PS Audio Multiwave-good or bad?

I run Multiwave (primarily PS2) on my P300 during listening sessions and shift it to Sin (60 Hz) mode when I'm done to keep electrical costs down (my equipment is on 24/7). If during a listening session I switch back and forth between a Multiwave mode and Sin mode at anywhere between 60 and 90Hz (90 is the best-performing Sin mode with my system), the Sin mode tends to sound less airy and transparent, the soundstage shinks slightly, and the images seem somewhat less palpable. Hope that helps.

I can only use the new multiwave card in the 60 hz. setting and run regular sinewaves. I vary the voltage output from 114 to 116 as displayed on the PS Audio 300. The PS 300 only powers a modified Wadia 861. The card provided a vast improvement in transparency which was apparent upon inital stone cold plug-in. It's hard to believe that a little less circuitry distortion from the new card can make such a difference. It does get better after it runs in over a week or two. Strange, but it does. It allows a deeper look into the soundstage. It removes a vail of soundstage haze from the original card and put more likelike qualities to the instruments and vocalists. My system is pretty hot-rodded and I can't use and of the other settings that the card offers without noticable tonal balance changes and a definate loss of "realistic air" and "subjective speed". The new Rowland model 12's are very, very fast and liquid, and so transparent powering the N801's. All components, even the PS300, rests on its' own vibraplane. Entire system is connected with a King Cobras and Silver and sheilded in-wall wiring. All this helps my system reveal to me all that is happening. No offense intended to others that do benefit from the various settings. I thought the first card to be best in the 60 hz. setting and that is where it stayed. The new multiwave card was listened to extensively on all types of music and I can say without question that my system sounds the most realistic with basic waves and 60 hz. setting. This card is quite awesome in the standard setting, giving me a higher level of realism. It gives me a very high bang for my $250 bucks.

Can't say it any better than the two above. I agree with their responses. I have it in a P300 and a P600. The most immediate thing I noticed was a blacker background allowing you to hear more detail, depth, width, and focus in the soundstage. This is a no brainer improvement to anyone who has a Power Plant.

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.

I am confused?? Is this a Power Amp ???

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.

Actually, although I'm no expert on technical matters, I think Shudsob653 is correct in a way--I think the Power Plants are amplifiers that output a pure 60 hz (or different, depending on if you use multiwave or a different sinewave setting) sinewave. I think that many components with massive outboard power supplies (for example, my JP80MC preamp) use the same principle.

I have two P300s. I have added the MW option to both and noticed *no* further improvement in sound quality (vs. sin mode). Further, some of my equipment gets very noisy if I use the SS1 mode, including noise through the speakers. I like the improvements that the P300s made, just don't think the MW adds anything good on top of the basic sin wave model. Craig Zastera