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04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
PurePower
Ayr, ON
Posts 44
Joined on 05-26-2009

Post #: 1126
Post ID: 19278
Reply to: 19276
Our customers don't seem to agree
fiogf49gjkf0d
 Paul S wrote:

...  there really is no "affordable" universal solution to AC power correction from an electrical standpoint, especially not for hi-fi, where amplifier topology might be just about anything, and these amps might be running right along with sensitive low-level devices that have basically "opposite" needs.  While this does not excuse APS' shoddy operation or - apparently - ongoing lack of insight into the matter ...

Paul S



You assumptions are very far off the mark. PurePower+ regenerators are as universal a solution to poor and unreliable audio and video performance caused by utility AC problems as is generally required. The figure - judging by our own customer satisfaction feedback - is around 98%. That's how many of our customers report our product meets or exceeds their expectations and allowed their systems to deliver improved - and more stable - audio performance.
In one sense, as Romy attests, perfection can be an ephemeral target.  But on a simpler measure, solving the basic AC power problems and getting the most from your system with stable, accurate voltage, a clean waveform, and responsive current delivery is achievable in almost any home audio system and we have proven it in practice. (Keeping Romy happy is another matter.)
PurePower products are far from shoddy. They are reliable and effective. We are working our butts off to deliver satisfaction to audiophiles. Our biggest reward is the genuine excitement and pleasure our customers have when they suddenly hear what they have been trying to achieve for years. Fortunately that's the feedback we get from the vast majority of our installations. The "after" PurePower  is almost universally way better than the "before" PurePower. 
The fact is, any amplifier, no matter its topology, performs better when the AC supply is at an exact, reliable voltage, day in day out. You don't need to invent a new kind of AC power generation for every brand of amp - they are quite happy with the 120 volt, 60 hertz sine wave from our regenerator output. (we also support 110, 117, 127, 200, 220, 230, or 240 volts at either 50 or 60 hz if they happen to live outside North America)





04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
steverino
Posts 367
Joined on 05-23-2009

Post #: 1127
Post ID: 19279
Reply to: 19276
Guinea pigs
fiogf49gjkf0d
I have not been injured by PP so I have no axe to grind. When a vendor slimes a customer in public rather than working it out with them, studiously ignores another customer who has been without a returned system for years and belittles a third customer who has probably done more to sell PP units than anyone else, people notice. Any equipment vendor that regards equipment redesign as part of the normal process of warranty adherence has lost me forever. Our host provided a lengthy post above on how he had no intention of being a guinea pig for your new design. We trust his judgment, not yours.
04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
miab
Canada
Posts 46
Joined on 02-07-2008

Post #: 1128
Post ID: 19280
Reply to: 19279
Is the thread about the Purepower+ and it's service
fiogf49gjkf0d
 Although I see how this thread has leaned towards the product which Purepower designed and had built and now designs and builds I'm not sure why it has become a Purepower service thread. I do not have the new + product but do have a couple of the previous non + models. They work beautifully. I had a service issue once and it was resolved but not easily. Shipping back and forth and taking awhile to do so. I would not have gone through the trouble if it did not preform. They sell what amounts to an appliance. It is massive and weighs a ton. Shipping back and forth can easily eat profits. Like any appliance it is usually serviced locally. I see no problem with a tech repairing an item on the other side of the world if proper original parts are sent from manufacturer. I am not defending the company but we hear from 2 or 3 users when there are 100's performing in the field with no troubles or troubles that are dealt with satisfactorily. I guarantee that if you look at many of the HIFI serving companies you will see incredibly poor service in many instances with some outright fraud involved sometimes. It happens that Romy in his quest for an electricity solution finds an acceptable one. An internet skimmer having troubles and feels hurt. They look to kick back in the balls and posts their first post to do so. I feel for Adrian. Something does seem wrong there. I would think it does not need to be spelled out here but at some point I hope he posts that he has satisfactorily received a replacement.

 This being a thread on electricity I will say my most appreciated aspect of the Purepower is how close it allows you to listen in the nearfield, closer than ever possible from the wall. Adding this with all other aspects mentioned in this thread.
04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
PurePower
Ayr, ON
Posts 44
Joined on 05-26-2009

Post #: 1129
Post ID: 19281
Reply to: 19272
Ground loops and humming and AC power
fiogf49gjkf0d
 SOS wrote:
What about this issue of humming, this is a reoccurring theme that has not been addressed. Even my own 2000+ unit I sold to a gentleman that owned an original 2000 unit who said he would be able to figure the issue out had the humming issue and to date has not been able to stop the new 2000+ from this concern. I've yet to hear or see a report from any customer who has been happy with one of these newer plus units. 

