Cured a video problem with pulsing on a DVI cable (that was noticable when a blue DVD screensaver mode or any pure color filled most of the screen) . The P300 or P600 can double as a turntable speed control by setting the frequency higher.

Sapped the life out of music. Analog sounded no better than digital.

As another viewer stated, I'm glad Eric wrote his review, so I won't be alone in basically giving this product a bad review. Not that its not well built and that PS Audio doesn't seem like a good company to do business with. In my experience, they are. But I've tried the P600 in a couple of my different systems now and what I notice is after the P600 has been in place for a while I find reproduced sound has a sameness about it that removes the music for me. It takes me a while to really notice this because I have to due without for a while before I really miss it (I can listen to some digital to as long as I go back to analog and for the same reason). The best description I can give is imagine a bubble and a bowling ball of the same size. Without the P600, I can tell which is denser. With the P600 everything seems to have the same weight (it may go lower or higher like the bubble getting bigger or smaller, but when it hits, you know its a bubble, not a bowling ball). An example, it made a Denon sound in a way that reminded me of an Audio Research in that it was clear and open (which is good). But at the same time the Denon lost its ability to convey differences between sounds. As Eric has said about the P600, there are times when a live instrument has an aggressiveness to it and with the P600 in place that aggressiveness was gone. Very hi-fi , but not acurate and not musical. I've also tried it on other, higher grade amps (Krell, Audio Research) with the same result. I've had better results with video (although not the startling diffences some have claimed) in that a 'pulsing' seen through a DVI cable when the DVD player's blue screensaver was presented vanished with the P600 in place. But I really didn't notice blacker blacks, more vibrant colors et al. Now some of this may be my location (away from most people with my own power poles and transformer) or may be due to having my audio/video equipment on its own circuit. But I find myself disagreeing with most published reviews that gush about this being a wonder product with no downsides. And, like the other negative reviewers have stated, it probably works best with lower end equipment (although then, who's going to want to pay the cost) with less than stellar power supplies.

Similar Products Used:

P300.

- Improves image depth - Improves color on CRT displays - Can power lots of equipment (more than you would think) - Has some neat displays to let you know what is going on (wattage used, voltage used)

- Expensive - Less improvement with some DLP projectors

Full disclosure - I am a new PS Audio dealer. I had been watching the Power Plants from a distance for a while and liked the regenerated power concept. So I took the dive on a P-500 (P-600 isn't made anymore). I am very happy with the product. It does everything they say it will but not necessarily with every product it drives. It definitely improved the performance of my traditional tv and also my AV system. The colors on the TV improved, and the depth (3D) improved. It was like getting a new tv. The sound reveals more details and I would say that the sound stage (width) widened. However, my overhead projector (Infocus 5700) did not benefit as much. The depth improved and made for a more pleasing image to watch. But the colors stayed about the same. One of the nice things about the unit is that you can plug lots into it before you max it out. I have ALL of my audio components, plus a 32 inch tv, running through it. This should overtax it, but the wattage-draws are overstated in product manuals. The exception would be the projector- which pulls 260 watts like the manual says. So, I can't use the projector with a single P-500 and any significant component. I have already been using the Monster HTS-2500 for several years and liked it. The P-500 is a significant improvement. But if you don't have a power conditioner already, the HTS-2500 is a good place to start without spending as much (under $300). Once you become a "believer" you will see the value in spending $2000. Now, don't get me started on other power products, like power cables... They can REALLY make a difference in system performance. But that's another review. Ok, since I said I am a dealer, I now feel comfortable sharing my website: http://www.hometheaterfactory.com

Similar Products Used:

