[EyEPoD]

There are 4 Ports (2 separate circuits) that are AC regenerated, and an additional circuit that filters the AC from the wall.

For the time being I have 3 items being plugged into the back. 2 go to the Headroom blockhead and 1 to the Benchmark Dac1. Im wondering If it would be most beneficial to give each blockhead channel its own separate circuit on the regenerated output and the Dac1 its own circuit on the filtered output, or to pack them all in the regenerated output with the Blockhead on one circuit and the Dac1 on the other.

I have tried a bunch of different configurations and it is hard to get a strong sense of the differences because everything has to be powered off in the mean time. Do any Ps Audio power plant owners have any thoughts as to the most beneficial arrangement?

 

[tennisets]

Maybe you should try asking PS Audio. They designed it, so they should know. Just a thought.

 

[Gopher]

I almost bought a P-500 but ended up with a 300 instead. If I were you I would probably keep my Blockhead on the Ultimate Outlet (non-regenerating) pair of outlets, keep the Dac-1 and transport on the same (not sure if its up and down or side to side) regenerating channel saving the last 2 for analog devices (in my case I'd use preamp/phono stage).

*shrug* its not written in stone and the P-500 should have ample juice to use the blockhead on the regenerated side, so maybe just play around and just see which you prefer.

 

[lan]

Well you should use your own ears.

But for me, generally speaking, I don't use both outlets of the duplexes. If it's a digital source, I like to keep it isolated on it's own. I'd probably use the DAC1 on one of the AC regenerated outlets and the blockhead on the ac filtered or the other regenerated duplex.

 

[jefemeister]

Just put everything on the regenerated side. Perhaps split the "duplexes" up like how Lan suggested. If you really want to use the non-regenerated outlets, put the DAC1 over there. I see what you're trying to do by isolating the digital from the analog, but I don't think it will make a difference as your ears have already confirmed.

 

[NeilPeart]

This places the amplifier on non-regenerated power (good for the BlockHead so it won't be current-limited, and it has 2 power cords), and the DAC1 and transport on their own PowerPort (another good thing).

 

[EyEPoD]

I have 2 transports at the moment. One is my PC which has a PCP&C 510w PSU and the other is a cd transport. I use the PC 90-99% of the time. Do you think its worth it plugging the PC into its own regenerated circuit? I havnt done so yet, but I imagine it uses in the area of 250-300w which would definately be straining the P500 that I leave on 24/7.

 

[jefemeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart This places the amplifier on non-regenerated power (good for the BlockHead so it won't be current-limited, and it has 2 power cords), and the DAC1 and transport on their own PowerPort (another good thing).

There is no worry of current limitation. The P500 can supply 500W continuous power. I can't locate the actual watts consumed by the DAC1 or Blockhead, but at any rate the P500 could power them in its sleep with both arms tied behind its back.

edit: the CPU is another story, I don't think it makes sense to use regenerated power on it regardless though. Especially since you're only using the digital out which is either optically ioslated or isoltaed via transformer.

 

[EyEPoD]

Power consumption of the Blockhead and the Dac1 is only around 35 watts for the pair.

Both devices seem to benefit from separate regenerated curcuits. Soundstage and bass attack seems to be slightly altered (for the better) when each blockhead channel has its own regenerated curcuit, but the midrange seems thin and less accurate when the Dac1 is on the filtered circuit. Thus, I still dont feel as though I have the best arrangement.

 

[NeilPeart]

 

[jefemeister]

Are you sure the two regenerated outlet sets are powered seperately? I would assume that they're just chained together in parallel. Call PS Audio and ask them what to do. They're nice people.

 

[michaelhwolff]

I have owned both a PS500 and PS600 for several years. And, this has been my experience with the PS500. First, I only use the 500 for my front end devices, not amplification. So cd players and preamps are used exclusively there since that provides the best isolation. I have done a simple modification to the PS500 which I feel is a nice performance improvement.
The mod is very simple and easy to accomplish. And, I will explain why I did them. First of all, the PS500 does daisy chain all the filtered outlets together on the back. They use a common line on the inside. I do not care for metal ferrite rings placed around electrical wiring. To my ears, it kills both dynamics and upper frequencies. The PS 500 incorporates a ferrite ring which is easily visible and removable. Another shortcoming that I feel the PS500 exhibits are the outlets on the back... Nickel plated hubbells which were good outlets until they plated them with nickel. Nickel again rolls off the highs and kills the dynamics of the music. Solution? replace the PS Audio with a regular cryo hubbel outlet. Again, very easy to do if you know how to use a screwdriver and are not terrified that you may do something wrong. If you have ever changed and outlet in a wall, making the mods to the 500 are not much harder.
You can view my system and some descriptions on Audiogon if you wish.
My System http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...d&keyw&zzwolff

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EyEPoD Do you think its worth it plugging the PC into its own regenerated circuit?

No! I've found PC is better straight into the wall and with a bigger powercord.

 

[Giteet]

What if one desires surge protection for their PC - the P500 non-regenerating outlets achieve this. I would not plug my PC straight into the wall despite the minor improvement it may not offer when using the PC as transport (isn't the DAC1 mostly transport independent anyway). Don't listen to Lan about the PC into the wall. Plug it into the non-regenerating outlets or at least a decent surge protector (I like my Monster PC1000 for this task) to protect that expensive PC. The most important element is your DAC1 is receiving cleanly-generated balanced AC (the fact that the Blockhead is also receiving this clean power is nice too). Since the DAC1 is very transport-independent (despite Lan's claim, but he has not existed with the DAC1 in his home for a length of tenure) placing a minor possible improvement of the transport (in this case a nice PC with very nice soundcard) ahead of safety of the PC is foolish. I have heard the DAC1 for months when I lived with my brother – we tried it with many different transports and it was transparent in all cases except when we used my old Audigy2.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giteet What if one desires surge protection for their PC Since the DAC1 is very transport-independent (despite Lan's claim, but he has not existed with the DAC1 in his home for a length of tenure)

Then use surge protection. It is still straight into the wall whereas AC regeneration is not.

I don't believe in transport independence.

BTW I am acquiring a DAC1.