Last couple days, while the APS people are cooking a new version of their regenerator, friends of mine helped me to discover a new type regenerator. It does not use neither class AB nor class D amplifiers, still outputs brand new harmonically clean, perfect sine wave with over 90% efficiency.  I have my motivations at this point do not divulge the topology or make of the regenerator and would call it the Regenerator X.

I did not have a lot of time or intention to play with it but the 1.5kW Regenerator X had no problems to drive all my front end to and in all my power amplification, it has limitless current draw. The voltage and frequency are perfectly stabilized… the sinusoid, however, is screwed when it derived all my system.

Sonically, it is not too apocalyptic, but still it is very far where I would like it to be. It does slightly compressed dynamic, it does slightly soften bass, it remove noise, it injects some very minor strange dirt in the sound and it make music slightly less recognizable – I am not kidding!!! So, it is in away do sound apocalyptic and I would prefer to drive the system from the wall.  Still, as Russians say; with no fish a crab could be considered a fish, and perhaps I just lower my demand for all those power toys…

Anyhow, the Regenerator X does not sound even remotely close to what the damn APS did with my front end… and therefore it looks that it is time to pass on the Regenerator X…

So you were, after all, "the first one to send it back" (ie, the APS)?

and you must have already heard:  You are the only one to have a problem with it; we never had this problem before; we checked it twice and it checks out fine, here; are you sure there isn't something wrong with your system/hearing/thought processes ...
 
Did I leave out anything?

But now they're cooking up the "Romy" model?

How cool is that?!

Celebrity has its perks.

Best regards,
Paul S


PS: How much extra for "Romy model"? ;.)

Ok, it does not have a direct relation to the quality of electricity but I think you might like this little toy, as it is very useful during our electricity straggling. It is very small device that plugs pass-through to your load and this device:

1)      Fuse 15A
2)      Shows Voltage with .1 precision.
3)      Shows Current with 0.01 precision.
4)      Shows Power in W and VA
5)      Shows Frequency with 0.1 precision.
6)      Show Power Factor with 0.01 precision.
7)      Calculates consumption… that was something that I did not I care.

What is very remarkable about this little piece is that it shows everything VERY accurately, I tested it. Also and it is remarkable convenient to use. It is relatively fast refreshing and it is possible even to see the peak current/voltage draw…

OK, here is the punch line: this little gismo costs $21 – long live the Republic of China! I am sure that tomorrow some kind of audio-writing whore will change the label on the “Kill-A-Watt” to “Perfect Watt” and price from $21 to $399 and will write long sentences, convincing you that the “Perfect Watt” also “widen soundstage and increase resolution”. Until then you can get it for $21, not for sonic reasons (I never cared to listen it) but to get a cheap and very convenient power measuring tool.

Well,

another page of my saga with APS regenerator is turned. I got the updated APS unit. It kind of “works” as I redefined the definition of word “works”. Under normal circumstances I would walk away from it but there are some moments in my “bad electricity ceremony” that I would like to point out, not as much for others who keep asking me but primary for myself.

The first thing first: the APS PurePower unit does not work against power supplies that future input choke filters. The input choke filters are “current gyroscopes”, it run cruse current and it continues to run it even if the voltage drops at inputs. Inputs choke sort of sucks out current from the wall even if the voltage are crossing zero and has no amplitude. A wall can handle it with no problem, so the PS Audio Power Plant. The PurePower APS regenerator does not handle it. The situations when current draw supersedes voltage draw severely corrupt the APS’ output wave. Listening-wise, that sinusoid corruptions (or perhaps some other things) create truly apocalyptic Sound – probably the very worst that I ever heard from my playback.

I was trying to make the APS people to make their unit to be able to drive loads with input chokes. Probably my voice was sinking in the see of other APS customers - CLC power supplies – why should the APS even care? Their technician for moths was “too busy” to built a damn input choke filter and confirm the problem himself. Also, obviously the Chinese folks who design the unit do not give a damn about driving anything else then CLC power supplies… Very very said….

Well, I kind of have accepted the idea that I will not be able with this 1 kilowatt unit to drive my power amplifiers. I do not like it and it screws me up, as I used some toroidal transformers in new Melquiades revision and if I knew that APS PurePower will not be useable on my power amps then I would make a small air-gaps in my toroids in order to enable them to handle the power line’ DC components… I do not like but what can I do now…

It left me with a chose to return the unit or to keep it only for my front end:

ADC
24-bit DAC (Lavry)
3 phonostages
CD transport
16-bit DAC (Bidat)
Tuner
DAW
Preamp

Once again I can use it on my front-end but I can not use it with 2 of my phonostages as they have input chokes on plates and on filaments Sucks!!!

