[JenMaher]

Review: PE V Pro Special Edition

PE-V-Pro listening impressions:


24 hours: Sound is awful.  Could only listen for about 5 minutes before taking CD out in horror.  Sound is terribly bright and etched.  Soundstage has lost all depth, width, and detail.  Sounds like the tweeter is the only driver functioning. No bass at all.  Everything sounds very metallic.  Impression: Where did my stereo go?

48 hours: Sound still too bright and etched, but a bit more listenable. Still very little low bass.  Sounds like subwoofers are turned off; I actually went to check the amps to make sure they were in fact “on”. Soundstage still completely diffuse; no focus. Can’t pinpoint instruments in soundfield. Instruments all sound like they are metallic even if they are made from wood (guitar, violin, cello, etc). Sounds lacks “body”, timbre is hollow sounding.

72 hours: Things seem to be settling down. Instruments are starting to get some “body” again. Timbre is still kind of bright/metallic sounding, but definitely heading in the right direction. Still very anemic bass.

96 hours: Much improved today. Sound quality and timbre are much more real sounding. Starting to sound like music and not like stereo. Voices have good deal of palpability to them as do brass instruments.  Just the right amount of “bite” without being edgy or overly bright. Now the sound is becoming full and harmonically rich, not hollow like before. Bass is better, but still a bit thin. Strings, however, still sound a bit “glaring”.

168 hours: Things are sounding much, much better. Soundstage has opened up in width and from front-to-back.  More front-to-back depth than before the PE-V, but still a bit narrower side-to-side than before PE-V install and less focused, i.e., cannot yet pinpoint precise location of specific instruments. Timbre of male voices now very good; better than before PE-V.  Nice richness without boominess. Wood instruments sound like wood again, not metal. Listening to didgeridoo on stereo is freakishly “real”. There is still a hint of glare or haze when listening to loud orchestral music, especially violins and violas. Some details are have never heard before are now emerging from recordings I thought I knew very well.

240 hours: Things are definitely still improving. Sound has now become very lifelike with all instruments. Some startling so; gongs, bells, and other percussion is so real it’s almost eerie.  I play trumpet and would have sworn, had my eyes been closed, that the solo trumpet fanfare playing on a SACD was actually a person standing playing in the room. Imaging is getting better still, but not yet holographic. Bass is suddenly subterranean.  Very deep, taut, and solid. Definitely improved over pre-PE-V. Instruments have wonderful resonance and the decay at the end of a note/piece is fantastic.  It just fades seemingly forever. Still just a wee bit “hot” on top, but perhaps this will still settle.

Days 14-16:  WOW! I don’t know what transpired during the past couple of days without listening, but when Alan says everything will “click” and come together, he’s not kidding. I popped a CD in and turned to leave the room and go back to work on my computer.  I took all of three steps before I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around to stare in amazement at the stereo. Something profound has definitely taken place within the AC in my house and the PE-V. The soundstage has blown wide open and has become truly holographic. Sitting in the listening chair, I’m enveloped in sound.  The orchestra stretches well beyond the outside of the speakers and I can position each instrument exactly where it should be on stage. The timbre of instruments is literally to-die-for.  I didn’t know stereo reproduction could sound like this, and all this improvement is coming from the components I’ve been listening to for years without realizing all of their hidden potential.  Although Alan has assured me “things can always get better”,  I truly can’t believe it can get better than this! ~ Chris Porada

[cporada]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the PE IV and the new PE V? Also, would plugging a PE IV into an IEC liberator cord (like in the choke tweak) and placing this at the AC input to a source component be similar in effect to using a PE V-IEC on that component?  If not, how would this differ?  Likewise, would plugging a standard PE into the IEC liberator be better sonically than plugging a 193L choke into the liberator cord?
Thanks!
Chris

[JenMaher]

Chris-
The IV and V are two completely different filter designs.  In some applications the IV can be used as a center filter for a circuit tuning concept, but please be aware the IV was discontinued last spring for good reason and has be surpassed in performance by the V by a wide margin.  My advice is to not consider the IV as a replacement for the V ac or IEC models.

