Price Paid:  $4900.00 from Radar Audio Hong Kong

Summary:
This is an extraordinary product. It is huge and draws lots of current. It certainly transforms any power ampifier. I have listen to a P1200 driving a pair of BAT tube monoblocks in the dealer's showroom and I use it in my own pair of Sonic Frontier Power 3 monoblocks. The improvement in the sound with and without the P1200 is very marked. The P1200 gives the already powerful amp extra strength, not by a little but by a mile. The dynamic is markedly improved without any harshness. In effect, the sound is smoothed a lot. I use a P300 for my front end which consists of SF Transport 3, Processor 3 and Line 3. The improvement of P300 alone is very noticable and I have been satisfied with the sound for a period of time, not anymore when I have the P1200 driving the power amp. There is a big difference in the dynamic and smoothness. Now I am convinced by what Paul MC of PS Audio said. Paul said the impact of powerplant is most evident in ampifier because of the need to draw extra current from the AC supply in ampification. The benefit of good, clean AC would be most easily detected in ampifier.

I use a pair of Thiel C2.3 speakers in a 460 sq feet (14'x33') listening room. I was told that I should need a pair of larger speakers for this room otherwise the bass will not be strong enough. Not so with the P1200, the tightness and the extension of the bass is very adequate. Now I should not consider changing to a pair of larger speakers.

The major problem with P1200 is the heat that it generates. In the export model, there is a stepup tranformer to change its output to 220V. Together with the two input tranformers, there are three very hot tranformers working in P1200 under heavy load. One of the input transformers in my P1200 blew up after two hours of heavy load. The local dealer now suggests me to partly open the top lid of P1200 to release the heat and they are doing the same in their showroom in order to avoid the meltdown of the transformers. Poor design. The top lid should have ventilation holes instead of one solid sheet of medal.

I should undoubtedly give P1200 a five star rating if there is no problem of overheating. Paul MC in PS Audio should seriously address this problem in order to perfect this excellent product.

Strengths:
Extreme look, very strongly built, great sound

Weaknesses:
poor part quality, not very reliable

Similar Products Used:
P300, P600