Now, I have to decide if it worth to me to keep $2.5K unit, the unit as geometrically large as PurePower is in order to drive with it “the only selected” 150W of my playback. It is certainly sounds absurdish and ridicules. The only problem in that ridiculousness is that when APS PurePower does works (that is not always happens BTW) and when it drives what it is willing to drive then the APS PurePower delivers the Sound that makes me willing to write a request to Pope asking him to canonize that damn regenerator. The sonic contribution of APS unit to my Preamp+ transport+DAC is exactly what I would expect from a perfect unit – it eliminates all that I do not like and keep what I value untouched. To be honest I have to tell that I did detect some APS own coloration at top octaves. I did not research this subject further as I feel that being able to custom-tailor top response with my MF and HF channels I will be able to set the final result as it should be.

So, where does it leave me?  Sending the PurePower back would be a reasonable solution but it will open a Pandora Box for searching among similar units. There are a lot of double-conversion “on-line” regenerators on market.

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/PDF/UPS.pdf

For around $1000 it is possible to get APC unit with identical characteristics as the APS regenerator, or if to look at “smaller” names then those manufactures regenerators are available for ~$500. For $2K-$3K it possible to get a large 5kW-6kW unit, dump it in basement (it will be noisy) and to power everything from it. It would be necessary to slightly modify the commercial units (noise, alarms, etc) to accommodate them for audio application. However… This Pandora Box has a lot of negative points. Only God knows if other or more powerful units will be able to handle input choke supplies. It is also unknown if other regenerators will sound good – who know what is responsible in them for sound?  Also there is no assurance that other units with D-amps will not do the same when they are input-choke-loaded. And of course there is the major "obstacle" in this direction - my demand to have a properly performing regenerator has no desire to be frugal.

I really do not what to see myself trying other regenerator manufactures in order to save money. In fact trying different commercial regenerators and modifying them for home use will cost me more in terms of time and R&D. I would tell you something even more – if someone would offer me a devise that would address my frustrations with bad electricity, then knowing that I should not deal with it ever again…. I would pay even $10.000. Now juts would pay ….but gratefully pay!!!

The APS PurePower has problems as now. It no good for input chokes and it is very capricious even against the load that it does happen like.  ALL 3 APS generators that I tried performed differently and I found very alarming. The last time it happens with me what I had 3 identical new Equitech balanced transformer and each of them sound wrong but at the same time absolutely different from each other.  Two of my APS had own that made them semi-dysfunctional, including my current APS unit. I do not know if the Chinese manufacturing quality control should be blamed or anything else but the situation does not sound encouraging, even the APS Canada is wiling to address it.  However, the APS levels of performance when it does work properly leave no doubts that the end of the bad electricity tonal is reachable, and the APS results if not offer a perfect solution but point out the perfect direction.

As now, to get rid of the APS PurePower unit for me is to get rid is the only know to me solution that looks like does help against bad electricity. So, I will try keep using the APS PurePower for my frond-end and will be looking for other regulators to use with my power amps, or perhaps the APS will be able to resolve the problem as time goes by.

Romy the Cat wrote:

….when it drives what it is willing to drive then the APS PurePower delivers the Sound that makes me willing to write a request to Pope asking him to canonize that damn regenerator.

Romy the Cat wrote:

To be honest I have to tell that I did detect some APS own coloration at top octaves. I did not research this subject further

Romy the Cat wrote:

….Two of my APS had own that made them semi-dysfunctional, including my current APS unit…

Today I decided to look deeper into the abovementioned “APS’s own coloration at top octave”. I took some of my favorite mono recordings that I know well (one of my Super Milq is dissected) and was trying to played them. It was no go. It sounds incredibly wrong, superbly sharp, very obnoxious and with no bass. I was scratching by head thinking what the hell is going on. Believe me or not but the sound got fixed when I plugged my transport, DAC and preamp to … the wall instead of the APS regenerator.

OK, let to be honest about it, my unit runs now with experimental APS prototype main-board and output of this board has a problem, the problem that is objectively visible with simplistic measurement tools. The APS guys I agree that it is not right and have no problem to replace the board. I do not “incriminate” to the APS the defect with the prototype board – it happens, no biggy. However, the new prototype board incorporates also some updates that APS did with their unit and it  DOES make me VERY concerned. Does the sonic problem that I am experiencing derive from the specific defect that my prototype board has (highly likely) or those problems derive from the modifications that APS inflict to the unit? That is the big and VERY important question to which I have no answer as now.

