Tweakers' Asylum: REVIEW: PS Audio Soloist w/Power Port Premier Power Conditioner/Surge Protector by Longplayer1946

Model:	Soloist w/Power Port Premier
Category:	Power Conditioner/Surge Protector
Suggested Retail Price:	$250
Description:	Installation of Power Port Premier in Soloist
Manufacturer URL:	PS Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by Longplayer1946 on March 04, 2010 at 21:49:18
IP Address: 74.74.220.184 Add Your Review
for the Soloist w/Power Port Premier

When I first got wind of the new Power Port Premier I shot off an email to Paul McGowan suggesting that he incorporate it in the Soloist In-Wall power conditioner. In stead, he sent me one to install myself. I suspect he knew it would not be easy, but soon thereafter he began offering such an upgraded Soloist to customers for a $50 upcharge—some of them purportedly modified by Paul himself. I wonder if he autographed them on the internal plastic shielding.

Having peeked into the Soloist when I originally reviewed it, I knew it would not be an easy swap. It is packed tight. Nano filters are not as nano as you might think. I conveniently misplaced the outlet for quite some time until my guilt surpassed the dreaded task of installation. Knowing the job could be done, but not knowing how, I proceeded with caution trying to figure out the sequence of dis-assembly so I could reverse the process.

The screw for the Power Port Premier ground wire had been slightly relocated and the ground wire could not be attached as it was originally configured. I had to cut off a hard plastic crimped-on sheath in order to bend the wire to fit the new pathway. A little black electrical tape provided protection without the bulk. Aligning the outlet directly above the solid copper rods before shoving it straight down over them was another skill I had to acquire. All of this was done with the awareness that if I broke something, I had no spare parts. And I didn’t know which parts, if any, were vulnerable. I’ll spare you the tales of my frustration and just say that perseverance paid off and the tiny green light came on. I’m quite sure the conversion was much easier for Paul and his team than it was for this novice.

I had spun through my compilation CD before I began the surgery, but at least an hour, maybe two, had passed before I was ready to plug it back into the JPS Labs dedicated line. At first I wasn’t sure if there was any improvement at all, but like many things in audio, it took some time to break in. Without a second Soloist, there was no way I could do an A/B comparison and I was certainly not about to reinstall the original Power Port. About twenty minutes into the music I began to notice some definitive improvement and by the end of the CD I was falling asleep in the listening chair, well past bedtime. Over night the digital front end and the tuner continued to draw current thought the newly installed outlet.

The next night I experienced the fruits of my labor and the enhancement brought by the Power Port Premier. It was across the board and over the top and continued to improve over the next few days. The fit and finish of the Power Port Premier is several notches above the original Power Port that we have come to love both in wall sockets and the various PS Audio power conditioners. All the beefing up, all the polishing, all the gold plating has paid off.

At the risk of evoking uncontrollable laughter from the electrons in my rig, let me suggest that what happens here is the smoother transitioning of electrical current from the dedicated line to the power cord resulting in a lower noise floor which then gets lowered even further by the power conditioner in the Soloist. Maybe this is what other writers and manufacturers have described as the reduction of eddy currents when talking about various other connectors. The evidence for this reads like a round-up of all the typical audiophile clichés: blacker background, lower noise floor, improved dynamics, greater focus, less grain, smoother highs, less overshoot on the attack of notes resulting in less distortion, smoother sustain, improved soundstaging, etc. The most appreciated benefit in my value set was the improvement in micro dynamics and inner detail which were a consequence of the improved transparency. It took a lot less energy to imagine I was listening to live performances, or was present in the recording studio. Overall, the improvements are a bargain at the $50 upcharge over the original Soloist which itself is a real bargain. Does it turn the world upside down? No, but in a league where significant upgrades frequently cost thousands of dollars, when one comes along that costs $50, $100, or in this case $250 for the refined Soloist, I urge you to sit up and take notice…and maybe ask Paul to sign one for you.

When the music’s over…

Under normal circumstances, this would be the end of the review, but the music isn’t over, so don’t turn out the lights quite yet. You see, Paul actually sent me two Power Port Premiers. I think it was a set-up. He probably plays chess several moves in advance which is why PS Audio is one of the healthiest companies in the High End in these difficult economic times.

With the second Power Port Premier I set out to evaluate its contribution as a replacement for an ordinary outlet. Well…not quite ordinary. If you’re reading this review you probably already utilize at least Spec Grade wall outlets and quite likely have a 20 amp dedicated line of 12-2WG Romex copper wire, union made in the USA. If not, I suggest you at least go out and buy the wire now before the price of copper drives it into the category of Major Components. As it happened, I installed just such a dedicated line as a control for my review of the JPS Labs In-Wall 30 amp dedicated line in 2002. (You might want to consider installing a 30 amp dedicated line if your rig draws lots of current.) The Romex line was terminated in a two-gang junction box that was screwed into the floor behind my equipment rack in order to meet the building code. I used spec-grade outlets so by swapping one of them out for the Power Port Premier I could A/B them by running my CD transport and DAC first through one, then the other. Spec grade outlets are much beefier than builders typically supply in standard wall outlets and seem to offer about as tight a grip as the Power Port Premier. But the spec-grade is not quite as beefy and not nearly as finely polished as the PPP. Nor does it have gold plating at a mere $6.49 to $14.00. Technologically, it is not in the same league.

