Cable for my amp.

I do not doubt that regenerators do a nice job cleaning up the power or like you say in dirty power areas such as yours and NYC. I can tell you the Hydra does not choke the amp. I am surprised to what it does to be honest. Trust me when I say this, I was very skeptical of any power conditioners, regenerators, etc... for a long time till I tried my buddies Hydra 4 with a Copperhead PC. I was quite shocked at the results. Do me a favor and try or borrow one if possible and let me know what you think? I don't think they would be selling as well as they do if they did not work IMO.

Samzx12 -- your choice of words:

do a nice job cleaning up the power

tells me I'm not being clear enough. Power conditioners "clean up" power (power regenerators don't need to) by filtering EMI and RFI out of wall power. Add a (current limiting) circuit breaker to protect from lightening strikes (yeah right!) and it's a finished product. For example, here are the specs for the Hydra 8, their best unit:

Trident Defense System
1.) • Shunyata VENOM noise-reduction filters (16 elements):
These are wire-wound chokes to take out line noise from refrigerator motors, etc.
2.) • Patented FeSi-1002 noise-reduction compounds: These are nothing more than ferrite chokes for RFI. Patented iron? I don't think so ;--)
3.) • 8 cryogenic treated Shunyata SR-Z1 outlets: Must be why it's Hydra 8! What, Ever, there's outlets and there's outlets!
4.) • Four isolated individually filtered circuits: Code for 4 duplex outlets, the 8 outlets (total) already mentioned
5.) • Massive cryogenic grade CDA-101 copper buss array: So they froze 2 copper strips and attached the 4 duplex outlet to them. Whoopee!
6.) • Advanced hydraulic electromagnetic circuit breaker: I'm not sure what the hell this is. Maybe it just makes a SOFT pop when it blows because it's hydraulic! CBs are like fuses and they limit current. They belong in your electrical panel, not in your audio chain. Your equipment already has fuses in it (unfortunately) so you don't want any more!
7.) • 2400 watt / 20-amp power rating: Only if it's attached to a 20A wall outlet with 20A AC and IEC plugs. In fact, the Shunyata PCs have 15A AC plugs on them standard, otherwise they wouldn't work in most folks homes.
8.) • Dual chassis -- all aluminum case: Thats nice, I guess.

OK, so my point is, the only parts that are doing anything are items #1 and #2. Item #6 it would be better to leave off. The rest is just fluff and cool-sounding copy. A massive rip-off IMO.

Regenerators, by comparison, don't CLEAN up the power. They CREATE new power, which is clean to begin with. So they don't really need all these little beads, and coils and filters. And although they all must be fused to meet UL requirements, they don't require circuit breakers or diodes to protect your equipment. When the AC-matching amplifier feedback loop senses a voltage spike, it simply tells the amplifier to shut down. Instantly. No muss, no fuss, no continuous current limiting.

By the way, just for general info, one reason some equipment (like the Hydras) aren't sold with PCs (or with just junk PCs) is that to get UL approval, any shielded PCs sold with electronic equipment must have the shield attached to the ground pin at both ends of the cord. Do you know what that means? It means INSTANT GROUND LOOP! So most manufacturers hope you'll just go out and buy a 10AWG PC with a floating shield.
.

thx heaps Nsgarch. you certain know your stuff!

well, I have a Hydra 4 (borrowed) sitting in my house and I would do some serious listening and see.

unfortunately, i dont know anyone who owns a EP15A.

Nsgarch:
how much would I expect to pay for a new or near new EP15A???

Sam:
what's your opinion on ML 331 compared to 27.5??? cos I read review that 331 (supposedly) do everything a 27 and 27.5 do and more.

YY, I bought my EP-15A and my SP-15A used for $1075 and $930 respectively (great deals both of them ;--) There are 2 used EPs for sale on the Gon right now. The higher priced one is a newer model which comes with 2 digitally filtered outlets (for your CDP.) The cheaper one could be sent back to the factory for a no-charge upgrade. (my advice: offer $1100 for the cheaper one and send it to Chatsworth CA for the upgrade. It's a light weight unit and won't cost much to ship.) MSRP is around $2500 I think.

Here's an AgoN discussion on the Exactpower units:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1123946553&openfrom&1&4#1

Except for the 33H (still in production) the best amps Mark Levinson has made so far are:

20.5
20.6
23.5
27.5
33

The 20, 23, 27 are good units, more like today's 300 and 400 series. But they don't use teflon PCBs and upgraded components, and just don't have that special sparkle and effortless presentation of the ".5" versions. I use my 23.5 with CLS electrostats, and they sound allllllmost as good as they did with ARC tube amps ;--)
.

YY what powercord do you have with the Hydra? I think the EP15A's are like ~$1400 or higher? Look here at A'gon because I think there is 1 or 2 used? I do not have the budget for these higher end conditioners/regenerators. Personally I like my Hydra and what it does. There is a noticable difference with it in. If you have the Hydra 4 then decide for yourself. The Hydra 2 to me is a little more laid back or softer sounding to my ears. The Hydra 4 was a great match for the 27. I think you will like it. I did for sure.

I have never had a 331 in my system but had a buddies 331.5 which is a factory upgrade ($2000) of the 331. It is suppossed to be 2/3's a 334. It sounded very nice with good detail and dynamics. Just a more refined amp. We compared it to my 29. The .5 was all around better but both had the Levinson house sound. It was not a huge difference but noticable. I would love to have a 334 but that is out of my reach right now.

The 331 will outperform the 27 in my opinion. As far as the 27.5 versus a 331 it is hard to say because I did not have one(331) here for comparison. I have listened to a 331 in another system with similiar speakers I have and it sounded very good. Hell it should but some people say the 27.5 is a better sounding amp than the 300 series ML amps. The 331 looks much better for sure. I think they are gorgeous amps. One of the best looking amps ever IMO. The 27.5 price has been going up in value so I think that speaks for itself. I would be happy with either to tell you the truth but if I had to choose I would say the 27.5. Do a search on the 331 and see what you think. Audioreview.com has lots of reviews on both. I like a SS amp with a tube preamp.