I have to tell that before now, writing the post above, I did not spent any time to assess the sound of the unit as I was very much pissed about the “no input choke status”. It is important to note that the sharp sound of my current APS regenerator is very different from the “vintage” APS loaded into input choke – it was I was looking yesterday.  All, my positive comments about APS sounds were about the sonic results that I got from my initial APS regenerator, that one that I did listen. It would be very sad if the newest APS updates (I do not know if I am at liberty to say what they did) would have negative influence to sound. Perhaps then I could open a new chapter of my APS saga with a name “hunting for a vintage APS unit”… :-)

Anyhow, I hope that the problem is not with the updates (that might be reasonable in term of circuit operation) but with the objective defect that I have now and the all issues with Sound will go away when the defect goes away.

The PS Audio newsletter this month had the following:

"We already have a CD player and transport in the works and lots of ideas floating around about audio systems, video setups and new AC power products…..

Daydream a bit for me if you would and then head over to the PS forum.  I've started a new thread here: 

 http://boards.psaudio.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4775

and if you wouldn't mind, just jot down your dream system so we can all see.  I think it'd be instructive.  Plus, sky's the limit!"

I figured – "why not" and posted a reply:

http://boards.psaudio.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4775&p=32551#p32551

Paul S wrote:

What a relief! No matter how many times it happens, at some point I always wind up adjusting my system to compensate for bad electricity!

In impatient, ill-advised. manic efforts to "compensate" for the EFFECTS of bad power I have swapped ICs, used different output taps, re-configured grounds, swapped tubes, re-positioned speakers, adjusted VTA, messed with my BR ports.  And I'm sure there's more.

And it's funny, because I can at times get a superficial "improvement" of just the "area" of sound I'm after; yet no matter how much the sound changes it stays "wrong" with the bad electricity.

It strikes me as odd that the phono stage tends to lose the ability to make "music" even before it shows the typical overt signs of bad electricity.  I have at different times (and more than once) blamed this "silent killer" effect on my cartridge, cartridge leads, my tonearm set-up, the gain tubes, the PS, the ICs, and even my amps.

I had a stretch there when it was hot but I was still getting good phono sound on the weekends, and I was hopeful to the point of bragging about it that I had simply lucked into a combination that would get me through the summer.  Of course, it got even hotter, and that was the end of that "solution".

Yes, I have stupidly wasted many hours and even whole days trying to "fix" bad power effects indirectly.

If there is an actual remedy for the bad power, I haven't found it.

APS to the rescue?

Best regards,
Paul S

Romy the Cat wrote:

The AC factor? This is more complex. My last APS PurePower reregenerator (the fifth unit!!!) does quite amassing things but the reregenerator’s use is not as a straight forward as it might be expected. The PurePower is VERY idiosyncratic but if to treat it “properly” then it can do VERY interesting things. When I have time I will post my comments about the use of the APS unit in the appropriate thread.

Over the course of these six months many people asked me what I feel about the PurePower regenerator. I hardly told anything and frankly speaking I hardly felt anything. I did not have a properly performing unit until the last few days but instead I had a positive feeling of the unit’s performance during my initial exposure (back in June). Now I have an APS regenerator that operated at the very same level as my initial APS unit only this time I have opportunity to look deeper into Sound and into the way how the PurePower interacts with Sound.

The effect of PurePower has to Sound is VERY interesting and very dissimilar to any other know to me power devises. Considering that in one way or another tried most of available power lines treatment devises (hey., what do you know, I had one time 5 (Five!) PS Audio power plants!!!) I hope I have some reasoning behind my judgment. The effect of PurePower has to Sound is not only due to the factor of power regeneration. The PurePower unit is self-contained sound-inflicted and sound–creating active machinery and it should be treated this way. Not all PurePower regenerator’s qualities are beneficial, like anything else – PurePower has own characteristics that might be deliberately and creatively USED. When the right characteristics of the PurePower unit are used properly then the devise might be superbly effective.