Monster HTS-2500

See review

First, I’m a little disappointed that I’m locked-in to using Tube Wave as long as my CRT TV is plugged into the regenerated power. I certainly don’t want to unplug the TV after seeing the results. So unless I’m just listening to a CD or SACD (or DVD without the picture), I’m limited to Tube Wave. Is this bad? Well, only in that my choices are restricted and I can’t experiment with all of the available features (MW II, AutoWave, frequency settings, etc.) when viewing video. Second, this device generates a lot of heat. I never got above 71% utilization of available watts (~63 on average), so I don’t feel I was driving it too hard. But after 4 hours or so of playing and with people and other electronics in the room, the device shut itself off abruptly without warning. The fuses were fine. Reading the troubleshooting section of the user guide leads me to believe that the increase in room temperature caused the unit’s internal thermal protection circuit to trip. The problem is the room wasn’t uncomfortably hot. The unit is sitting by itself on an open shelf (not enclosed). The back of the unit wasn’t restricted in any way. So I’m a little surprised and concerned that the unit is too sensitive to heat, and generates too much heat itself. The fan noise is only bothersome when the TV is at late-night listening levels. At normal listening levels, it is not a problem. I am concerned about quiet movie passages, however. The fan noise may be a bigger problem as I spend more time with th

First let me say, “I’m a believer!” And “WOW!” I had very high expectations based on the glowing comments and quotes as well as the explanation of the technology. I can say for sure that my expectations have been exceeded. I’m actually somewhat stunned. POSITIVES Video: The most shocking improvement was the video quality. My 36” Sony Wega HS500 CRT HDTV looked pretty darn amazing before using this product. Right out of the box with the “professional” picture setting the Sony’s image was extremely accurate and rich. The black level performance was darn good. High definition (over-the-air and satellite) already looked 3-dimensional. I was pretty sure that the P-500 wouldn’t be able to improve my video experience much. In this case, it was nice to be wrong! After hooking up my system (Sony TV, Receiver/Amp, Subwoofer, DVD player all on the regenerated power circuits) I could not believe my eyes. I’m pretty sure for a few seconds my jaw (and my friend’s as well) was touching the ground. The picture was remarkably better…and I’m not talking about a subtle improvement. I could not believe how much better the black level performance was with the P-500 delivering regenerated power to my Sony. Images on the screen became even more 3-dimensional and the depth of field improved. Textures and surfaces of objects became more noticeable and detailed. As a result of the improved black level, colors became even more rich and vibrant (liquid). Please understand, I was skeptical about the PSAudio and it’s ability to improve my system (especially the TV). Not anymore. Just try and wipe the smile off my face. Audio: The audio improvements with the PSAudio P-500 were also clearly noticeable and quite remarkable. A good example is when I popped in a 2-channel SACD and my friend could not seem to convince himself that only the two stereo channels and the sub were playing. He was adamant that the center and surrounds were doing something. We checked…and they were not! The imaging had improved so much that the vocalist’s position (on various recordings) could be pinpointed with great accuracy in the soundstage. And the depth and width of the soundstage exploded beyond the size of my room. It was the first time that a 2-channel recording sounded like a multi-channel. We became enveloped in sound. The details that were being revealed were so dramatically improved. The Aria scene in Superbit DVD of “The Fifth Element” was a real treat. At the very beginning the theater is full of people and the crowd is settling down to enjoy the performance. We heard for the first time this great sense of the depth of the theater (well behind the speakers and the screen) and the subtle sound of the crowd as they were quieting. It took my breath away. We replayed the scene just to experience it again. Diana Krall’s – “Live in Paris” concert DVD in DTS was already a wonderful recording to listen to. But hearing “A Case of You” with the PSAudio P-500 was nearly a religious experience. The audio background is so black and the realism of the performance is so good. When you can hear the spit in the singer’s mouth and the pressing of their lips, it’s quite an experience. On another note, most of the harshness was completely erased. The high-end frequencies sounded much more liquid resulting in a less fatiguing experience at the same volume levels. In addition, my subwoofer sounds richer and much more controlled with it plugged into the regenerated power. It was already a pretty musical sub (only 8”) but it seems to really sing now with less muddiness on the lower end. So, without a doubt, everything I plugged into the PSAudio P-500 has benefited with dramatic results. SUMMARY PSAudio makes some big claims about the positive effects their product can have on your setup. I doubted those claims while simultaneously expecting big results from my P-500 purchase. Without a doubt, the improvements are radical and obvious. Although I (and for sure my wife) will continue to question if it was worth $2000 bucks, as long as it continues to function correctly I can guarantee that I won’t be sending it back! After trying a Monster Power Conditioner product (with no noticeable improvements/results), I can also say for sure that I am glad I spent the extra money and went for the power regeneration technology instead. PSAudio's P-500 Power Plant has dramatically improved my system and made me a believer!