Here is how I would explain the IEC models; V IEC mirrors the V S/AC performance.  Pro Custom IEC offers more direct sound; professional musicians would appreciate the sound quality of the PC IEC.  Quantum IEC is designed for the audiophile that craves increased bass response, warmth, extension, and dynamics; the Quantum has been recently described as "the BEAST", which in all honesty is an understatement when it comes to its performance in an audio/video system.

Removing the choke and plugging a PE into an IEC liberator is a good start, and should give the user a good idea as to what can be expected by moving up the food chain to the larger IEC model.  The choke has always been a phenomenal tweak for little cost, but our IEC filters have surpassed the performance: price ratio many times over, the choke colors the sound whereas the IEC models re-tune the component by adding a second power supply to increase performance and offer true noise rejection and power factor correction.

[peter59]

Hi there,
 trying to get hold of either Jen or Alan to purchase a PE 1,
 left a message on your website yesterday  under comments..

Thank you,

JC

[HumanMedia]

Question about Power Enhancers.

If there is no room for a PE on a duplex is it OK to attach it to a small extension cord to one of the outlets of the duplex?

If so, how long can that extension lead be before it affects the performance of the PE?
Is there any rule of thumb apart from 'the lead should be as short as possible'?
Thats is is it OK as long as the lead is shorter than the power cord of the component in the other duplex outlet?

Any guidance here would be appreciated.

[JenMaher]

Carl-
The extension cord can be as long as 250 feet with zero loss in filter performance.  If you do hear any negative performance then try upgrading the ac connectors of the extension cord.

[Bill@LakeGeorge]

I would be interested in how people implemented the use of the various PE's.  I would think a recommended plan of implementation would help your sales, the web site is confusing.

[JenMaher]

We have had product descriptions and usage recommendations on our web site for a long time, not to mention a tuning guide to provide tips and understanding about different tuning concepts circuit by circuit.

[cporada]

I just came across an interesting product, the The environmental potentials EP-2050.  This is an industrial electrical surge and noise filtration system adapted for the residential marketplace that installs right at the breaker box of your house and supposedly provides house-wide surge protection while simultaneously removing high frequency noise and ringing on the AC entering the house.  Since I love Alan's products and am very happy with what they do, I'm wondering if something like this would work well with his products, since it sounds like they address similar problems, and the idea of surge/spike protection for the whole house is attractive.  I was thinking one of these at the breaker and then a Maher reference power center for my audio might be a killer combo, but wanted to know whether the PE's and RPC would work cooperatively or antagonistically with the EP device.
Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Chris

[JenMaher]

We highly recommend the Electronic Specialist laboratory grade wire-in noise suppressor and surge filter.  In our opinion these are the best in the business and should be first on your shopping list.  We have tested and personally use the laboratory grade filter in our system and commercial installs with the PE, Reference, and Quantum series filters with excellent results.  I can't praise them enough; we have used them for at least the last 10 to 12 years.  The 15, 20, and 30 amp models are highly recommended for audiophile playback.

http://www.elect-spec.com/wire_in.htm
http://www.elect-spec.com/twist.htm#Laboratory%20Grade
http://www.elect-spec.com/acprot2.htm

They offer multiple designs of the same laboratory grade filter to meet your requirements or DIY skills.  All 3 devices we have tested over the years and highly recommend.

[cporada]

Hi Jen
Thanks!  They look great, and the cost is much better than the Environmental Potentials.  I have another quick question.  If I decided to get one of the units that plugs into the outlet feeding my Audio system (like the AC-SFL-31M), perhaps to later add one of Alan's RPC power strips in place of my Monster Reference Power Center, would I get a unit with just one outlet and plug the Monster (and later the RPC) into that, leaving the PE V Pro on the other outlet of the duplex feeding my system, or would I need a unit with two outlets; one for the RPC and the other into which to plug the PE V Pro, after removing it from the duplex?  I guess my question is, should the PE V Pro go in my duplex or in the ESP unit that's plugged to the duplex?
Thanks!
Chris

[JenMaher]

Chris-
The PE V does a fabulous job all by itself to reduce surge potential, I would recommend plugging the PE V Pro Limited Edition into the bottom receptacle of the duplex outlet and purchasing a dual socket laboratory grade filter to install into the top receptacle.  The dual socket would introduce other options for isolated digital/analog equipment using two of our Reference Power Center's or maybe plugging the amplifier into the second socket just in case the Monster power conditioner is restricting dynamics.  The dual socket at least provides the opportunity to play to find the best configuration.