Hum is one big nuisance in audio.  It is frustrating that we have sometimes been blamed for hum that occurs after the installation of a PurePower unit. The typically scenario is that a customer installs a new PurePower and is happy about the performance, but when they play from their phono sources they encounter speaker hum.
When they go back to their old utility power, it disappears. When they plug all their components into the PurePower and leave the phono on the wall outlet everything is perfect. They jump to the seemingly obvious conclusion - something in the PurePower AC causes the hum. But it isn't the correct technical conclusion. The actual cause is a faulty ground system. Put the PurePower unit into the system, ground loop hum appears. Remove it, ground loop hum disappears. 
We see this phenomenon occasionally - usually with high efficiency speakers and very sensitive sources. Anecdotally I can report that we have seen three cases in our last one hundred installations. One of them has been thoroughly reported here by Steve. Typically he found the PurePower performed to his liking - except for the speaker hum when he used his phono input. The hum did not appear when he plugged the phono source into the wall. He eventually sold his PurePower unit because of the hum - in spite of the advice we and others provided suggesting he had a grounding problem that needed to be resolved.  Another was in the studio of a high end audio (and PurePower) dealer who immediately recognized the cause and resolved the problem by adjusting his interconnects. A third was a customer who felt his interconnects system couldn't possibly be the cause and decided not to buy our product. 
There are numerous proofs that the actual culprit is a ground loop. The first is the fact that we have successfully solved the problem in customer systems by finding and curing ground faults. It can be easier said than done - but with a methodical enough diagnostic procedure it is possible to find and remove the problem ground faults. 
In one case it was easy to show the AC power was not the cause because the problem only occurred in one channel. It was unlikely that something in the PurePower output affected only one channel.
Another proof is that the addition of a second PurePower unit feeding the phono side will also cure the problem.  If the cause of the hum was somehow a function of the PurePower AC output the hum should have remained.
Another definitive test is to place a small isolation transformer in front of the phono section. It often cures the problem by creating a new ground.
There are numerous good references to help understand and eliminate grounding problems. A search for ground loops on Google will yield so many results that the subject can be studied for days on end.
04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1130
Post ID: 19282
Reply to: 19278
The Mark
fiogf49gjkf0d
PP, before you question my assumptions, have you actually read the user accounts of your products in this long thread?  I think there may be 1 account of a customer who did not want to return a unit for some reason or another, except, later, he did want to return it for something or other.  I can't remember now, but if he uses a class D amp, he is "out of the loop", in any case.

Certainly, any amp "performs better when the AC supply is an exact, reliable voltage, day in and day out".  Sure, 120V, 60 Hz suits me fine, and any number of "regenerators" on the market claim and some even meet this specification.  Would that it were so simple.  As for your service after the sale, I would rather be miab (in Canada) than hifigirlgeek (in NZ), or manisander (in UK), or even montepilot or drdna (in USA).  The list goes on...

Best regards,
Paul S
04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
drdna
San Francisco, California
Posts 526
Joined on 10-29-2005

Post #: 1131
Post ID: 19283
Reply to: 19281
Damage Control
fiogf49gjkf0d
I think is a bit sad to see a company representative that chimes in only on the defensive in an attempt to do a little damage control and spin things in a positive light in the hopes that potential customers visiting this site are not dissuaded from making a purchase from APS. If it were true, and I do not believe it to be the case, that "98%" of customers were entirely satisfied, the we here at this site are an elite group! -- in the sense that we must be exceptionally unlucky since nearly all of us who purchased PurePower units encountered some issues with them. The odds of this occurring are quite small, and I now feel a weekend trip to Las Vegas may be in order to cash in on our being able to beat the odds. 

I admit that the original product was a good one. It performed well in my system, as you can see if you look back on my old comments. There was a minor hum issue. I did not previously have hum in my system, and only unplugging the PurePower unit cured the problem. On batteries, the background was dead silent. However, this suggests that the ground loop was IN the Purepower circuitry, since disconnecting the circuit from the wall and forcing the unit to run on batteries instead (different internal circuit) resulted in silence. Still it was never enough to bother me to send it back, although i was promised endless "fixes" from Purepower. Memorably on one occasion, I was promised a replacement circuit would be sent to me with instructions on how to replace it. As I have made the rest of my audio system from scratch, this did not bother me. However -- and perhaps this goes without saying -- nothing ever arrived.

