500. That is what I do. You also need a better fan in it and a better power cable. An AC-12 is very nice on it. You just need to ream the entrance on it and fit a collar. I apologize to do that here.

In the format of the PP20, I prefer it to a 5000VA 9PX. I run 2 PP20’s on a system I will not mention the price of. A nice house.

Anyone know how much clearance a P15 needs for heat dissipation? Go about ½ inch about it on my rack with a few inches on either side.

Probably no more than the BHK250. Similar passive cooling and same case.

The BHK250 has almost 2 inches of clearance.

I added more room above the P15 and now there are no overheating issues. Give it room to breath!