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Synergistic Research Powercell - Does it compare?

I recently watched a video from CES on the S.R Powercell conditioner and wondered how it would compare to other brands(PS audio power plant premier, Monster, Shunyata, Furman.) How is it different in quality, noisefloor, protection??? I had a PS Audio Quintescence and noticed it limmited sound quality, as noted by fellow users with same experience. I do have a full S.R Tesla set-up with a Quattro(12BNC) and have recently ordered an S.R QLS 9 in place of the PS Audio. Would the Powercell be needed in conjunction with the QLS9??? Is the PowercelI a larger version of the QLS??? Any suggestions will be helpfull....THX....

REGARDS Bacardi
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ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,197 posts
 
Hifisoundguy , Arent you the guy who wraps everything in Teflon tape?
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almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Isn't the PS Audio device simply an amplifier with a narrow frequency range?
Hi Bob,

Actually, it's a 60Hz oscillator plus a power amplifier. So what gets amplified is the output of an oscillator powered by a power supply powered by the incoming ac. So in between the ac from the wall and the dc that is supplied to the audio circuits within the audio power amplifier, there are two power supplies/rectifiers/filters instead of one, plus further rejection of incoming noise etc. by the oscillator circuit.

A good idea in principle, but in practice opinions seem to vary. I have no experience with it myself.

Best regards,
-- Al
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almarg
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Hi Bob,

First, in addition to providing noise rejection, I should also have mentioned rejection of harmonic distortion, dc offset, and other low frequency anomalies that are usually present to some degree on ac power.

One way to explain why all of those things get rejected, or at least substantially reduced, would be to say that if we consider the ac power being put out by the regenerator as a signal, the ac power coming in from the wall outlet is not in the signal path, it is only in the path of the regenerator's internal dc power supply.

Basically the 60Hz sine wave put out by the oscillator is generated by the oscillator, and is a different signal than the incoming ac. And the oscillator circuit is not powered by the ac, it is powered by dc created in the regenerator's power supply from the incoming ac, and the rectification and filtering in that power supply result in the dc being a lot cleaner than the incoming ac. And, finally, the oscillator circuit will have additional filtering of its dc power at its specific location, in the form of capacitors.

Visualize a piece of electronic test equipment that generates a 60Hz sine wave, while being powered by ac from the wall. In fact, a cd player playing a cd on which a 60Hz tone is recorded can be considered to be a 60Hz oscillator. Clearly the 60Hz sine wave that it supplies on its output connectors will be a whole lot cleaner than the 60Hz ac that goes into the cdp.

Regards,
-- Al
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