For our APS marketing representative to throw up an amusing series of logical fallacies trying to justify the endemic failures of their devices by hammering away on a singular example of hifigeek's troubles, and wholly ignoring their failures to deliver customer satisfaction across the board is troubling to me. And, yes, it is well known that audiophile companies have a habit of having poor customer service, but this does not excuse APS. Rather, they should re-double their efforts to customer satisfaction and quality control so the incidence of failure of their Purepower units in the field is reduced to a respectable level.

Adrian
04-19-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Romy the Cat


Boston, MA
Posts 10,156
Joined on 05-28-2004

Post #: 1132
Post ID: 19284
Reply to: 19280
Truth is somewhere in the middle
fiogf49gjkf0d
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I do not believe that PP2000 shall be treated as appliances.  Purepower units are complex machinery and they have to be serviced only by Purepower technicians. I would never agree to have an external person to touch any of my units. Perhaps Purepower might be more cautious with implementing design ideas and test them. However, let to be realistic – those types of machines are fragile, particularly if they did not pass the blowtorch design. Go to PS Audio forum and read about reliability of PS Audio Power Plants. They break all time and particularly the newer models. I had 5 Power Plants in past and I was very close with PS Audio support folks – I know what I am taking about. The Purepower units by design are way more fragile and more capricious then PS Audio regenerators – it comes from the topology what the load is essentially in the feedback loop. The PS Audio units pretty much does not care what it drives, the Purepower does.  Does it mean that Purepower units could not be made more stable? Of cause it could and I think it should.  

Ironically this thread is not about Purepower but about the electricity cure. The reputation of Purepower as the company and even the Purepower as the products is very secondary. I had some very big names in audio did very piss poor job. I remember when I bought a brand new preamps from a manufactures that everyone kiss in the ass nowadays and who IS very reliable. The very next day I returned the used as I detected a very distinctive silver sound in the unit. The manufacture admitted that because I was such a good person he put for me a very expensive silver cable between board and  RCAs. After another week I retune the unit sounded as it had cold soldering. The manufacture re-solder the whole unit and the problem was gone. I was using that preamps for a few year and it was very good then.  Well, it was model 3 or 4 of the initial production... it happens….

What I am trying to say is that the most interesting thing in Purepower is its Sound, well when it operates properly. Does it worth to you to play the lottery with Purepower unpredictability? I do not have the answer and everyone desired to yourself. Also, I am not in the business of selling the Purepower to the reader of this site, I very much do not care what you buy or use. What I do care is your expressions about the sound you get if you do use Purepower. Sadly, no one besides me talk about it.

The whole story about Purepower to be more reliable or less reliable is a bit ridicules to me. Purepower sells with 30 days money back. Try the unit and if it does not work then send it back. No one complained yet, or at least I did not heard, that Purepower does not respect own 30 days rules. So, return the Purepower, post the negative feedback and move over to find something better. This is where I was burned. I just did not come across to anything better. I wish I did but I was not and this is partially why this thread is idle on the Purepower subject.

I do think that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The Purepower has to be more careful with promises, datelines and support but the customers need to be a bit more intelligent with this complains. In my software world when I design a system and somebody complain that something does not work but not able to express what, when and how I uselessly treat the complain as “needs to ripe”.

The caT


"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
DaveD
Posts 3
Joined on 01-24-2013

Post #: 1133
Post ID: 19350
Reply to: 19268
PurePower 3000+
fiogf49gjkf0d

It's the old good news bad news situation.  It will no doubt evolve over time, with more good news and less bad news.  Or, one would hope.  More trust and certainty and less crossing of the fingers and baited breath.

I ordered a 1500+ in the summer.  There were numerous 'it's in the next batch out' replies, that never saw fruit.  But, because 2000+ units would be done before 1500+ (due to a lack of boards for the lesser units), I was given a free upgrade to 2000+. Eventually, in the heart of winter, a unit was shipped.  Unfortunately, it was shipped to the wrong person, and could not be rerouted.  When various respiratory illnesses depleted the PurePower work force, I had to wait for another attempt at a unit being shipped to my address. 

