Ystem Synergy Check: Is the Stellar P3 the right "engine" for my M700s and Beatles Vinyl?

Power Components
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Hi PS Audio Family,

I’m looking for some advice on taking the next step in my “clean power” journey. I’m a firm believer that the foundation of any good system is the quality of the AC, and I’ve already seen the benefits of stability by adding a Rega Neo PSU MK2 to my Planar 3 (running an Nd5 cartridge).

My main system (Station 2) currently consists of:

  • Amplification: 2 x PS Audio Stellar M700 Mono Amplifiers

  • Digital Front End: Eversolo DMP-A8 & Shangling ET3 CD Transport

  • Analog Path: Rega Planar 3 → Rega Fono MM → Eversolo A8

  • Speakers: Focal Theva N2

I’m considering adding a Stellar Power Plant 3, but I have two specific questions for those with similar setups:

  1. Dynamic Headroom: I’ve calculated my idle draw at roughly 85W, which is well within the P3’s 300W continuous limit. However, I’m a big Beatles fan, and I love the punch of the mono mixes. When the M700s are asked to deliver that sudden “kick” on Abbey Road, does the P3 provide enough peak current for these Class D monos to really breathe, or should I be looking at the P12?

  2. Analog Transparency: For those of you spinning black wax, did you find the P3 made a noticeable difference in the noise floor of your phono stage? I’m chasing that “inky black” background for the acoustic moments in Yesterday and Blackbird.

My ears tell me that regenerating the power is the right move, but I’d love to hear if this is the “sweet spot” for a Stellar-based system or if I’m under-estimating the thirst of those M700s.

Thanks in advance for the help!

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As to the P3 and M700 amps, these amps are specially mentioned in the info on the P3 on “sales” page.

I have both a Rega P3 and P8, both with Ortofon 2MR LVB Black (have killed two Rega cartridge cantilevers-they are WAY too exposed, and for no practical reason). On the P3 with no record and preamp volume way up, if I move the tone arm toward the spindle with the motor running, I pick up noise. Not so with the P8 I currently am using a Stellar phono stage. Reading between the lines, I pick up that a significant part of the PMG magic is the very low noise floor. Am waiting on the PMG phono to add to the DAC and preamp.

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Thanks, I am looking at the P8 after I pay some of current HiFi bills over the holiday season, and I considered the Stellar Phono Amp, do you find the Phono Amp makes a big difference ?

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I did find improvement as I upgraded the phono stage. However, it’s been sometime and the details of the improvement escape me. I have read good things about the Rega ND line and if I were in the market now for a P8 I would be torn by the hefty discount on the table/cartridge combo. But once you have a Rega cart, it’s easy to fix the overhang on other manufacturer carts-just note how far forward of the “third” hole the stylus is on the Rega and match that. I got my Rega P3 as the anniversary edition which was a great deal. Not sure the price difference to the P8 is justified by the SQ improvement. Have not A/B compared but as I noted elsewhere, if the difference isn’t easily apparent without side-by-side, it probably isn’t worth the effort. And it constantly amazes me that folks swear by burn-in improvement after 200-300 hours-heck, sometimes I’m hard pressed to remember someone’s name after that long, let alone the minute details instrument of placement in a jazz quartet! But kudos to Paul and crew. I didn’t need A/B to tell the improvement from: Stellar gold → MKII → PMG DAC. It may well have to do with cumulative noise floor with each component adding its own individually imperceptible element that in total messes with our auditory response. Have to believe that the metal box inside a metal box design of the PMG series made it to production because they could hear a difference.

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