Zoomie
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2003
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Well, my current upgrade strategy has been to work on optimizing the AC power in my system. To that end, I bit the bullet and ponied up for the Power Base upgrade for my MSB Link III. Everything that I had read about it indicated that no system was ever made worse off by it and most people found there to be a significant improvement. I supposed that the only foreseeable downside was the price. At $345 it was more expensive than the DAC (got it used) itself, so I figured this would be one of my first serious encounters with the dreaded 'diminishing returns' monster.
I have only spent a few hours with the P1000, but I can tell right off that the tonal balance is much better than before. My current theory is that the P1000 has lowered the noise floor by some significant amount, such that I can listen at lower volume levels without erasing the bottom end and preserving a great deal of detail that was very difficult to be aware of without it. The other natural consequence is that the base is much tighter and more present than before. I don't think it is a lot louder, just less distorted by noise - very pleasing to tell you the truth.
I would say that the P1000 is an expensive addition to a system on a tight budget, but it definitely makes my system more enjoyable overall. I recently upgraded all of my power cords, and I would say that the benefit that the P1000 offers is in the same family sonically.
As as an aside, much to the chagrin of my extremely tolerant wife, I will be ripping apart my wall this weekend and replacing the AC outlets with PS Audio Power Ports/HC Ultimate Outlet/Juice Bar. I have been truly amazed in what sort of benefits that can be had by cleaning up the AC power. Of course, I am justifying it all by telling myself that no matter what other components I buy in the future, all of the investing I did in power upgrades will only need to be done once . . . We'll see I guess.
I have only spent a few hours with the P1000, but I can tell right off that the tonal balance is much better than before. My current theory is that the P1000 has lowered the noise floor by some significant amount, such that I can listen at lower volume levels without erasing the bottom end and preserving a great deal of detail that was very difficult to be aware of without it. The other natural consequence is that the base is much tighter and more present than before. I don't think it is a lot louder, just less distorted by noise - very pleasing to tell you the truth.
I would say that the P1000 is an expensive addition to a system on a tight budget, but it definitely makes my system more enjoyable overall. I recently upgraded all of my power cords, and I would say that the benefit that the P1000 offers is in the same family sonically.
As as an aside, much to the chagrin of my extremely tolerant wife, I will be ripping apart my wall this weekend and replacing the AC outlets with PS Audio Power Ports/HC Ultimate Outlet/Juice Bar. I have been truly amazed in what sort of benefits that can be had by cleaning up the AC power. Of course, I am justifying it all by telling myself that no matter what other components I buy in the future, all of the investing I did in power upgrades will only need to be done once . . . We'll see I guess.