Plenty

None

Is one hell of a A/C generator no offence to those with negative reply,I think you don't know what is hi-end stuffs or ur deaf.Stereophile will not recommended this power plant COTY for no reason.I've used lots of conditioners but none come close.

Clarity, details, depth given to music

Wife wants to known if we can exchange it for a different color....thinks black would look nicer.

Several days ago I received a PS Audio Power Plant (P600) and a Lab II power cord. My plans for the evening were to perform A-B testing with and without the P600 in place. I needed to be convinced that it would improve the sound quality otherwise I’d ship it back and spend my money on something else. I had no plans to patiently for one or two weeks ‘burn in’ time convincing myself that it was incrementally improving some fuzzy wuzzy audio attribute. It either had to show an immediate improvement or it was gone. I used a standard power cord from the wall to the P600 and the Lab II power cord from the P600 to my Denon receiver. I connected my Sony SACD player to the P600 using its factory supplied fixed power cord. I also connected my Outlaw base manager to the P600. Previous to getting the P600 and Lab II power cord, I’d been very happy with the sound of my system. My friends had been impressed as well. So, it was a bit difficult to understand how effective the P600 would really be relative to improving the sound; but I’d give the P600 a chance just to see if this ‘AC regeneration thing’ was real or just audiohype. With the P600 and Lab II connected, I fired up Herbie Handock’s Head Hunters (multi-channel SACD). I was totally floored. The sonic benefits of the P600 were clearly obvious and significant- I was surrounded by stunning detail and depth that I had never experienced before. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. It was like someone switched on a light in a room that I had not realized was dark. Needless to say, my plans to do A-B testing were shelved while I spent the evening caught up in music. I can honestly say that this is the most impressive upgrade that I’ve made since equipping my listening room with multi-channel SACD. Even my wife, who, bless her heart, is not into high-resolution music, noticed the difference. Her only compliant was the color of the P600 did not match the color of the other components and ‘what’s that big ugly looking cord for?’ Ha! Denon AVR 4802 Reciever Toshiba SD9200 DVDA Sony DVP NS500V SACD Klipsch Quintet all around + C Channel Boston VR500 SW Outlaw ICBM Base manager Monster 950i interconnects Monster MCX IS Front & Center Speaker Cables Monster HI Precision Standed Speak Wire for Rear Channels PS Audio P600 Supplying PS Audio Lab II Cable

Similar Products Used:

