The P10, P15, and P20 PowerPlants are passively cooled and produce no noise. They also have multiple protection methods. An electrical surge, or spiked transient, is an intense, short-duration voltage increase that travels through electrical wiring in our homes and can severely damage connected equipment. There are also sustained over-voltage conditions that, according to PS Audio, many surge suppression devices cannot protect equipment from. PowerPlants protect connected equipment from any power line event such as over voltage, under voltage, surges, spikes, and potentially threatening problems.
Advanced clamping technology devices comprehensively safeguard the input voltage to the PowerPlant and the output is fully regulated. Thus, even large voltage swings that could normally damage connected equipment are made safe by either clamping or regulating.
In addition to measuring power quality with the built-in oscilloscope or the THD analyzer, the touchscreen display allows you to adjust the PowerPlant’s settings, such as the turn-on/off sequence, waveform type, phase tuning, output voltage, and turning individual zones on or off. The display allows full brightness control, from very bright to very dim or completely off, in comfortably small and precise steps. Incidentally, the display can also be switched on or off via the supplied IR Remote Control.
The Status Screen shows the overall performance data. Note how, in the above image, the THD output
is significantly reduced, and the output voltage is stable at 120 Volts.
The Setup screen allows global adjustment of the output voltage for all zones. They are not individually adjustable. However, each zone can be individually configured and switched on and off.
The outlets are grouped into Zones that can be personalized to fit specific system requirements.
LAN control allows the user to control and configure some of PowerPlant’s settings using a web browser on any network-connected device. Most notably, it enables the user to switch on/off any individual zone or all at once, define names, specify delays, and adjust all network settings.
With the exception of the network section, these settings can also be made from the unit’s front panel touchscreen, or via the infrared remote control.
The P15 and P20 PowerPlants are 85% efficient, meaning they consume very little power and do not get very warm during use. When powering my entire system, the PowerPlants get only mildly warm. To illustrate, the CH C1.2 DAC becomes significantly warmer than the P10, P15, or P20.
In standby mode (main power on but the outputs switched off using the front panel button), the PowerPlants draw a relatively low amount of power, with a maximum of 35 watts in the US and Japan and 45 watts in Europe and Asia for the P20. This is because the units continue to operate when in standby to support the “Always On” feature for individual zones. Since the PowerPlant’s standby mode turns off all connected components entirely rather than leaving each system component in standby, using the PowerPlant’s standby function may actually be more power-efficient. In any case, 45 Watts sounds relatively low when considering that the PowerPlant offers similar technology as a big power amplifier, many of which can easily consume 200 Watts idling.
P15
The DirectStream PowerPlant 15 features an ultra-low-impedance analog power amplifier, an FPGA-based sine wave generator based on pure, clean analog DSD, five separate regenerated zones, a 1/4″ thick gold-plated copper buss bar delivery system, and 1500 watts of pure regenerated power to power medium—to large-power amplifiers just as proficiently as the lowest-power source equipment.
The P15 includes several technical upgrades over the P10, including an updated DSP, a more accurate DSD signal generator, and three times lower impedance.
The P15 has a 15A AC inlet and 10 power outlets for the US market, as well as a 10A AC inlet and nine outlets for EU, AU, GR, and UK markets.
Quick Specs for the P15
Voltage Regulation to 1V
Output Distortion US/Japan: <0.5%, 0.1% typical
Output Distortion Europe/Asia: <0.9%, 0.2% typical
Output Impedance: <0.008 Ohms
Maximum continuous load US/Japan: 1200VA
Maximum continuous load Europe/Asia: 1500VA
Maximum Peak Load: 3600VA
Power Consumption in Idle and Standby: 30 Watts in US/Japan and 35 Watts in Europe/Asia
Dimensions: 17” W x 14” D x 8.5” H (43cm W x 36cm D x 21.5 cm H)
Weight: 73 lbs ( 33kg)
P20
With the P20, PS Audio created their biggest and most potent PowerPlant ever, offering 40% more power than the P15. With twice the number of output devices and double the power supply storage of any previous PowerPlant, DirectStream P20 is the company’s new benchmark for power products. Safe and regulated to within 1/10th of a volt, the P20 provides 2000 watts of pure power for systems of all sizes. The P20 offers The P20 has standard 15A and high-current 20A AC inlets and 16 power outlets for the US market, and a 13A AC input and 13 outlets for EU, AU, GR, and UK markets. In the US, the high-power (different IEC connector) 20A High Current input must be used to provide the maximum current capacity; in the other regions, the standard 13A inlet suffices.