Note: Alan has mentioned many times in the past about installing PE products on each circuit in the house to reduce surge currents, as more are deployed around the home the potential for surge damage is reduced to almost zero, but it's important to treat/tune as many circuits as possible.

The selection of the approximate model is very important, I would suggest purchasing the next size up from your circuit breaker to avoid oversaturation.

15 amp circuit breaker - 20 amp laboratory grade filter
20 amp circuit breaker - 30 amp laboratory grade filter

If you follow these steps you will not experience any restricted dynamics or congestion usually associated with a filter being pushed too much into oversaturation.  Always allow a little headroom when selecting filter sizes. 

Hope this helped.

[JenMaher]

Review: Quantum Studio PLC

"Hi Alan:

I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying the addition of the Quantum Studio PLC to my system.  Now that I am comfortably past 200 hours I can tell you my initial impressions have been confirmed.  The system already has a PE V Pro-IEC and PE 1 on a dedicated 20 amp circuit.  I have the Quantum Studio PLC plugged into the wall next to the PE V.  The PE 1 is plugged into the balanced side of my balanced power conditioner.

The first impression I had was one of larger scale; the entire presentation seemed to physically extend farther in all directions.  The sound stage was higher, wider, closer and deeper.  At the same time the low end felt more solid and better defined.  I am seated pretty close to a fairly large powerful system and the increased immersion impact was very noticeable.

The 2nd significant impression was that I was listening to more of what was on the disk.  Voices and brass could be heard more clearly.  The highs felt more extended as well, with more ability to hear the initial strike of a cymbal, bell or synth sound and then the final decay of that sound.  I also appreciated a greater "floating in space" character of some of the notes that didn't "float" quite the same way before the Studio.

As I listened to some standard favorite recordings I was caught by surprise by subtle sounds and effects that had been intended by the engineer that I had never heard so clearly. My system was already pretty revealing.  But if I put on an old disk to hear one cut it was never enough, I had to hear more...and that's why I have my system, to enjoy music.

While I use the system almost exclusively for music, my wife watches movies frequently.  She just finished one of her spy adventure films and made very positive comments.  She said the picture on our old Elite RP looked better than ever, something I hadn't expected.  I tried it for myself and had to agree with her.  And she loved the improvements in the sound.  So Alan, thanks again!

In the interest of total disclosure I should say that I have been using Alan as my "system power guide" since we met on the Internet in 2003.  He has helped me understand and control the use of electricity in my system in very thoughtful and practical ways.  I have had great success with the numerous power cords, interconnects and cables and filtering devices that he has provided over the years.  Of course, Alan's very best feature, as we all know, is Jen!

To obtain full benefit of Alan's products I suggest making sure your room's acoustic issues are addressed first." ~ Bob Pachner

[JenMaher]

WEEKEND SALE (March 13, 14, and 15):   

Reference II Filter: $97.85 Shipped
Price Breakdown: Reference II $80 ($100 list), Shipping & Handling $15, PayPal $2.85. 
Offer Good: US Lower 48 Only, International Orders Email for Shipping Quote.

All available stock will ship Monday March 16.  Hurry while supplies last.

The Reference II offers superb noise reduction and audio tonal quality.  The Reference II enhances/improves bass definition, lower midrange warmth, top end detail and extension, and soundstage depth, width, and height.  On the video side, the Reference II enhances black level and contrast, color saturation and hue, and sharpness.

[HumanMedia]

I will post a more detailed review of the Reference II when I have found the ideal configuration of filters around my circuits but I just want to comment on them here in light of the sale above.