A  3000+ actually arrived, a surprise upgrade due to availability of units.  I hurried to hook it up, full of excitement, flush with the 'new toy' syndrome.  When I turned it on, there was a loud buzzing from a fan, so loud that it was present during listening sessions of all listening volumes.  So, I had to send it back to be looked at.  A fan had been dislodged during shipping.  Instead of securing the fan anew, the folks at PP decided to add a new heat sink instead, due to the experimentation performed on another unit that had suffered a similar shipping insult.  I should add that throughout the time the 3000+ was shipped, I had numerous prompt replies with no difficulty, including some sent from the site of CES, when the PP folks were very busy.

The 3000+ was promptly returned.  When I took the unit out of the box however, I could hear a fateful sliding sound. Worse, the unit would not turn on after powering up.  In conversation with folks at PP on the phone, I opened the unit.  Connecters had been uncoupled, explaining why the controls wouldn't work and why things wouldn't power up.  Why had that occurred?  The screws holding one large board down had not been put back after having been removed at the PP facilities during repair work.  That meant a visit to Lowes, a purchase of screws, and my own final assembly.

The end of the story (so far)?  The unit is very quiet now.  It functions fine.  The system sound better than before, when I was using a nice Jena labs power conditioner.  Unfortunately, I've never used a 2000 or a 3000 for comparison.

05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Romy the Cat


Boston, MA
Posts 10,156
Joined on 05-28-2004

Post #: 1134
Post ID: 19351
Reply to: 19350
Care to share more?
fiogf49gjkf0d
Dave,

thanks for the story.  Might I ask you to talk more about the sound of the unit? What kind of equipment you use on it? I do not mean the brand/models but it is SS, tube, type of powers supplies, wattage… etc… Did you do decupling test by switching the unit to buttery operation, unplugging it from mains and to seen f you have any change in sound? (You need to do it a few times during the different quality of electricity situation). I would like to hear more about the sonic beefiest and contra- beefiest that PurePower + offer in your view. BTW, does your unit has a long promised bypass switch?


"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
DaveD
Posts 3
Joined on 01-24-2013

Post #: 1135
Post ID: 19352
Reply to: 19351
3000+
fiogf49gjkf0d
Romy,

I don't recall seeing a bypass switch per se, and don't know if the other control functions ofter something equivalent.  I haven't really experimented with the 3000+ much, as my system is in a state of influx, with addition of items (entire cable loom and memory player type of transport) that have similar additive effects of noise reduction, better tonality, better image placement and stability that I am slowly wrapping my brain around.  And, I'm just happy the infernal thing has been working without any glitches.

I am currently using a new NOS dac as well (with my Bidat and other dacs on vacation), and have a 30W tube integrated that does not wear the tubey sound badge on its shoulder. It adds up to a system that is only slightly 'sweet' sounding, but is still musical despite being much more revealing than foregiving.  The amp, dac, transport and separate power supply all plug into the 3000+.  The PP does not change the overall character of the sound.  So far to my ear, it accentuates the better effects of the newer items, without clouding things, dulling leading edges, or so forth.  Things don't sound bolder or louder, so much as they seem cleaner and more refined.  Some recordings (eg Mapleshade blues and jazz) are truly frightening in how much I can 'see' into them now, but I don't know how mauch to attribute that to the 3000+, as I have not felt a need to do analytic A/B kind of gymnastics.

I will need to try the battery only trial at some point.  Thanks for that suggestion.  I had read online exchanges discussing that, but I think it was for the older models, not the '+'.  So it is certainly something to look into.

Regards.
05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1136
Post ID: 19353
Reply to: 19351
Specifics
fiogf49gjkf0d
Dave, thanks for adding some of your PP experience so far.  If you will, I would like to know the makes and models of the gear you plug into the 3000+, in case you are otherwise light on the power supply specs, etc.  It would also be nice to know your sources and listening set-up, and the music you listen to while making your determinations.  While not so "helpful", perhaps, it might be interesting if you contrasted the sound with the PP versus the sound with the Jena Labs conditioner.  If nothing else, why did you switch from the Jena unit?  Lastly, have you daisy chained these units?

