PS Audio Noise Harvester AC Cleaner Review

[milosz]

The Placebo Effect is a REAL thing. Something that causes a listener to BELIEVE their audio system sounds better does often actually increase that listeners enjoyment. The sound system doesn't change but a change occurs in the listener. Yes, they are "shinning themselves on" - "believing their own B.S." - or how ever you want to phrase it. But if they ENJOY their system more, what's the harm? For $99, sure, why not. I won't be buying one of these but who am I to denigrate someone who does?

NOW the COMPANIES who peddle snake oil, on the other hand.... they fall into two categories:

1. Deluded - actually believing that their nonsense makes things sound better. These ignorant sods are to be pitied.
-and-
2. Dishonest- knowingly taking advantage of the fact that there's a sucker born every minute. These S.O.B.s ought to be run out of the industry on the proverbial oxygen-free, vintage paper-and-oil, N.O.S. rail!

 

[Robert R]

A lot of tweaks sold to audiophiles make claims that follow the laws of another universe so we can't use our tools in this universe to test them.

Like many of you, I've been reading the audio review literature for the better part of 40 years, likely by now several thousand reviews. And by happy coincidence, I've written professionally on the topic of the laws of nature.

Amir, I must say that I believe the above sentence is one of the best, if not the best, sentence ever written in an audio review. I did in fact, laugh out loud.

 

[jaykay77]

Come on guys

It’s called a “noise harvester”...I mean COME ON!

Did anyone really buy one of these?

please god ...for the hope of all humanity...tell me no...

 

[Hayabusa]

To determine the filter range, I set my Audio Precision to produce 21 volts output and captured and plotted that using very wideband response (1 MHz). I then inserted the Harvester in the middle to see the effect:

Hi Amir, the effect of the filtering is a result of the Harvester in combination of the output impedance of the source.
Whats the output impedance of the AP?
I dont know what the output impedance of the typical US grid is, but likely far below 1 ohm.
So if both output impedances differ the measurements will also have this error.

 

[amirm]

Hi Amir, the effect of the filtering is a result of the Harvester in combination of the output impedance of the source.
Whats the output impedance of the AP?

From memory I think it is 40 ohm. I thought about that after I wrote the review.

 

[Mnyb]

The Placebo Effect is a REAL thing. Something that causes a listener to BELIEVE their audio system sounds better does often actually increase that listeners enjoyment. The sound system doesn't change but a change occurs in the listener. Yes, they are "shinning themselves on" - "believing their own B.S." - or how ever you want to phrase it. But if they ENJOY their system more, what's the harm? For $99, sure, why not. I won't be buying one of these but who am I to denigrate someone who does?

NOW the COMPANIES who peddle snake oil, on the other hand.... they fall into two categories:

1. Deluded - actually believing that their nonsense makes things sound better. These ignorant sods are to be pitied.
-and-
2. Dishonest- knowingly taking advantage of the fact that there's a sucker born every minute. These S.O.B.s ought to be run out of the industry on the proverbial oxygen-free, vintage paper-and-oil, N.O.S. rail!

Whole companies is built on nr 1 often in combination with a story and some guru that discovered the one true path to audio nirvana the nr 2 guys works in the marketting department and eventually take over the bussines when the guru goes totally of the hook and cant run a proper bussiness

 

[solderdude]

I dont know what the output impedance of the typical US grid is, but likely far below 1 ohm.

That 'impedance' is frequency dependent due to inductances of the long wires and street transformers having a very limited frequency band.
For that reason a parallel 'clipper' such as this will/can only be really effective for high frequencies.
As already has been mentioned audio equipment does work on DC not on raw mains power.
This device can only partially 'shunt' high frequency and differential voltages between L and N and because of the way it has been constructed works on both 110V and 230V which would be impossible with TVS.
There is a TVS in this device which does the actual 'clamping' via the transformer and coupling caps. For that reason it does this for positive and negative pulses. The LED operates on the minimum voltage drop of the clamping TVS. It can sink more current than the TVS can handle because of the winding ratio of the transformer. The current sink capabilities are also limited by the same transformer.