The packaging for both PowerPlants is constructed smartly, and particularly for the P20, which contains built-in roller wheels!
Quick Specs for the P20
Voltage Regulation to under 1V
Output Distortion all regions: <0.5%, 0.1% typical
Output Impedance: <0.005 Ohms
Maximum continuous load all regions: 2000VA
Maximum Peak Load all regions: 3600VA
Power Consumption in Idle and Standby: 35 Watts in US/Japan and 45Watts in Europe/Asia
Dimensions: 17” W x 14” D x 11” H (43cm W x 36cm D x 27.9 cm H)
Weight: 105 lbs (47kg)
Next: Listening Stage 1
If I am not mistaken, the power amplifier outlets on these units do not provide regenerated power, that is only for the lower power outlets (as confirmed in a phone call some year ago to PS Audio’s technical department). The older PS Audio regenerators fifteen years did provide regenerated power for all connected units, but those regenerators were massive, much bigger and heavier than the P20 tested here. PS Audio discontinued those models since they were utterly impractical from a marketing point of view.
Hi Ronnie, as I understand it, all outlets provide regenerated power. The difference for the power amp outputs is that they are prepared for high current inrush. I found an old post by Paul on a forum where he also mentioned that the power amp outlets were different, but he rectified that later on the same forum. This is substantiated by the difference I heard when connecting the A1.5 to the P20’s power amp outlets (the same benefits as with the other outlets).
Hi Ronnie, I double-checked with PS Audio, and they just confirmed the following:
“The “high current” outlets on both the P15 and P20 are definitely regenerated. The difference is the high current outputs have a slow start feature that permits the turn on of big power amplifiers without kicking your circuit breaker off (but only if started via the P20). The commenter might be thinking of the Stellar P3 PowerPlant and that, definitely, has power amplifier outlets that are NOT regenerated, but rather they are conditioned.”
“Incidentally, the Stellar P3 is the only PowerPlant that has the ability to send non-regenerated power to the HC zone. However, if you flip the switch to “regen” the power will go through its active circuit and be regenerated just like all other zones. This is only applicable for the P3 though. The P12, P15 and P20 are always regenerate through all of the zones, no matter what. Lastly, the P20 is one of the largest regens we have ever made. It is capable of powering the largest load as well.”
Great review, Christiaan! I had here for my stereo system many power conditioners from TMR, Audio Agile, Burmester and Shunyata. All changed the sound but finally I had them remove them from my system. They finally all reduced punch and dynamics and connection to a power amp was a no-go. I then got two PS Audio PPPs and one PS Audio Quintessence – the latter set in series with a PPP. However the balun in the Quintessence created some strange results (including a shift of phantom images) and had to leave the system. And again: the power amp preferred the direct connection to the wall outlet. With increasing number of digital audio components a PPP was replaced by a P10. However my power amps didn’t like to get their power from this power regenerator. Obviously, according your findings, a P20 seems to able to deliver a better performance for connecting power amps. But there is one point in your review which doesn’t seem to be logical: if a power regenerator has a negative effect on the quality of the mains power supply as do have SMPSs and to a lesser degree every LPs (backward RFI created by the diode bridge rectifier) I wonder why you do not use specific filtering between the P20 and each component? The power conditioning concept of TMR emphasized this aspect.
Kind regards
Michael
Hi Michael, thanks for the feedback. I do not use passive filtering between the P20 and each component, or in general, because I have consistently found passive filtering solutions to reduce the transient sharpness, dynamics, expression, and pacing. The PowerPlants are the first devices I heard that clean the AC without introducing other detractive qualities.
Indeed, Christiaan, that’s what I concluded from your review too. Does this also mean that you no longer use the Ansuz Mainz power distributor reviewed earlier? Regards, Michael
Hi Michael, the Ansuz was on loan and was returned again after the review.
Interesting and confirms once again that component changes downstream of the power base quality can only do so much. Perhaps you can also review Stromtank Audio Power, which is off grid battery-based. I love what it has done for my system’s sound quality.
Hi Christiaan, great review! I was wondering, did you notice that main cables do perform different when fed by the powerplant? In other words, when fed decent current, do they still show the big differences we normaly hear when comparing the main cables or are they behaving more alike and could we settle for cheaper man cables instead?
Kind regards,
Hi Serge, To some extent, power cables do become less pivotal and they do not tend to make or break the sound quite as “severely” as without a PowerPlant, but their respective characteristics are still clearly audible. The sound can still be tuned using, for instance, warmer or crisper sounding cables.