So, I will showily dump in this thread some observations of mine about APS PurePower regenerator, the unit’s utilizations, and some my general overviews and speculations about the PurePower performance.  I think it is long due as there was no serious talk about this unit, a few reviews that where her and there were completely Moronic. Still the regenerator does express some sonic attitude that makes the “unit’s ways” worth serious conversation. Not the last factors is that from my point of view the APS people themselves are not exactly sure what they do and not exactly are familiar with sonic consequence of their devises – it might be useful as there are a lot of what I would like the APS unit were able to do in addition to what it does it does not do now.

Please do not pollute this thread and do not post your boring public considerations to buy or do to buy the APS devise – I personally and anyone else at this site not give a shit about your purchasing decisions: if you have an itch then do not waste time visiting Audio site but instead make an appointment to dermatologist..  The subject of this thread (as least how I would like it to continue) is a sonic impact of a power devise, in my case the PurePower picked my interest. If you have other ideas than, please, express them.

It might sound somehow cryptic at this point but I have no time to put my thought about APS unit in a continuing and “connected” essay. So, do not anticipate any “reviews”, for that go elsewhere. My look will be rather a set of atomic harrow glimpses into APS PurePower Sonic Performance...

Romy the Cat wrote:

... I will showily dump in this thread some observations of mine about APS PurePower regenerator...

We get horrible sound with bad electricity and we are accustomed to blame wrong sinusoid shape, too high harmonics and presence of HF noise in power lines. Then we presume that if we get rid of those 3 factors then we fixed our problems. We do fix sinusoid’s shape, drive harmonics to the sub 0.5% and have no HF noise in power line detectable with most sensitive analyzer… Still, we not necessary have right Sound as a result of our power curing efforts. With that cures electricity we most certainly have better sound from many perspectives but not the sound as it “might be” or “shell be”. In some cases the power treatment/regenerating efforts are not useful and in some cased the treatment/regenerating create more harm than help and none of them is self-sufficiently good and has own NEGATIVE affect to Sound

Take many powers conditioners, power treatment units, active, passive, in-line, parallel, isolation, decoupling…. they all try to make the power better. They all work out from one perceive or another but they have own harmful influence to sound. Some of them have no registerable objective problems – PS Audio Power Plant for instance – outputs a idyllic sinusoid, has ultra low distortion and no noise of any kind. The PP unit does provide literally perfect electricity to playback but… still the result sound of playback driver by PP has numerous problems, and I have heard very many of them. OK, I hear sound compression because the main’s sinusoid is clipped and we all know that it is not good. Should I be happier if PS Audio Power Plant outputs perfect sinusoid and while it does it I still hear sound compression? There is nothing objectively better then the voltage that PP outputs, I measured it many times, I am sure you did it as well. Still, from bottoms to top of the auditable spectra and within each and single level of the Six-Leveled of Listening Benefits ™ the PP devise make my playback to sound wrong. Compression, bass rubberizing, tonal discoloration, brutality of upper region, muddy aura around  notes, lack of micro-contrasts, deformation of TTH characteristics, lethargic dynamics, depersonalization of upper mid, that and many other things has became a basic attribute of me – the urban audio listener. I very much do not disgrace PP, I just bring it as an example of a devise that objectively outputs absolutely perfect characteristics but sonically is absolutely worthless. The Power Plants and other AB regenerators, the isolation transformers, the parallel treatments, the power conditioners, the filters, the resonant stabilizers, the Sola transformers and few other that I have tried do not really resolve the problems but they juts shift one set of problem into other set of problems. Some of those devised do work fine one day but other days when the problems in mains have changed they make playback to sound not acceptable again.

Now is the ridicules part of the ploy – the APS PurePower. This regenerator of course does as much as any other regenerator does – grabs AC, convert it to DC, oscillates new AC and then amplifies that this new AC. However, the surprise is that APS PurePower does not do each of l regenerator’s duties very well.  The AC that it produces is kind of “strange”, the waveform is fragile, the stability is low the harmonics might higher then they might be.  This regenerator is VERY fastidious with load and  has not necessary predictable impact to a given audio component.  So, what is the point? The point is to ask myself if I am looking for better electricity in order to get Right Sound or I am looking for Right Sound without warring what characteristics the electricity would I have. This is not so simple question and until I had a chance to play with APS PurePower I was not able to look at this question from other, very obverse perspective.

What!!! To use a power generator not as juts power redemption unit but as actively sound shaping component? You bet!!!