 

[Ralf Stocker]

Paul is an older gentleman. He needs a lot of money to retire.

 

[audio_tony]

I have heard that devices using SMPS often put noise into the mains, enough to affect the performance of other audio devices. Does anyone have any evidence of this?

A properly designed SMPS won't (shouldn't) put any noise on to the mains (especially if it meets emissions standards).

There were some older (70's/80's) TV sets that used half wave rectification* in the power supply (this was usually derived with the use of a Thyristor) - and these would put large pulses back on to the mains. I'm not aware of any device that uses this type of PSU configuration any more.

*this would rectify the mains directly to derive 350vDC or so (on a 240v supply).

 

[win]

I'm really enjoying reading through this forum. Haven't posted anything yet, but finally registered to say that this analysis might be piling on just slightly . You're testing the strength of a wiffle-ball bat with a pro-league baseball pitcher.

 

[mansr]

I dont know what the output impedance of the typical US grid is, but likely far below 1 ohm.

A quick measurement of the voltage drop when turning on an electric kettle with a resistance of 20 Ω suggests the incoming feed has an impedance of about 0.08 Ω, the in-wall wiring adding as much again.

 

[audio_tony]

A quick measurement of the voltage drop when turning on an electric kettle with a resistance of 20 Ω suggests the incoming feed has an impedance of about 0.08 Ω, the in-wall wiring adding as much again.

Well the impedance would have to be extremely low as most properties in the UK seem to have a 100 amp fuse / breaker if I'm not mistaken.

I think there may be some with 60 amp incomers.

EDIT: If my calculation is correct - 100A @ 240v means the source impedance is about 2.4 ohms (if it can actually deliver that much power)

 

[mansr]

Well the impedance would have to be extremely low as most properties in the UK seem to have a 100 amp fuse / breaker if I'm not mistaken.

I think there may be some with 60 amp incomers.

The incoming wires are pretty fat, that's for sure.

 

[Vini darko]

Well the impedance would have to be extremely low as most properties in the UK seem to have a 100 amp fuse / breaker if I'm not mistaken.

I think there may be some with 60 amp incomers.

EDIT: If my calculation is correct - 100A @ 240v means the source impedance is about 2.4 ohms (if it can actually deliver that much power)

My house main fuse is 100A. Pretty sure that's more to protect the house from outside surges. As the trip switch box takes care of the house circuits. Trying to draw 24,000W would burn the house down.

 

[q3cpma]

The Placebo Effect is a REAL thing. Something that causes a listener to BELIEVE their audio system sounds better does often actually increase that listeners enjoyment. The sound system doesn't change but a change occurs in the listener. Yes, they are "shinning themselves on" - "believing their own B.S." - or how ever you want to phrase it. But if they ENJOY their system more, what's the harm? For $99, sure, why not. I won't be buying one of these but who am I to denigrate someone who does?

NOW the COMPANIES who peddle snake oil, on the other hand.... they fall into two categories:

1. Deluded - actually believing that their nonsense makes things sound better. These ignorant sods are to be pitied.
-and-
2. Dishonest- knowingly taking advantage of the fact that there's a sucker born every minute. These S.O.B.s ought to be run out of the industry on the proverbial oxygen-free, vintage paper-and-oil, N.O.S. rail!

But does that delusion live on indefinitely?

 

[mansr]

My house main fuse is 100A. Pretty sure that's more to protect the house from outside surges. As the trip switch box takes care of the house circuits. Trying to draw 24,000W would burn the house down.

Here the fuses for various circuits range from 6 A (lights) to 40 A (boiler).

 

[anmpr1]

Odd. The Accuphase is still one of the highest performing Class AB amps you've tested.

As I understand it, it was the distributor or store who didn't want to cooperate with ASR, and not Accuphase the company? I don't know the numbers, but Accuphase appears to have a marginal presence in the US. When Teac was distributing them (in the '70s and '80s) the company had a larger media footprint. It was not uncommon to read Accuphase reviews in the three big magazines. But with the boutique 'high end' nonsense of the time they were mostly viewed as an expensive alternative to Pioneer or Sansui, and Japanese gear in general was looked down upon. For the 'conservative' buyer, and for the equivalent dollar, Americans could buy McIntosh.