Best regards,
Paul S
05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
DaveD
Posts 3
Joined on 01-24-2013

Post #: 1137
Post ID: 19354
Reply to: 19353
3000+
fiogf49gjkf0d

Paul S

I don't have vinyl playback at the moment.  My source is an MSB Platinum Data IV transport with transport power base, fed into a Metrum Hex dac.  The amp is an Ars Sonum Filharmonia.  So there isn't much of a power drain.  Also:  cabling is Skywire 2020.  Cords are Triode Wire labs.

I listen to a wide range over music, sometimes over a very short period of time.  The recording quality varies as much as the music catalog (heavy metal, hard rock, classic rock, blues, jazz, classical, pub rock, obscure rock, progressive, etc.  Basically everything except opera, twangy country, and rap/hip-hop).  One thing I will say, on some albums I would not expect to find recording prowess (eg Dokken for Pete's sake.  Don't ask me why I pulled that out....), with the new addsitions to my system, 3000+ included, I am surprised by interesting things in the musical layering.  Old tracks from Crack the Sky sound much better than the last time I dusted them off.  Blues feels more emotive on some albums, while others almost seem too clean and respectful now.  Might Sam McClain almost seems too clear and too well oriented for me to enjoy in the same manner I did before, as I last listened to his stuff when my system playback was compact and spacially limited (I suspect that is more to the dac and transport than the 3000+).  But, some tracks are better sounding, and in any case, his voice sounds much more 'real.'I'm still trying to figure out what I hear on Orchestral pieces and Chamber music.  African jazz with various drums really is more attention getting for me personally with the new additions (which threatens to make me listen analytically rather than sit back and enjoy).  Overall:  well recorded albums can in some circumstances sound tremendous. Middle-of-the road recordings can sound very good, but in some instances disappoint, sounding 'different' at first, or simply not sounding terribly better.  Some bad recordings sound slightly  better, but some just seem differently bad.  So, all of the improvements can't polish a turd, and I would guess that the 3000+ individulally is no different.

I tried out a PP product because I was intrigued by the hood opinions I read.  The improvements I mentioned are the improvements that happened after switching from the Jena to the PP, but also switching everything else mentioned at the same general time.  Eventually, when things settle down, I will try the Jena again by itself.  I will also try out the daisy chain approach.  I had initially considered that idea, but forgot about it.  Thanks for refreshing my memory!

Sorry I can't be more specific this time.  I bit off a lot to chew when I got stung by the upgrade bug, and really only have a sense of better sonic characterics getting even better with the 3000+.  I couldn't say with certainty that anyone else with a different sounding system would receive similar benefits.

05-14-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1138
Post ID: 19355
Reply to: 19354
Please Share Again When You Are Ready
fiogf49gjkf0d
Thanks Dave.  Sounds like you have indeed bitten off a lot to chew on.  At this point you might be describing cable swaps, etc.  I hope you will share again when you are more comfortable with your set-up, since - for all the sharing - no one but Romy has so far attempted rigorous, sound-based, targeted reviews of these devices.  I had hoped, and still hope, for something that contrasts the sound itself with and without the device in line; in other words, how does this device affect/launder the electricity and the sound, itself.  This would of course require a good sense of the sonic effects of bad electricity, for starters, and then the ability to hear and describe the differences the PP makes.  Obviously, if this were so simple we would have more of it here by now.  While I have long suspected a certain "smoothing to consistency", "dither" effect, I have yet to run across one of these units, and I remain loath to put the money in play as a matter of hopeful speculation, which feeling has only been bolstered by experiences shared in this thread.

Best regards,
Paul S
06-03-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1139
Post ID: 19425
Reply to: 19355
The Occasional Gift, and New/Old Possibilities
fiogf49gjkf0d
Go figure, but today I got to enjoy my rebuilt phono cartridge for several hours, once the system got up to cruise temperature.  The sound's been better, but not for a L-O-N-G time, and I have no idea what "worked" this time, what might be different than usual, which now means bad, around here.

Yesterday  the power was as usual and I was poking around looking for false hope, and I found this, linked from the EquiTech site, by way of A-Gon:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/equitech/1.html

One thing I remember is that everything in Hollyweird is "balanced", as are most recording industry studios around the world.  I once asked a "pro" friend why this was so and he looked at me like I was a Moron and said, "Noise..." (like, duuuhh...).  Yes, the proffered link is part of 6 Moons; but it is also the most accessable explanation I have seen/heard of the balanced power concept.  Now I'm wondering: although all my gear is set up for balanced IC, which of my active pieces will and which will not run off balanced AC?