In my experience the Reference II is the most balanced of all of the Power Enhancer products I have tried (PE, PEIII, PEIV, PEV).

It also creates more spatiality and delicacy in the music.

Note however that with all of the above products the effect is highly dependent on which component it is paired with, and what other passive filters are on the circuit.  At the moment I have a Reference II on each of my Channel Islands D200 monoblocks, which previously were best paired with Hammond 193M chokes.  The Ref IIs sound so good with them and swapping them out to compare with chokes or other PEs is a definite step down, so a Ref II will stay on each of the monoblocks.  If I had to describe their sound in terms of other Power Enhancers, it would be like a cross between the PEIII and PEV.

Also note that the break in time for me is a minimum of 5 weeks.  I know others have found they settle far more quickly but for my situation they take at least this time to settle.

Anyway a thumbs up for the Ref IIs, however now I just want to hear how the Quantums sound in their place.

[cporada]

Hi HumanMedia
When you say "on your monoblocks", do you mean attached at the IEC input using one of the IEC liberator cords Alan recommends for the 193L tweak?
Thanks
Chris

[cporada]

To take things one step further, would I do well to remove the 193L I have on the IEC input of my power amp and replace it with a Ref II?
Thanks
Chris

[HumanMedia]

Hi HumanMedia
When you say "on your monoblocks", do you mean attached at the IEC input using one of the IEC liberator cords Alan recommends for the 193L tweak?
Thanks
Chris

No I shuffled my equipment around so that each monoblock has its own duplex which it shares with a Ref II.  ie.  Each of the two duplexes has a monoblock and a Ref II is plugged into it.

[HumanMedia]

Hi HumanMedia
When you say "on your monoblocks", do you mean attached at the IEC input using one of the IEC liberator cords Alan recommends for the 193L tweak?
Thanks
Chris

No I shuffled my equipment around so that each monoblock has its own duplex which it shares with a Ref II.  ie.  Each of the two duplexes has a monoblock and a Ref II is plugged into it.

I cant say as its so system/component dependent.
Previously only the chokes sounded right with my power amps, now the Ref2's sound the best, but it could be completely the opposite for you, its so hard to predict.  In fact I used to have a PEIII on that same circuit as it always added some warmth, but with all the other circuit shuffles it now sounds strained and is better out of that circuit completely.

Additionally, changing the power cables in the system also seems to change the way the whole system works together.  So on one hand it might seem like there are too many options and outcomes, on the other hand there is incredible scope for steering and tuning the overall sound.

[JenMaher]

Chris-
Eventually the choke tweak should be removed from the system as more of our products are installed.  You will discover a dramatic improvement in bass definition and extension once the chokes are removed.

The Reference II is a great little multi-purpose filter to be used around the home.  If you have fluorescent lighting around the home, multiple computers, wireless telephone/cell phone, plasma TV, etc, the Reference I/II does an excellent job of lowering the high frequency noise dumped on the circuit by this type of appliance/component.  The entire Reference collection (Reference I, Reference II, Reference power cable, Reference Power Center, and Active Reference/DIY Filter) are designed to combat all forms of RF/EM interference and provide a stable electrical environment. 

The Reference series is a different animal compared to the PE series, which is designed to re-tune the circuit and create a RFI/EMI moat around the entire home.  The PE series was specifically designed to offer a ruler flat frequency response in all electrical environments, especially the pro industry, whereas, the Reference and Quantum series are specifically designed to enhance/filter high-end audiophile/videophile environments.   All three series uses the same house wide moat filter concept, but we believe the Reference and Quantum series offer more of that sound audiophile's crave; warmth, organic, harmonic, chest pounding, and rich.  Carl hit the nail right on the head, the Reference II is more balanced compared to the PE which was designed to extract every last nuance/detail in the musical tapestry, the Reference II is designed to organically highlight and blossom hidden detail and harmonics within that musical tapestry.

The Reference II is at home in an all Reference system or PE/Quantum mixed system.



Carl-
Try the PE III on a different circuit from the audio system and see how it interacts.  Try different circuits to see which sounds best.