Plugging high-power MSB amps into Everest 8000

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haragr

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Dec 28, 2022
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Portland, OR
hello everyone.... I am new to this forum. This is my first post.

I am facing a conundrum and am hoping some of you here can chime in and provide some help/guidance. And I'm really hoping the man himself - Caelin - will answer my questions!

First... here's my modest setup:
MSB Reference DAC (max'd out version)
MSB S202 Power Amp
QLN Prestige Five Speakers
SwissCables Diamond Speaker Cables + Balanced IC

Additionally and very importantly: I live in a condo in Portland, OR. I have no scope for installing a dedicated line. I know that would be ideal, but it'll never be a reality for me. The wall sockets seem to have reasonably clean power per the EMI meter reading.

About 2 months ago I invested in the Everest 8000, a Sigma XC PC (for the Everest), and two Sigma V2 NR PCs (amp and DAC). This, after auditioning the same at home for a couple of weeks and also consulting Richard@Shunyata. Richard told me I should plug the power amp directly into the Everest, in its own zone, separate from the zone where I have the DAC power cord. Now, to my untrained ears, the sound is amazing. I am hearing things I never heard before. However, my untrained ears are not able tell immediately if there is any filtering/compression effect on the sound because the amp is plugged directly into the Everest.

My questions:
  1. Am I making a mistake by plugging in the high-powered MSB amp into the Everest? That seems to be Caelin's guidance on this forum a couple of years ago. But when I asked Richard@Shunyata, he said no, the power amp would actually benefit by being plugged into the Everest.
  2. I am planning on upgrading to either the top-of-the-line MSB S500 stereo power amp, or the MSB M205 mono block amps, in the next few months. Should I be plugging those into the Everest or should they go into the wall? Either option will pose a much higher power need.
  3. If the guidance is that the power amps should definitely go into the wall, then basically I dropped+wasted 10 grand on the Everest just to plug in the DAC! I don't know if I should laugh or cry about that. And no, I am not loaded with cash to splurge just for the heck.

I am looking forward to your responses. Thanks in advance.
 
You did absolutely the right thing. Plugging an amp into the wall is only recommended when there are two separate dedicated circuits. Even in that case it's not always the case that running the amp into the wall will be better. QR/BB in the Everest is the real deal. This should be superior to running your amp into the same circuit as the rest of your gear.
 
Since you are not running dedicated lines. Having an amp and dac(with preamp/streamer etc) on an Everest with a sigma XC/sigma V2 NR is an excellent setup.

Since you are only using two outlets for your setup you could get away with a Typhon T2 in 2023. But right now you have top equipment for your requisites and should not feel wanting.
 
kennyb123 said:
You did absolutely the right thing. Plugging an amp into the wall is only recommended when there are two separate dedicated circuits. Even in that case it's not always the case that running the amp into the wall will be better. QR/BB in the Everest is the real deal. This should be superior to running your amp into the same circuit as the rest of your gear.
Click to expand...

Yup!
 
haragr said:
hello everyone.... I am new to this forum. This is my first post.

I am facing a conundrum and am hoping some of you here can chime in and provide some help/guidance. And I'm really hoping the man himself - Caelin - will answer my questions!

First... here's my modest setup:
MSB Reference DAC (max'd out version)
MSB S202 Power Amp
QLN Prestige Five Speakers
SwissCables Diamond Speaker Cables + Balanced IC

Additionally and very importantly: I live in a condo in Portland, OR. I have no scope for installing a dedicated line. I know that would be ideal, but it'll never be a reality for me. The wall sockets seem to have reasonably clean power per the EMI meter reading.

About 2 months ago I invested in the Everest 8000, a Sigma XC PC (for the Everest), and two Sigma V2 NR PCs (amp and DAC). This, after auditioning the same at home for a couple of weeks and also consulting Richard@Shunyata. Richard told me I should plug the power amp directly into the Everest, in its own zone, separate from the zone where I have the DAC power cord. Now, to my untrained ears, the sound is amazing. I am hearing things I never heard before. However, my untrained ears are not able tell immediately if there is any filtering/compression effect on the sound because the amp is plugged directly into the Everest.

My questions:
  1. Am I making a mistake by plugging in the high-powered MSB amp into the Everest? That seems to be Caelin's guidance on this forum a couple of years ago. But when I asked Richard@Shunyata, he said no, the power amp would actually benefit by being plugged into the Everest.
  2. I am planning on upgrading to either the top-of-the-line MSB S500 stereo power amp, or the MSB M205 mono block amps, in the next few months. Should I be plugging those into the Everest or should they go into the wall? Either option will pose a much higher power need.
  3. If the guidance is that the power amps should definitely go into the wall, then basically I dropped+wasted 10 grand on the Everest just to plug in the DAC! I don't know if I should laugh or cry about that. And no, I am not loaded with cash to splurge just for the heck.

I am looking forward to your responses. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Something I'd consider before moving to another power amp is implementing an Altaira set-up for your system. A "better" amp is not going to remove ground-plane noise you already have. I've found that making foundational improvements, to quality of power, current delivery (DTCD), noise reduction, including NR from components' power supplies (what Everest does) and ground-plane noise (what Altaira does) reduce provide more and a more lifelike and engaging quality of improvement than the traditional gear "further down the line", we think of with respect to upgrading, e.g. amps. For example, many folks think that most of the noise in components comes from the AC mains...this is not true. Most of the noise come the internal power supplies of the components themselves, e.g. from full-wave bridge rectifiers. They also cause a phenemenon, called reactance, that causes less current to be delivered to amp's power supply during dynamic passages, just when it needs it the most. Another upgrade might be an Omega QR-s power cable for your DAC, rather than the Sigma. Just some thoughts for your consideration.
 
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