None

Improves all aspects of system performance

Very heavy

The very day after I put my order in for the P600 Power Plant I just happen to read the only consumer reviews of this model on the Web, one at audioreview.com, and one on PS Audio’s own site in their Power Plant Forum. They are both negative and both by some one (I believe) named Eric. All the positive reviews I read were for the P300. I was concerned that I too might have an “Eric” experience with the P600 in my system. Well I’m happy and relieved to report that on the contrary, I have a Robert Deutsch/John Atkinson (Stereophile reviewers) experience. Deutsch described the P600’s effect on my system best when he said “...the sound was not merely different, but in every way relevant to the listening experience, significantly better”. In my case, better than with my Chang Lightspeed 6400 plugged into a dedicated AC line. The P600 is able to power all my electronics: PS Audio Lambda CD player, PS Audio Ultralink Two DAC, Coda Model 11 power amp, and the Velodyne ULD 12 powered sub-woofer, with headroom to spare. I have a passive preamp, all Kimber Kable KCAG interconnects, Nordost Solar Wind speaker cables, and Seas Odin Millennium speakers.
To make explicit what is implicit in Deutsch’s description: music is more dynamic with greater impact; I hear more texture, inner detail and clarity, especially in the upper octaves (e.g., individual strikes of the triangle are clearly heard though they may be faint and imbedded in the full orchestral sound; a more detailed, metallic shimmer is heard in the sound of cymbals). In general, musical images are more clearly delineated and firmly anchored within the soundstage. Especially impressive in this regard are subtle sounds embedded within the orchestration, such as a lightly struck tambourine, or a quiet piccolo. I’ve always heard these instruments, but now I hear them more clearly defined in their own space within the soundstage. Vocalists have a more palpable presence. I’m aware of the “ease” and “liquidity” that John Atkinson spoke of. The music doesn’t “harden” or irritate when it gets louder.
Changing the power factor from 60 Hz to 120 Hz has far less of an effect on my system than the mere inclusion of the unit. I already had lots of depth, and although I hear more at 120 Hz, the overall sound is less appealing. All the attributes I list above are heard in my system at 60 Hz. I have it set to 90 Hz now, but I can’t defend this setting as substantially better than 60 Hz. Lastly, the unit and everything it powers are silent - no extraneous noises of any kind, and it never gets too hot to touch.
The down side? It is really heavy and unlike my amp that weighs about the same, lacks handles, and is somewhat difficult to maneuver.
The substantial improvement that the p600 has made in my system, and apparently in many others, has convinced me of the critical importance of quality AC for our components to sound their best. It also suggests that anything that facilities the work of our power supplies will improve the sound. Mark Levinson invested a great deal of the cost of their No.32 preamp ($15,000) in the power supply. Like the Power Plants, the No.32 regenerates its own AC. It may be that after a certain price point, differences in the sound of amps and preamps are more a function of differences in power supplies and related circuitry than anything else. Though we may not be able to afford the costly high-end products with state of the art engineering in this area, we may approach their sound with less expensive models and a Power Plant.

Similar Products Used:

Chang Lightspeed

Immunity from A/C hash and crystaline clarity

Weight and size-but who really cares

There have been three times in the last 12 years playing around in this hobby that I have sat back and said to myself that every penny spent has been worth it. First, six years ago when I finally took the plunge into tubes. For the last three years it has been great with my VAC PA 100/100. Second, when I purchased my pair of Virgos and finally, recently when I put that 600 in my system, running everything through it. I cannot believe what it has done, especially to the soundstage and in particular, the incredible DEPTH of that soundstage. System for reference is: Theta Miles running directly into the VAC with Audio Physic Virgos. Interconnects are Synergistic Research Designer's Reference with the Master Control Center. Speaker cabling bi-wired Resolution Reference from Synergistic. Power cables are from Synergistic and Bybee. Bright Star Big and Little feet where needed. WOW! That PS 600 is quite a piece, especially with the multi-wave. Worth every penny.

Similar Products Used:

API and Chang

Everything everyone else said

None.

This is not a review, so much as a word about a possible tweak that will bring your system that much closer to nirvana. If you have a P300 with your front end plugged into it, AND you have a P600 and you are not pushing it too much, plug the P300 INTO the P600. Believe it or not, you will gain just a bit more. Not like when you first started out without a Power Plant, but the noise will drop just a bit more, the treble will be a bit cleaner, and the bass just a bit more extended. This was a hint from Johnathan at PS Audio. I have the preamp and amp plugged into one isolated side, and the P300 plugged into the second isolated side with a AudioPrism Quietline plugged into the other socket in the duplex. The P300 has the turntable, Cd player, tuner, and tape deck plugged into it. This is so awesome, when I am playing a CD it is isolated from the amp/preamp on the P600 not only through the isolated circuits of the P600, but also the P300 and the Quietline. You can use a separate multiwave from the P300 for just the CD, and use another setting for the amp/preamp from the P600. When you are playing a record, you can have the LP on sin on the P300, but the P600 can be doing multiwaves for the amp/preamp. Just make sure to turn off the CD player when you are playing lps. The P300 does not care that it is being fed multiwaves, it just regenerates clean(er) power. This is an expensive setup, but it really should be tried.

Similar Products Used:

Power Plant 300

Everything you will gain from feeding "clean power" to your equipment - transparency, airy, tighter bass, greater extension in highs, smoother sound...you name it

Some multiwave mode may cause the transformer of the amplifier to produce a low hum sound.