PS is a different bag. Cosmetically the gear is not up to Accuphase standards (or Mac for that matter). I guess it's cheaper than either of those two. Design-wise? Bascom King has authentic 'high end street cred'--no question. That said, I'm not sure why he'd hook up with PS. No shame? I guess the spread is there for him.

As far as Paul? My guess is that in his case it's simple opportunism. My guess is that he knows it's bogus, but has to keep the doors open, and gullible audiophiles can be sold pretty much anything. I see he's teamed up with Audioquest. That's all anyone needs to know.

On the other hand, if you are worried about your wall socket receptacles, PS has your medicine. For a price. How much? All you need to know is that it's 'got the grip of Mickey Mantle'! Personally I'm holding out for the Barry Bonds upgrade mod. LOL

The Power Port Classic is our AV Grade high-end AC receptacle that is the starting point for any properly built system. By installing the Power Port AC receptacle in your room you gain an immediate improvement in performance over a standard wall receptacle.

15 coats of polished nickel over high-purity copper, with the “grip of Mickey Mantle” and polished nickel plated hardware, this is a must have in your system.

 

[audio_tony]

My house main fuse is 100A. Pretty sure that's more to protect the house from outside surges. As the trip switch box takes care of the house circuits. Trying to draw 24,000W would burn the house down.

For the breaker to be rated at 100A, the incomer should be able to support 100A - the breaker is to protect the incoming cable against overload.

Our main MCB is 100A and the RCB is 80A

It's not inconceivable that you could have two 10kW electric showers in use at the same time (20kW) and then the remainder of current draw, heaters, kettle etc. could easily make up that additional 4kW....

So 24kW is not inconceivable.

 

[Vini darko]

As I understand it, it was the distributor or store who didn't want to cooperate with ASR, and not Accuphase the company? I don't know the numbers, but Accuphase appears to have a marginal presence in the US. When Teac was distributing them (in the '70s and '80s) the company had a larger media footprint. It was not uncommon to read Accuphase reviews in the three big magazines. But with the boutique 'high end' nonsense of the time they were mostly viewed as an expensive alternative to Pioneer or Sansui, and Japanese gear in general was looked down upon. For the 'conservative' buyer, and for the equivalent dollar, Americans could buy McIntosh.

PS is a different bag. Cosmetically the gear is not up to Accuphase standards (or Mac for that matter). I guess it's cheaper than either of those two. Design-wise? Bascom King has authentic 'high end street cred'--no question. That said, I'm not sure why he'd hook up with PS. No shame? I guess the spread is there for him.

As far as Paul? My guess is that in his case it's simple opportunism. My guess is that he knows it's bogus, but has to keep the doors open, and gullible audiophiles can be sold pretty much anything. I see he's teamed up with Audioquest. That's all anyone needs to know.

On the other hand, if you are worried about your wall socket receptacles, PS has your medicine. For a price. How much? All you need to know is that it's 'got the grip of Mickey Mantle'! Personally I'm holding out for the Barry Bonds upgrade mod. LOL

View attachment 69315

The Power Port Classic is our AV Grade high-end AC receptacle that is the starting point for any properly built system. By installing the Power Port AC receptacle in your room you gain an immediate improvement in performance over a standard wall receptacle.

15 coats of polished nickel over high-purity copper, with the “grip of Mickey Mantle” and polished nickel plated hardware, this is a must have in your system.

 

[Vini darko]

For the breaker to be rated at 100A, the incomer should be able to support 100A - the breaker is to protect the incoming cable against overload.

Our main MCB is 100A and the RCB is 80A

It's not inconceivable that you could have two 10kW electric showers in use at the same time (20kW) and then the remainder of current draw, heaters, kettle etc. could easily make up that additional 4kW....

So 24kW is not inconceivable.


View attachment 69317View attachment 69317View attachment 69318

I stand corrected.