PS Audio Multiwave-good or bad?


I know a simular thread was written some time ago when the multiwave option was very new, but now hopefully there are many more users. I own the P-300 & am very satisfied with it. I consider it to have made a huge sonic improvement to my system. I'm curious to know what kind of improvement I could expect from the multiwave option. Is it worth the $250.00. Please be specific on the sonic improvements. Thanks in advance...Sagger
128x128sagger
My observations are similar to those above; more air and transparency, more palpability. Also just more of an ease to the presentation. I plug all my digital components into it, and use the PS2 setting, at McGowan's suggestion, because there was too much transformer buzz from my Purcell at the 90 hz setting and I have an air pump for my Forsell transport which probably doesn't like the higher frequencies. I gotta say, this piece is one of the better bargains in high end audio today, and it delivers what the manufacturer claims. And it even was fun installing the new card and chip!
Jim, Tony, Glremo & Rcprince...Thanks so much for describing your experiences in such detail. One thing I'm a little confused on is the PS2 setting. What is it? I'm assuming Sin mode is the original mode (you know...less multiwave). Also it may be helpful to let you know I run a Joule Electra LA 200 preamp & Meridian 506 CD player thru the P-300. I've settled in on the 75 hz setting. I found that with higher settings the presentationg becomes too thin while at lower settings the presentation tends to loose some of it's transparancy air & detail. When you installed the multiwave did you wind up using a different hz setting than what was used on the original unit. Also, (I should have asked this originally)... PS audio claims that the multiwave option will make as much improvement to your system as the original unit did itself. Do you find that to be true???
Actually, the best explanation of the settings is at the PS Audio website. You can bypass the multiwave settings and continue to use the Sin mode, or you can choose a multiwave setting, which as I recall mixes sine waves of different frequencies. The PS2 setting uses 60 hz or multiples thereof, I think, and is the only one they recommend for turntables, tape decks, and (probably) air pumps. The others use sine waves which won't work with those types of motors, so they're different frequencies, I guess. I found a similar effect before I used the multiwave at the 90 hz setting, but the hum from the transformer in my upsampler was too much, so I had to stick with the 60 hz setting. I find that the multiwave upgrade gave me the benefits of additional transparency and air that I got at the 90 hz setting without the drawbacks, but in addition the thinness you refer to, which was more noticable to me above the 90 hz setting but was there to some extent even at 90 hz, was gone--much better as far as harmonic richness, for lack of a better description. Ultimately, to my ears the upgrade was just about as big an improvement as the original unit, particularly since I had to use the original unit only at the 60 hz setting. I also think it's a significant improvement over the 90hz setting that I liked but ultimately couldn't use. Hope this helps.
No... It's the PS Audio power plants (cleans up your power coming in) that we are referring to. Models P-300, P-600, P-1200 ect. You can upgrade by adding the multiwave option. If you don't have a power plant you should get one. You won't be sorry. These things really work unlike some of the competition. Price starts at $995 new or around $750 used & up.