Is PS Audio's Power Plant Snake Oil?

[Lambda]

It seems efficient to me. With all my equipment running (250W about) it seems to pull 20W of power over running without the P12. At least according to my kill-a-watt and some napkin math. 20W isn't much considering what it's doing with that bulky transformer.

This would make this over 90% efficient. i allmost can't believe this. can you run a view testes for us(me) with different loads fixed loads (lamps or heater).

I would have assumed <80% efficiency.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

This would make this over 90% efficient. i allmost can't believe this. can you run a view testes for us(me) with different loads fixed loads (lamps or heater).

I would have assumed <80% efficiency.

I'll see if I can find some time this week. When I did this it was many moons ago so I didn't really take any pictures or anything.

 

[mansr]

I own a Power Plant P12 regenerator.

I am so sorry.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

I am so sorry.

No no need to be sorry, I am happy with it!

 

[paul8088]

I listen to the hi-fi pod. It’s pretty good because these guys go really in-depth into all different components. Explain a lot of things. One of the episodes was talking about the power cables. Is it really a thing?

 

[Doodski]

I listen to the hi-fi pod. It’s pretty good because these guys go really in-depth into all different components. Explain a lot of things. One of the episodes was talking about the power cables. Is it really a thing?

No, No and N O! power cables are not a thing. Not at all unless you are running like 20G with 5A+ or stuff like that.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

No, No and N O! power cables are not a thing. Not at all unless you are running like 20G with 5A+ or stuff like that.

Of course power cables are a thing! I have several and everything uses them!

Do they make a difference for sound? Probably not.

 

[H-713]

I believe the Power Plants are a linear amplifier. I suspect they're class G / H. The image of the insides seems to confirm this - that sure looks like a linear amp layout to me.

Not the most efficient, but if they're going for the whole "super quiet AC power source" thing, it probably makes sense over class D. AE Techron still sells linear amplifiers for (more or less) the same purpose - laboratory AC power sources. They're also used for driving MRI gradient coils.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

So I did another test with my kill-a-watt. running a ~300W load (as measured by the P12, load was 2 150W incandescent bulbs) drew 360W from the kill-a-watt, so the P12 was adding 60W overall. Not scientific, but something.

 

[mhardy6647]

So I did another test with my kill-a-watt. running a ~300W load (as measured by the P12) drew 360W from the kill-a-watt, so the P12 was adding 60W overall. Not scientific, but something.

The Kill-a-Watt measures/guesstimates power factor, too, if memory serves. Did you note the power factor reading?

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

The Kill-a-Watt measures/guesstimates power factor, too, if memory serves. Did you note the power factor reading?

Alas, I did not, this is what happens when you do a quick test before your family wants to use the entertainment center. I'll find time this week and take some pictures of my process and get amps, PF, watts, etc. so hopefully that helps some folks.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

No, No and N O! power cables are not a thing.

I'm flummoxed why nothing in my system is powering on. Have I been misinformed that I don't need to use power cables? They're not a thing? Please help me, I need to turn my system on.

Confused in the desert.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

Hello everyone. I was able to get some data this afternoon and hopefully this helps tell a story on how efficient the P12 is. Instead of using light bulbs, I got my electric space heater. Since space heaters are near 100% efficient, I figured this was a good test. Disclaimer: I am not an electrical engineer, so I don't know how to interpret these results, but hopefully someone can.

Step 1 was to measure the space heater on it's low setting. The P12 can burst to 1.2kW, but will quickly shut down in a protected mode if left on for more than a couple of seconds. Low setting on the heater on the wall pulls ~612W.

The power factor was 1, which makes sense. Let's connect up the P12 and see what we see. First test was the P12 with nothing connected to it. I turned on the P12's status screen and you can see the P12's 0W reading, and the kill-a-watt shows 17W pulled. PF was 0.61.

Turning on the space heater back to low, plugged into the P12 shows a total draw of 748W with a PF of 0.98. You can see the P12 is reporting 630W of load, a little bit higher than the kill-a-watt reported, who knows which is more accurate.

I did leave the space heater on for about 10 minutes and the heatsinks on the P12 were warm, but not hot. Fans did not kick on. In fact I've not had the fans kick on yet when using (though I haven't used the P12 over the summer, so time will tell).

Hopefully this satisfies some of your curiosities!

 

[mhardy6647]

Bravo!

I would take this opportunity to note that, to a first approximation, a space heater is an excellent model for a Class A power amplifier.

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

Bravo!

I would take this opportunity to note that, to a first approximation, a space heater is an excellent model for a Class A power amplifier.

That's a good point!

 

[Lambda]

Hopefully this satisfies some of your curiosities!

Thanks a lot!

Amazing how efficient the p12 is
Over 81% at 63% load is an impressive achievement for an AC to AC converter.

 

[ing.daniele]

I had the pleasure of trying power plant 12 for 1 hour.
After listening to the same combination of cd player + amplifier for 3 hours, power plant 12 was connected.

I was with my eyes closed, so I didn't know when the plant was actually connected to the cd player + amplifier or not.

The result I understood just 20 seconds of test track.

Incredible silence both of the stage and in the passages between instruments, plus the amplifier got spectacular bass control (as it used to have very little control of it) it seemed that it had transformed into accuphase E-380 (heard just before , and the 3x cost of the test amplifier).

I ordered one for my home.

I'm not a lover of Audioquest products, I think they are really snake oil, but I can't say anything about the quality of the audio pss. Too bad that in Italy they cost a lot due to imports.

thanks

 

[DonR]

I had the pleasure of trying power plant 12 for 1 hour.
After listening to the same combination of cd player + amplifier for 3 hours, power plant 12 was connected.

I was with my eyes closed, so I didn't know when the plant was actually connected to the cd player + amplifier or not.

The result I understood just 20 seconds of test track.

Incredible silence both of the stage and in the passages between instruments, plus the amplifier got spectacular bass control (as it used to have very little control of it) it seemed that it had transformed into accuphase E-380 (heard just before , and the 3x cost of the test amplifier).

I ordered one for my home.

I'm not a lover of Audioquest products, I think they are really snake oil, but I can't say anything about the quality of the audio pss. Too bad that in Italy they cost a lot due to imports.

thanks

If you can hear a result then it speaks more to the poor quality of your CD player or amplifier than anything the PowerPlant is bringing to the experience.

 

[Killingbeans]

I listen to the hi-fi pod. It’s pretty good because these guys go really in-depth into all different components. Explain a lot of things. One of the episodes was talking about the power cables. Is it really a thing?

I have no idea what "the hi-fi pod" is, but if they seriously praise audiophile power cables, it sounds like a den of nonsense to me. It doesn't matter how deeply in-depth you go with something, if the thing you go into is a steaming pile of myth and superstition.

Power cables only have one job: Have sufficient gauge to not melt when current goes through them. Anybody who claims otherwise should be ashamed of themselves. The stupidity/suspension of disbelief needed for even considering the concept of audiophile power cables is unfathomable

 

[ing.daniele]

If you can hear a result then it speaks more to the poor quality of your CD player or amplifier than anything the PowerPlant is bringing to the experience.

Probably.

Probably

Probably $ 8k Japanese CD player is not good.

I probably don't have an oscilloscope in place of the tImpano but a neural network that reacts to perceived emotions.

Thanks for your reply