Thread: PS Audio PowerPlant 15

Anyone have experience with the PS Audio PowerPlant 15? I got an offer from PS Audio to get one at a discount. Don't have ANY power conditioning in the house which is 2 years old in a new development. So all really new power infrastructure and not a lot of users of the local grid since I live in a relatively low population area; it's really sparse here. I say so because i've heard arguments in support of such things for people who live in big cities on old power infrastructure.

Bottom line: does it help sound quality any? Is it worth the $$?

I have owned several PS audio power plant models over the past 20 years. Regadless of the location, they always improved my sound - blacker background, more detail, more relaxed trebles. To be fair, I have to say I ultimately replaced all of them with Shunyata conditioners (most recently the Everest 8000) because the did the job better with less complexity. In any case, power conditioning regardless of vendor, always made a positive difference.

Cicy

Doesn't PS Audio have a 30 day obligation free return policy?
Not much point in us telling you what we think of their products in our homes, just buy one and try it in your home and if you don't like it return it.

I have been using a P15 for many years with flawless production of PS Audio regenerated AC power. I cannot comment on any subjective SQ analysis. It is large and heavy and a pain in the ass to insert into an audio rack.

Originally Posted by Surge

Don’t listen to some members here - they spew baseless BS and don’t actually own a unit. (This forum is very much Shunyata biased, FYI. Shunyata is great, I own 2 Denalis and a bunch of their cables…).

At risk of repeating myself.....I've owned 10 PS Audio power plants. They all broke down, every one of them (note:they were all repaired under warranty). Plus I've owned two PS Audio DAC's and the Directstream memory player and NONE of them worked properly. In my opinion, based on my vast owner experience, PS Audio products are junk. I also own a Shunyata Denali. My electric projection screen, which weighs about 35kg, fell recently 2.4m from the ceiling and landed flush on top of my Denali and knocked it off its wall mount. The screen is stuffed but the Denali survived unscathed. It's built like a main battle tank.

But to answer the question, I **think*** PS Audio still offer an obligation free 30 day home trial. It doesn't matter what anyone here says about sound quality improvements when using one of these products because it is system dependent. I say, buy one and try it at home. If you like it, keep it. If not, send it back.

Maybe Paul needs to redesign his power supplies to work on voltages other than US 120v. Everything I have ever owned from PS Audio has worked flawlessly but I am also based in the USA with 120v AC.

Originally Posted by brodricj

At risk of repeating myself.....I've owned 10 PS Audio power plants. They all broke down, every one of them (note:they were all repaired under warranty). Plus I've owned two PS Audio DAC's and the Directstream memory player and NONE of them worked properly. In my opinion, based on my vast owner experience, PS Audio products are junk. I also own a Shunyata Denali. My electric projection screen, which weighs about 35kg, fell recently 2.4m from the ceiling and landed flush on top of my Denali and knocked it off its wall mount. The screen is stuffed but the Denali survived unscathed. It's built like a main battle tank.

But to answer the question, I **think*** PS Audio still offer an obligation free 30 day home trial. It doesn't matter what anyone here says about sound quality improvements when using one of these products because it is system dependent. I say, buy one and try it at home. If you like it, keep it. If not, send it back.

Sometimes power regeneration solves a problem that does not exist. In home trial with several iterations of conditioner IN/OUT is the only way to tell in your specific situation.

Originally Posted by Barry

Agree, every situation is different. A/B comparisons at home may be more complicated for some types of conditioners if you don't check first to make sure the output voltage of the unit under test is the same as the wall receptacle voltage.

That's not quite right, no such test is necessary. I think you haven't understood the intent of that suggestion. When you adjust the output to match the input the regenerator has to do less work, resulting in slightly lower output distortion. Maybe go from 0.1% with matched voltage input/output to 0.2%. No big deal really. But if the input voltage is 250V (in 230V land), and you set output to match (aiming to achieve a very small distortion improvement), that is just silly. Set the output to 230V and accept 0.2% THD. 250V at 0.1% THD is not very nice for some connected components.

Originally Posted by Speedskater

While the maximum volume may be a few dBs louder, the input to output gain will remain the same.
Also some power conditioners may have problems with big amps playing near max volume.

Huh? My local electricity supply typically is in the range 215-241V. The output is always 230V. input to output gain is always changing because the input is always changing whilst the output is steady. Not sure about the maximum volume comment. What my power regenerator does has no bearing on volume.