Paul S
06-03-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Romy the Cat


Boston, MA
Posts 10,156
Joined on 05-28-2004

Post #: 1140
Post ID: 19427
Reply to: 19425
Equi=Tech Review.
fiogf49gjkf0d
Indeed a good review. The author in my view spent too much time promoting the theoretical benefits of symstrick power. I do not degree with all those theoretical justifications and the very practical natural nose rejections of symmetric power but it has very little to do with practicality of good sound. From theoretical perspective we shall not be worry about HF noise at as any of our power transformer with metal cord is super-strong low pass filter that roll very steep at ~600Hz. It is not to mention that we use DC everywhere… The reality as we all know is different.

I do not like when people who write review recite the given to them manufactured infomercials. Why the author spent time and time to talk about the current inrush if he uses Tenor Amplifier that operates in class A and draw constant current? Also, all those stories about the super transformer (winded in China for Equi=Tech by Maryland Toroidals), 99.97 oxygen-free copper, F-18 hornet cockpit and , 30dB  noise rejection at from 100kHz up to 2GHz and the rest crap…. is it all for kids.

I do question the sonic findings on the review. I did have 3 Equi=Tech units and my findings were different. For sure from the sonic description that Mike Makinovsky provides it looks like Equi=Tech works for him, the degree how it works still unknown. What I would do if I were him is to bring home my PP2000. I would be very interesting if he find the introduction of PP2000 into his Equi=Tech handed power supply will do any difference. The reasoning on my would be is very simple: if the Equi=Tech good sounding electricity then the introduction of my PP2000 would not change anything or will make sound worse, right? I bet that if Mike Makinovsky did try the PP2000 then he would recognize the differences and if the positive difference did exist then the question would be: can PP2000 do all job alone.

Equi=Tech, sells honestly and extend 30 days money back, at least they did in past.  You might try them. A word of warning: all 3 Equi=Tech devised that I had sound drastically different from each other, I have no idea why.


"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
06-03-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1141
Post ID: 19433
Reply to: 19427
Something Odd...
fiogf49gjkf0d
Yes, Romy, it is certainly an info-mercial first, with all the usual flash/buzz "facts" in play.  Also, although all "studios" I know of are "balanced", many of the "hot-rod" studio guys also use all sorts of "power conditioneers".  For one thing, it is not a given that a piece of equipment will run properly off balanced power.  For another thing, if they are using balanced power in the first place, then why do they need the power conditioners?

The thing I found most interesting in the piece was the explanation about contamination of the neutral/ground wire by the gear that's on the line.  Although this gibes with my own experience, it hardly addresses those rare days when the electricity is good and I simply get a free pass on all the theoretical BS, like none of it is happening at that time, or who cares if it is, since it doesn't hurt the sound at the time.

Best regards,
Paul S
06-05-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Romy the Cat


Boston, MA
Posts 10,156
Joined on 05-28-2004

Post #: 1142
Post ID: 19442
Reply to: 2931
A new PurePower 3000+
fiogf49gjkf0d

The PurePower folks visited recently a couple of my local audio guys and brought with them the new units. With all my admiration of their products, I was kind of if not skeptical but caution.  I told to Bill that if he tried the new PurePower 3000+ unit and if they do not blow then he needs to let me know. Furthermore, we had an agreement that if he feels that if it worth listening the new PurePower 3000+ next to my PurePower 3000 then he would let me know. Bill called and told me that I definitely need to hear the new unit…. to my pleasure and in a way to my disappointment.  Pleasure is to know that allegedly the new units do sound interesting compare to the older units. Disappointment is that now I need to go over the pain to evaluate the new units and to get some bottom of PurePower+ sound.

Well, to make the long story short I have in my listening room a lender of the brand new PurePower 3000+ and I am looking at it for 2 days, not pluging it in. I sent Amy tonight to play her quartets and was planning to give to the new PurePower 3000+ some listening but then deseeded to spend some quietly time with myself, not harassing my ears with audio frustrations.  So, it is an evening of tranquility with no concerns of electricity…

I met PurePower’s Richard and his wife. He did some listening in my room but we did not pay with their new units. Richard told about the company, history, the problems they had, plans, straggles, how they dealt with all many issues that a typical for small scale high-end manufacture. They are foe sure in tough business. PurePower is not Magico. They are not rich industrial investors who just found out that they now can cash on “making audio”. They are pretty much a family business who does it fully-wasted, considering the industry and considering the complexity of this product I would not like to be in their shoes…

Richard did not strike me as somebody who was looking for any advanced musical or audio interests. He was rather practical, business-oriented person, which is perfectly fine. He did demonstrated quite high confidence in his new unit, which was very nice to see.

