I've learned through the Mini Torii Owner's Manual on the site that Steve recommends using a 500 Watt isolation transformer as the main ingredient in shielding your amp's sound from the horrible harmonics imbedded in the dirty mains supply.

It just makes sense and will protect from transient surges too. It's also a less expensive (and more credible) alternative to Power Conditioners.  What do you gauys think and what are popular brands to check for?

I know what you mean, Lon. Been there long time ago! I'll start with the isolation approach for now. Tripplite comes up in every search I do, I guess these are pretty good.  

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'm sure the sound may improve through the PS Audio, but there are weaker links in the pipeline, like (mostly) room conditioning and SUB placement, interconnects, etc, before worrying myself with that level of power conditioning.

Thanks.

You may be right. I read some reviews and overviews on the PS Audio P5 & P10, and the regeneration of the AC sinewave is an interesting concept (also new to me).

As far as I knew, the theory behind the traditional isolation transformers is straightforward, well proven.  What else could be done by PS Audio not covered by the physical de-coupling of your audio circuit from the mains (as if a dedicated circuit)?  ... So now the answer is: Synthetically perfect AC supply.  The best raw material for your equipment.

Although the investment order of magnitude is 13 times the cost of traditional isolation transformers, I can see now the justificaction, and its potential effect on sound.  Presumably, though, this is more critical for SS amps than tube amps, other things being equal, seems to me?

I'm learning every day ...

Fireblade wrote:

Quote:


I don't think that is actually what Steve has written. What is written on the Torii page is this:

Quote:


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.

Fireblade, thanks for the clarification, though please, no worries, I took no personal concern from the comments, or even thought anyone had suggested I or Lon had wasted our money.

These are good clarifications, and they do help highlight a significant advantage of the Decware designs that incorporate voltage regulation and power filtering.

I've never received a component from Decware without a power cord. They'll supply a basic one. Won't be the one that they sell separately however, which is a better than basic power cord (by quite a margin).

The Volex power cords are cheap and are an excellent value for the money.

If you go for the jellyfish be careful not to get stung. Volex is good enough for me right now.

Ok guys, thanks for the tips.  Need to know for a fact these alternatives are indeed better than the original Decware power cord supplied with the amps.  Anybody knows?

I think Decware's DHC-1 power cable would go well with a PS Audio Power Plant, not to undercut the high quality energy coming out of this regenerator.

For all other purposes, hooking a better-than-standard power cord to an Isolation Transformer like the Tripp Lite, should be fine.  I just need to make sure I'm not going backwards in quality from the cord originally supplied with the amp.

Thanks.

ski bum wrote:

Quote:


If you've tried them all and know ski bum, you won't get any flame from me. But there is a difference in power quality delivered by different power cords. Whether one can hear it might be a different matter, and whether one thinks it is worth it is an altogether different matter also. But the Jellyfish alone is an improvement over stock with a variety of my headphone amps, and to my ears, the sound with the Decware power cord is quite better than that, and is really only exceeded by the significantly more expensive high end cables, particularly the PS Audio PerfectWave AC10/12.

The stock power cords that come with the amps are standard IEC cables, and interestingly, Decware sells and recommends an upgrade. I happen to concur in that. I love the Decware power cords.