Although it costs a fortune, this piece of "equipment" (I won't call it an accessory) provides one of the greatest improvement in my system. My other changes in the system produce benefits as well as sacrifice, but I don't get a single sacrifice with the power plant - there is improvement in everything single area, and the improvement is dramatic, not subtle! If your other components are matching well and you are finding ways to improve the sound without changing equipment and distorting the tonal balance of your setup, the power plant IS the one to go for.

Only 30 minutes after I plug it in, there is a HUGE difference in sound - more extensive highs without any strains or hardness, bass is much tighter and definition extremely improved, a lot more little details in the recording can be heard, better dynamics and slam...everything you could wish for in an upgrade.

My mom, who knows nothing about Hifi, actually said that "This new AMPLIFIER sounds much better!"

I have tried different multiwave setups, a couple of them cause a low hum sound in my amp (namely SS1 and SS5). I therefore use PS2, which sounds excellent without hum sound in the amps and CDs.

The unit is now warming up and the sound is still improving everyday. I guess a drawback would be its huge power consumption which makes it quite costly to be turned on 24-hours a day. However, my amps and CD need to be in standby mode and I don't seem to have a choice. The dealer told me to turn off the multiwave during idle time.

If you live in an area where you would never get good and stable electricity supply (like I do), or you have a well-balanced system where you would like to go two-three steps further, forget about other line conditioners; go straight to the power plant. It IS expensive, but I consider this money well spent (because this unit will continue to work its wonders even if you upgrade your speakers or other equipment).

Simon

Similar Products Used:

Tara Labs ISM Power Screen AC Line Conditioner

Awesome power reserve, stability and heat dissipation. Multiwave is sonically a wonder.

None.

Superb in every way. Construction quality, power output, and stability along with heat dissipation (awesome heatsinks). This unit is top notch in design, execution and construction. Beautiful to behold, as well. A rarity in upscale, audio equipment in my view.

I use it in both my A/V 5.1 system and my all tube, high end system. My P300 resides permanently in my tube system for my front end. The P600 when I can lift it, moves to the tube system to power my tube mono block amp.

I can not understand why someone would give this anything less than 5 stars because it is simply superb. If one tries one out for 30 days, unless you are deaf or can't afford it in the first place believe me you will NOT be sending this back to PS Audio.

The incredile soundstaging, depth, naturalness of tone, macro and micro dynamic shadings,and natural pacing of the music is absolutely startling to this reviewer. I've tried it with many cables, etc. and found the best to be Siltech unless one is using PS Audio's lab or mini lab cables.

There is one point where possibly reviewers here might have mistaken it to lessen certain attributes of their systems. Power direct from the wall is very flawed, as Paul writes in the website for PS Audio, and he dead on correct. Our systems have, therefore, been set up to minimize those problematic interactions with the poor power. Speaker placements after many hours and days of tweaking have been set to get the most out of the system. But, those placements are 99% of the time totally incorrect for the ultimate musical experience once a Power Plant, or two, has been installed. This is because the P/P will stip away those heretofore problematic areas bare and allow the true measure of one's system to come to life. Almost always, this requires complete re-thinking of placement of speakers, etc. for optimal pacing, dynamics, soundstaging, etc. Once they are re-setup, the changes to the system are so dramatic, it is quite startling.

The optimal placement of speakers once a P/P has been installed is:

.276 X the width of the room for side to side placement for each speaker from the side wall to the center of the woofer.

.474 X the width of the room for location of the speakers from the back wall to the center of the woofer.

This is discussed in detail at George Cardas' wonderful website www.cardas.com.

After spending some time and energy setting them up properly and cueing up the first vinyl or cd (or dvd audio) and one's jaw will hit the floor and I am not kidding.

So, if you are contemplating this, there is nothing I know of (and I use lots of tweaks and have tried many) that will make your system sound as beautiful and sweet, natural and open as a power plant will. Period.

Try it. What have you got to lose? PS Audio is 110% honest,open and supportive... The best in the industry I have found along with MESA Engineering.

Similar Products Used:

PS Audio P300 w/ multiwave