In my view the APS PurePower is not a good power regenerator – it does a lot of wrong things objectively and I will be talking about them. The PurePower is rather an active element of playback system that actively impose specific sonic signature to playback’s presentation. In context of proper applications of this regenerator and the PurePower’s contributions is exceptionally radical and I would even say innovative.  We are accustom that better power treatment devises take care better or worst about the electricity imperfection and then let audio components to care their duty. It is not how I see the APS unit works: the elimination of common power problems is I would say is just 30% of what I appreciate in APS devise. The PurePower does a few other things and those things are probably the most interesting in Sound that came from PurePower powered audio. I have seen some power treatment devises trying to do those “extra” things: Bybee filters, the multiwaving with PP and few other devises. None of those advances from my point of view were look in right direction. Come on then juts sound poorly and were able to satisfied only audio-teenagers with reference points of Jurassic Park habitants. I will be taking about those PurePower “extra things” in more details as well.

So, a claver reader would ask “Romy, why do you feel that PurePower not just produces better electricity? Why do you feel that PurePower is actively imposing specific sonic behavior to electronics and why you consider that APS unit as some kind Engineer Garin's Hyperboloid that has ability of condense and catalyze specific aspects of playback’s sound?”

Good question. I have no definitive answer but some of “things” that I hear in PurePower sonic influence I never heard form audio that runs from good electricity (happened a few times per year). Those “things” are not something exclusive but they rather are expected and predictable “things” still, those “things” are overplayed atop of “good electricity sound” – very intriguing and in a way invocative result.

As I said in my post above the PurePower has well-defined double-action in its contribution to Sound of playback

The first action is process of power regeneration and getting rid of negative influences of bad electricity. Let from now and on to call it as the “PurePower First Action”

The second action is a process of active injection of sonic particulars into down-line components. Let from now and on to call it as “PurePower Second Action”

That dual activity should be always understood as two separate elements of PurePower’s contribution.

In my following posts I will talk in details about PurePower performance in the First Action and the Second Action, provide some practical guidance how and for what purpose the APS unit might be used (It is surprisingly complex), provide general observations and some further recommendations where I would like the PurePower, or the similar units of competitors, to be.

I wrote in “My Playback” section:

"Power-wise, I have 3 dedicated 20A 8ga lines, separate for my amplification, analog and digital chains. I do not use any power devices: filters, conditioners, regenerators, or isolation transformers – none of them work appropriately (have had them all). When Power is good then it good, when it not good then the only solution is to be disconnected from the Grid and to have 10kW diesel-generator up and running, which I unfortunately can’t use in my urban life…. Recently I discovered a world of new contemporary regenerators with class D amplification. I am researching this direction now..."

The “First Action” I proposed to call the APS’s regenerator taking care about all mysteries of bad electricity. The PurePower does here extremely wonderful job. The new voltage gets regenerated and it looks like APS unit has least own sonic influence while it does so. (The Second Action is neglected for now)

If the APS unit is properly used (very important cloth and I’ll talk about it later) then it is the only known to me power devise that has no negative influence to bass (practically all of them do screw my bass), does not affect dynamics (here is where class A/B regenerators suck big time), do not reformat harmonics (god luck with that), do not impact frequency response of powered devises (practically all of them do). The First Action – the Sound of regenerated electricity - is next to perfect with this devise. I say “next to perfect” because the PurePower’s Second Action is very deeply amalgamated with First Action and in some cases, despise of the fact that there is NO MORE BAD ELECTRICITY PROBLEMS but the total resulting Sound might not be where I would like it to be.

I, you, we should not be overly exuberant with sonic perfection of PurePower unit in First Action – that transparent perfection still has own toll – I will talk about it further in my article:  “APS PurePower Survival Guide”. Still, I feel that pretty much only because the PurePower unit PERFECTLY preserves TTH characteristic of powered audio components the APS’s regenerator should be treated as very valuable candidate for admiration and functional imitation. If not the presence of the Second Action then by using the APS’s regenerator the problems with bad sounding electricity might be closed for good.

Romy the Cat wrote:

If you consider APS PurePower as just a power treating or regenerating devise then I feel that the whole “kinky” point of this devise might be missed.  We get horrible sound with bad electricity and we are accustomed to blame wrong sinusoid shape, too high harmonics and presence of HF noise in power lines. Then we presume that if we get rid of those 3 factors then we fixed our problems. [The PS Audio Power Plant is] an example of a devise that objectively outputs absolutely perfect characteristics but sonically is absolutely worthless. The APS PurePower is not a good power regenerator [but it is beneficial to the Sound.]

1) Does the PurePower reduce the effects of "Bad Electricity Days"?

2) What are the subjective benefits to the Sound and sounds that the PurePower makes?

Adrian