PS Audio Stellar PowerPlant 3 Power Regenerator Review

No, it's NOT snake oil! Thanks to Head-Fi user sa11297 for the loan of PP3!

Reviews of Some Gear Mentioned:

[RandyDaMan]

i too was skeptical of the power regeneration products from ps and also had a furman conditioner myself. I own audio gd stuff which is not popular among the folks that believe measurements to be the end all. I have the non he versions of the audio gd gear which dont have the regen feature. I really wanted the he products from agd but didnt want to sell my existing agd stuff so i took a risk and got the ps audio regenerator. It does make a difference and did work better than my furman conditioner exactly the way you described it to be. I agree the price is up there buying brand new so i got it used.

[peeper]

Lol. The debate raging below is hilarious. One might surmise that any company making products like this one would soon go out of business if its power regenerators made no difference to the sound.
Well done for reviewing this product and for using what appears to be sound methods. I for one would welcome more reviews of products such as this.

[johhnyutah]

AC power filtering/regeneration 100% can make a difference. The ASR trolls calling it snake oil either have never tried it or lack gear sufficiently resolving to hear the difference.

[fredyoung]

I've had the PP3 for about 3 years now and my experience with it suggests that power cord does matter even if you're only talking about a power regenerator. I just found that out inadvertently as I had a few spare power cords that I could play with, namely a Van den Hul cable, a Furutech 14awg cable and a Burmester cable, and I've finally settled on a vintage Harmonic Tech 11awg cable for PP3. With this cable, the music is fuller with more details, more punchy and more easy on the ear, almost like I have a live band playing. BTW, the rubber feet of PP3 are provided as standard but better quality feet will be needed in the quest for the last word in analysis and musicality.

[jacksonville]

Great review. Thanks for being honest with the review. I’ve always wanted PS audio components. Just don’t have the money yet.

[dennerross]

Thanks, agree with all your statements...wondering if there is a burn in time for the P3? and PS Audio has a 30 day trial for all products. Listen for yourself if it makes a difference... ... I think it does for my 300b SET Cary Audio system/ Devore 96 speakers/ Auditorium 23 cable/interconnects .... actually just bought a P3 to upgrade my 22 year old PS Audio P300 power plant....on sale now at $1669. ( i do not work for PS Audio in any way!)

[RyanDeLaTorre]

It's too bad that you didn't get to play with some fancy power cables while you had the Power Plant in. I own a different (older) model Power Plant, but I find that it makes power cable differences noticeably more pronounced.

[Thoughtflux]

I wish I had the willingness to buy the expensive Psaudio regen BUT I did buy a cheap 500W balanced isolation toroidal transformer and got outstanding results similar to what you described. I have a mid tier headphone setup which clearly shows refinement all across the board. After getting such results I got crazier and decided to give cheap knockoffs of expensive hi-fi audio cables a try.. All of these are currently in my system.

[johenkay]

I have the stellar power plant 3 as well, and love it. I see the Audiosciencereview crowd is here in force. They should just stick to Topping/THX videos and threads. Anyone who judges audio solely through measurements, without actually hearing it no less, should have their "audiophile card" revoked. I would associate the ASR crowd with fundamental extremism. Best to be avoided.

[blejzerosamigos]

Hey it's been almost 2 years since you made this video, I was just wondering if you are using any conditioner, I just got AQ 707 and I think it's really worth the money. I also use good power cord (nrg 1000) makes a real difference. Thank you for your videos, great job.

[beuvue]

Mr A: "I hear a difference, it's better, more airy"
Mr B: "I hear no difference"
Mr C: "One of them is wrong"
Mr D: "No, they're both right. But one of them is an X-Men with super ears."
Mr E: "Thanks to the X-Men, I'm going to make a lot of money"

[jabezhane]

Any component that costs more than $100 gets immediate "I've paid a lot for this so it must make a difference or I'm a mug!" syndrome applied. "This thing cost a lot and those guys must know their stuff to charge this much!" is too much of a push to want to hear improvements. Thinks back to the 1990's when I used to read hi-fi magazines. The reviewers always had the ultimate setups but every month the latest 'gadget' pushed it another 10% up the chain. After 5 years their soundstages must have been 400 feet wide and so quiet there was nothing to be heard. There was NEVER any item that got a "hmm it did nothing!" or "God it was awful!" review. Pinch of salt.

[cubinn]

I own a Furman pfi 15 it does decent conditioning

[morrimoto]

what dac / amp did you use? (sorry if you said it in the video, i skipped around a bit...)

[percysinclairpilcher]

You certainly have a lot of imagination if you thought you detected subtle differences.

[tghicks]

Great video, I had the power issue you described with the flashing red and yellow lights on the front panel. I powered it off and now it will not restart. How do you get it to restart?

[grandrapids]

Anyone else here notice that the people who say this equipment is ineffective are exclusively the ones who have never used one?

[postalgrunt]

You never know how much junk is riding along the AC lines into your equipment until it's gone. If you think that you live in an area with lots of RFI and EMI that might affect your rig, take the leap of faith and take a chance with their thirty day trial. Class D amplification owners shouldn't be reluctant. Check with PS Audio about the limitations for amplifier applications.
PS Audio has also offered a trade in program in the past so that's worth inquiring about if you've got some gear gathering dust.

[lexicon]

I need to know about the fan inside the unit. I have heard that fan noise is audible in a dead quiet room. Is that true?

[raycochrane]

"...usually an indicator of something missing..." traditionally the assistant for a shyster is a toady.