PS Audio Power Plant Premier Review

[Masterlu]

Great Thanks!

[JemHadar]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Stephen.......The grill that runs front to back in the center of the PPP should not be blocked. Remember, there are two 4" fans on the bottom, centered front to back, engineered to blow air up and through the top vent if required. I don't think I would stack anything on top of the PPP. I shot the top of my PPP with a Fluke 65 infrared thermometer this morning before the sound system was energized. The PPP display was off, but the AC regenerator amp remains always energized, and the temp was 107.6°.

I was a little surprised to learn that the unit always stays on and generates 42 degrees celcius of heat at idle position...kind of tempers my enthousiasm...don't see any reason why it should stay on all the time...or am I missing something ?

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Jem666

I was a little surprised to learn that the unit always stays on and generates 42 degrees celcius of heat at idle position...kind of tempers my enthousiasm...don't see any reason why it should stay on all the time...or am I missing something ?

Jacques.......The five power outlets (receptacles) on the rear of the PPP are configured so that you can choose to leave them energized, or switch them off with the power switch, and also control receptacles with a delayed turn on. The Power Plant Premier has selectable power zone switching. Each of the five Isozones are controlled by one of three switches on the rear panel. Switch A controls receptacles one and two, switch B controls receptacles three and four, and switch C controls receptacle number five. Each of the three power zones can be set to one of three positions, Always On, Switched, or Delayed. In the Always On position the front panel power button (Blue Logo), or the rear panel DC trigger will have no effect on any power zone receptacles switched to this position. It is for this reason the AC regeneration amplifier remains energized even when the power button is pushed to off and the display goes out.

You can download the PS Audio Power Plant Premier owner's manual here: http://powerplayadmin.psaudio.com/~p...nt-premier.pdf

[Masterlu]

Well for one, all my music servers & sat receivers are plugged into it. They always need AC power.

Besides, the MX series processors also like AC to be constant. Personally, I never took a heat or draw measurement; of course I wouldn't know if a few dozen 100 watts lights were left on when I look at my electric bill.

Seriously though, you need to demo one of these.

[JemHadar]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

of course I wouldn't know if a few dozen 100 watts lights were left on when I look at my electric bill.:

[JemHadar]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jacques.......The five power outlets (receptacles) on the rear of the PPP are configured so that you can choose to leave them energized, or switch them off with the power switch, and also control receptacles with a delayed turn on. The Power Plant Premier has selectable power zone switching. Each of the five Isozones are controlled by one of three switches on the rear panel. Switch A controls receptacles one and two, switch B controls receptacles three and four, and switch C controls receptacle number five. Each of the three power zones can be set to one of three positions, Always On, Switched, or Delayed. In the Always On position the front panel power button (Blue Logo), or the rear panel DC trigger will have no effect on any power zone receptacles switched to this position. It is for this reason the AC regeneration amplifier remains energized even when the power button is pushed to off and the display goes out.

You can download the PS Audio Power Plant Premier owner's manual here: http://powerplayadmin.psaudio.com/~p...nt-premier.pdf

THX Dan for the additional content...if I understand correctly...if all zones are set to "switch of with power switch"...the unit will no longer draw power, when turned off ?

...great to see you enjoying yourself with the unit

[jdandy]

Jacques.......I just performed some additional load testing with the PS Audio Power Plant Premier. The following is a correction to my original numbers in the review.

Correction To Review: I was in error with respect to the idle amperage/watts of the PS Audio Power Plant Premier. I had mistakenly assumed that because everything plugged into the PPP was turned off that I had no connected load. This was an error. My measurement of 1.46 amps/182.5 watts at idle was with the following loads connected : C1000C/P, MCD500, MS750, MR85, ZP90. The Sonos ZP90 was energized, but the remaining components were not turned on. Of course, they all draw some power for there remote control functions, and the MS750 motherboard and hard drive remain energized even when turned off. Those original measurement numbers are accurate, as remeasured today with the components connected as stated above.

When measuring the Power Plant Premier current draw with nothing plugged into it, and all IsoZone switches set to Off the current draw was .73 amps/91.25 watts. The wattage calculation was figured using 125 volts, which is what is at the wall receptacle. The PPP AC regeneration amplifier remained energized. Without anything plugged into the PPP, I switched the three IsoZone switches from Off to the Always On position and discovered the current draw went from .73 amps/91.25 watts to .94 amps/117.5 watts. This is no doubt due to the current consumed by the relay coils that control the functions of the three IsoZones. This means that the maximum current consumed by the PS Audio Power Plant Premier at idle will be .94 amps. This is considerably better than my original numbers, and will be even less if one or more of the IsoZone recepticle group switches is set to Off.

Please accept my apology for the confusion.

[jetblack]

jdandy,

I'll bet that the reason you prefer piano for listening tests, is the large dynamic range of the piano.

You can't go wrong with a Windham Hill listening.

[jdandy]

Danny.......I have always enjoyed piano. When I was young we had a piano in our home, and my mother played. I really love hearing the rich tones, the sustain, the lower octave strings. Even on vinyl I listened to recordings of solo piano, or piano and bass. I never cared for the noise floor of vinyl when it came to sustained piano notes fading to silence, because with vinyl there really is no complete silence. It was distracting. Fast forward to 2009, with my present system solo piano is wonderful.

One of my favorite Windham Hill CDs is Windhan Hill 25 Years Of Piano - Windows. I just got up and put it on.

[lyle1]

Dan, as always, a great review. I think you did miss your calling, you are a great writer.