There was a very interesting conversation. I persisted that PurePower pretty much accidently has that wonderful sound and I had a concern if the new unit might not have it.  Richard insisted that they have a very precise and very accurate vision what in power regenerator make it to sound right. He stressed that the new unit is not only the Chinese version made in Canada, incased into two chassis with a few minor semi-cosmetic improvements but the further advancement of PurePower’s vision. He state that they played with a few key operational parameter and they feel that what they have achieved crates a condition for much better sound. The statement of cause is very loaded and at this point I have no idea if it relates to any reality.

I have today a day off and I think I will be playing with the new PurePower+. I am a bit skeptical as I have no specific power frustration as now and the playback sound spectacular (after my stupid last night “fix”:  http://www.GoodSoundClub.com/TreeItem.aspx?PostID=19438). The most encouraging to me feature of the new PurePower+ unit that it has bypass switch, wish is economically feasible to have as I run my SS units all time and I would like to leave it on in bypass mode, activating the regeneration only when I am listening. I was begging PurePower for this feature for years and now they do have it.

The Cat


"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
drdna
San Francisco, California
Posts 526
Joined on 10-29-2005

Post #: 1143
Post ID: 19446
Reply to: 19442
Never Received my PP3000+
fiogf49gjkf0d
Gosh,A personal visit from Richard! I'd love to hear more, Romy. Richard has sent me so many e-mails promising to send me my PP3000+ replacement unit from the next batch of units he makes, but of course he says that every time, and has been doing so for what is now literally years. I would love to also be able to report back on the sound of the new and improved PP3000+, except that I have never received it.Adrian
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Romy the Cat


Boston, MA
Posts 10,156
Joined on 05-28-2004

Post #: 1144
Post ID: 19447
Reply to: 19446
I think it is all about waiting.
fiogf49gjkf0d
 drdna wrote:
Gosh,A personal visit from Richard! I'd love to hear more, Romy. Richard has sent me so many e-mails promising to send me my PP3000+ replacement unit from the next batch of units he makes, but of course he says that every time, and has been doing so for what is now literally years. I would love to also be able to report back on the sound of the new and improved PP3000+, except that I have never received it.

Adrian, as you understand I am not in position to talk on behave of Pure Power and I do not know your situation. However, as many other thing with Pure Power - it is about waiting. From what I understood since they move the production to Canada never were able to keep the production up to demand and they were working to make the in-house production more technological. I think it is new field for them and it took some time to develop necessary capacity to do it. I perfectly can relate to it.  Reportedly they recently did get those methodologyes and staring from this summer they supposedly will be able to produce the PP3000+ way more sufficiently. As a result, as they have more units in their hands, I presume they will be able to address their replacement debts with you. I think that all might be very much true as why would Richard otherwise go out of his closet now? I presume that Pure Power’s visit of their dealers, reviewers and me in New England is a sign they begin to feel very comfortable about themselves, which is very nice to all of us.

You will be surprised but I did not try the PP3000+. IT is sitting in my room for 3 days unpacked. Amy, have asked me why I am so strange about it and why I do not try it. This is an odd feeling but I keep postpone it. I think this end of the week will be very much the PP3000+ week.

The Cat


"I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
PurePower
Ayr, ON
Posts 44
Joined on 05-26-2009