I started first with the digital front end plugged into the Power Port Premier and reviewed my compilation CD. The music sounded almost as good as it did with the digital front end plugged into the PS Audio Quintessence Power Center which was plugged into the converted Soloist. While that may sound suspicious, or suggest the Quintessence didn’t contribute much to the quality of the music, follow my trail. Next, I moved the plugs for the digital front end over into the spec-grade outlet on the Romex dedicated line and reviewed the CD once again. To my bewilderment, the music didn’t seem to loose much quality this time either. But as I typically do, I reversed the sequence and went back to the Power Port Premier and ultimately back to the digital front end plugged into the Quintessence. Moving up the ladder the music improved in easily identified steps. I guess it goes back to the observation about errors of omission being less perturbing than errors of commission. Over the years, I have found repeatedly that it is easier for me to recognize improvements than it is to recognize degradation which seems to come with a puzzling question mark that is less easily identified. I ran the same sequence some time later after the second Power Port Premier had sufficient time to burn in. The results were basically the same, except the music was even better through the Power Port Premier than through the spec-grade outlets.

The Question of Value

This brings me around to the question of value. As I said outright, above, the decision to buy the Soloist with a Power Port Premier installed is a wise and economical move. If you already own a Soloist, should you consider adding the Premier outlet? If you’re a competent hands-on kind of guy I would say go for it…especially if you have a second system where you could utilize the displaced Power Port. Replacing a Power Port with a Power Port Premier in a standard outlet box is obviously much easier—except in my case where the box was screwed down to the floor behind my equipment rack where it was difficult to reach and maneuver. Here, it also makes a lot of sense. If you should you be installing a dedicated line for the first time (a very good idea if you haven’t already done so), the answer would be a resounding Yes! In fact, you can even separate the two outlets if you wish to run two dedicated lines to the same location, say one for digital and one for analog, or maybe one for source components and one for a power amplifier.

But the question of value needs to be viewed in a wider scope than just the PS Audio product line. There are other manufacturers who offer similar products with apparently excellent build quality, fit and finish. Oyaide, Furutech and Isoclean which I have seen at shows come to mind, but I have no experience with any of them. The Cable Company has a whole page full of competitors. Many are clustered around the $100 price point of the Power Port Premier and a few shoot for the moon. The Power Port Premier is designed by PS Audio in the USA, but is manufactured in China. Still, it works out to be very reasonably priced given the improvement in the music. Whether the others might surpass its performance is beyond the scope of this review, but it would be interesting to install a handful of competitors in a single power strip and run direct comparisons.

Other suggested reading includes the PS Audio website where the technology of this outlet is differentiated from the norm. Technology such as the metallurgy, the cast contacts (vs. stamped), the electroless gold plating process and the PBT dielectric used in the molded body make for educational reading. Clearly, these guys know what they are doing and their method is cost-effective (for the consumer) and profitable (for the manufacturer). It’s a nice balance.

Summary

While the Power Port Premier is an order of magnitude more expensive than a spec grade outlet, the musical benefit is an order of magnitude greater as well. The gains are far more substantial than an additional $100 spent for any major component (tweaks, aside). It ranks up there with the handful of most cost effective accessories I have reviewed in the past ten years. But it raises an obvious question. If the Power Port Premier is so much better than their original Power Port, why don’t they incorporate it in their power conditioners and Power Plant Premier? Installing the Power Port Premier in the Soloist certainly proves the point. They have raised the bar for their own products. At this point their biggest problem will be to come up with a new name for the upgraded series. In this Olympic year “Gold” comes readily to mind. Go for it, Paul, and while you’re at it, perhaps a Premier grade IEC receptacle for the power input of components, too?

Product Weakness:	Requires a double box (one is supplied with Soloist); will not fit in an existing single outlet box, so some skill is needed to mount it in wall.
Product Strengths:	Improves sound quality.<br>Mounts in wall for easy access to outlets.<br>Benefits entire system if larger power conditioner is plugged into it.<br>Soloist can be used as a small portable power conditioner if an AC plug is affixed to the wires.

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Manley Mahi monoblocks, tweaked
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): CAT SL1 Mk III, tweaked
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Sony ES CDP as transport; Muse Two DAC, both tweaked
Speakers: Tekton Design OB4.5 monitors with S12 subwoofers
Cables/Interconnects: JPS Labs/Kharma Matrix
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Compilation of various music genres
Room Size (LxWxH): 14' x 38' x 8' to 12' front to back
Room Comments/Treatments: Plants, paintings, carpets, lots of stuff
Time Period/Length of Audition: two months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): PS Audio Quintessence
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	Manley Mahi monoblocks, tweaked
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	CAT SL1 Mk III, tweaked
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony ES CDP as transport; Muse Two DAC, both tweaked
Speakers:	Tekton Design OB4.5 monitors with S12 subwoofers
Cables/Interconnects:	JPS Labs/Kharma Matrix
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Compilation of various music genres
Room Size (LxWxH):	14' x 38' x 8' to 12' front to back
Room Comments/Treatments:	Plants, paintings, carpets, lots of stuff
Time Period/Length of Audition:	two months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio Quintessence
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner