Fireblade wrote:
Quote:According to Steve, having the tube regulation/rectification stages obviates the need for the expensive PS Audio power plant/conditioner, but not (evidently) the isolation transformer.
I don't think that is actually what Steve has written. What is written on the Torii page is this:
Quote:This is one of the reasons why we know that unless you own and use a power generator, like the PS AUDIO power plant as an example, there is no way your present amplifier will sound as good as a Zen TORII (...assuming all else was equal and even that's unlikely.) And if it wasn't enough to do it once, we employed this technology on every stage in the amplifier and independently for each channel. That's a lot of GLOW from these beautiful tubes that don't even get hot or wear out!
This doesn't mean you don't get benefit from something like an isolation transformer, or a balanced power supply, or a PS Audio Power Plant. Or even a Monster AVS-2000. I have ALL of these items in one iteration or another. Having tried them all, the only one not in one of my systems is the TrippLite Isolation Transformer. I have one of the "hospital grade" ones,
this one I believe. And to my ears, it introduced more problems than it solved. I would rank the PSA PPP [I have two of these and love them, but really want the newer Power Plant P10] first, the Transcendent Balanced Power Supply second (on my headphone rig at the office, where its modest output is perfect), the Monster AVS-2000 third (it's on the secondary HT rig in the den), and the TrippLite dead last. Actually, I don't use it on anything aurally critical. It's sort of a secondary line of protection to the UPS for my NAS, cable modem, wireless router, and land line phone. The idea is to prevent any serious electrical damage and give us about one hour of internet and phone service before power is all gone, at least for the stuff that relies on AC.
Anyway, I don't think Steve is saying power regenerators are obviated by Decware voltage regulation, only that for any other amp, without some form of voltage regulation, you're at a disadvantage. To me, the quality of AC power in my audio system is rather ruthlessly revealed by the Ultra/Torii combo. And, like Lon, while I may have spent more than I should have on the two (plus a
Power Port Soloist Premier to replace the wall outlet), when I listen to the pure black space between notes, when I hear the effortless macro dynamics, the suble layers of micro dynamics, it's worth it.