Post #: 1145
Post ID: 19448
Reply to: 19446
Slow replacements
fiogf49gjkf0d
Hi Adrian,
We look forward to your receipt of a shiny new PurePower+ 3000 as much as you do. You are one of about a dozen customers who had our previous 2nd generation units in need of repair under warranty.
We had, for obvious reasons,  severed our relationship with the Taiwan outfit to whom we had outsourced our production, so we exhausted our supply of certain replacement parts and were able to offer a  repair only service. To fulfill our responsibilities to our customers, we offered to replace any faulty or unrepairable in-warranty old model with a brand new PurePower+ equivalent. We were certain this could be accomplished in a timely manner, but as it turns out it could not. 
The amount of hand building in the new 3rd generation models resulted in a production speed that left us unable to produce enough PurePower+ product to both meet our minimum delivery requirements and supply timely warranty replacements.
We tried to keep all affected customers advised of our progress and to reassure them that we were determined to make good on the loss of enjoyment of their PurePower regenerators - but a year is a long time to keep their faith alive. 
We understand their impatience, and we share their frustration. If we had been able to increase production to supply all outstanding back orders more quickly we would have done so. The demand for PurePower+ products has been more than double our ability to deliver.
There is good news to report.
We have just begun production with vastly streamlined assembly methods and will be able to meet any expected demand. Adrian will receive a brand new PurePower+ 3000 by the end of June. We expect it will take until late July to fulfill all remaining service replacements, but Adrian is near the top of the FIFO ordered list. 





06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
George
Posts 26
Joined on 03-23-2005

Post #: 1146
Post ID: 19449
Reply to: 19448
Balanced Power
fiogf49gjkf0d
I have two balanced 240V/120V Equitech 3kVA step down transformers at the head of my system feeding my two breaker boxes.

I have emailed PurePower several times over the last year asking if their units can accept 120V balanced power (+60V/-60V). I always received a prompt reply that they would check into it and get back to me. Unfortunately they never have.

As PurePower seems to be back in the market perhaps they could make a definitive reply as to whether their units accept balanced power. If yes perhaps also they could comment as to whether there would be any advantage to supplying balanced power to their units.

Thank you.
George
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
Paul S
San Diego, California, USA
Posts 2,657
Joined on 10-12-2006

Post #: 1147
Post ID: 19450
Reply to: 19449
What Problems Do You Hope To Solve?
fiogf49gjkf0d
George, since you have been using the Equi=Tech units for a while now, what do you like about them, and will you compare the sound you get with and without them?  Also, what do you not like about electricity with the Equi=Tech units in place, that you hope the PP will improve on?

Best regards,
Paul S
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
PurePower
Ayr, ON
Posts 44
Joined on 05-26-2009

Post #: 1148
Post ID: 19451
Reply to: 19449
Balanced input for regenerated power.
fiogf49gjkf0d
Hi George,We did find an email response from Damian to you in early 2010, suggesting that we could think of no technical reason that a PurePower unit would have a problem with +/- 60 volt input. We routinely operate our 230 volt models with two phase +/- 120 volt input.

06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
George
Posts 26
Joined on 03-23-2005

Post #: 1149
Post ID: 19453
Reply to: 19451
Balanced Power
fiogf49gjkf0d
 PurePower wrote:
...suggesting that we could think of no technical reason that a PurePower unit would have a problem with +/- 60 volt input.



So you do not know if it will work or not. I see now why I have not bought a PurePower.
06-06-2013 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree
George
Posts 26
Joined on 03-23-2005

Post #: 1150
Post ID: 19454
Reply to: 19450
Balanced Power
fiogf49gjkf0d
 Paul S wrote:
George, since you have been using the Equi=Tech units for a while now, what do you like about them, and will you compare the sound you get with and without them?  Also, what do you not like about electricity with the Equi=Tech units in place, that you hope the PP will improve on?

Best regards,
Paul S


Hello Paul,

I find these type of questions very difficult to answer. I bought my first Equi=Techs in 1995, not too long after they introduced them to the audiophile community. I do not think there were too many other options at the time. I replaced my old units in 2001 when I moved. As we were doing remodeling it gave me the opportunity to listen with and without the Equi=Techs. Dedicated lines made a big difference and the Equi=Techs added a certain refinement. Really I think all you can do is listen with and without and make your decision. The next guy may make the opposite choice. In 5 years you may make the opposite choice. I am actually curious what my system today would sound like without Equi=Techs but given how integrated they are into the system it is not worth the trouble for me to bypass them.

I also run a parallel H/T system. I have replaced seven switching PSUs with linear PSU's (the only switching PSUs that remain in the system is projector and sat receiver which I am working on). To me the audio improvement was significant. Other listeners don't know what I am going on about, ie, what I heard was unimportant to them.

Today there are many balanced transformers available other than Equi=Tech. I have read you can pick up used medical grade transformers very cheaply. Perhaps you could pick up one of these and see what effect it has on your system to your ears.

George
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