Zar, don't worry about the increased power consumption if you are only powering front end components with a p300. The p300 only uses 60 watts at idle. The power consumption of your front end components doubles when they run through the P300. However, their consumption is generally negligable, maybe a 100 watts at most generally. The p300 doesn't run very hot when only powering front end stuff, as there's an 80mm computer fan that runs to cool things off. The fan is the biggest source of annoyance, it's audible in quiet sections of music. I've replaced it once with a quieter fan and am planning to buy a $30 ultra quiet Pabst fan to quiet things further. It's not hard to replace if you're even slightly handy with tools/soldering iron. As to which will give the most improvement, no question, you get what you pay for. The p300 was the biggest improvement I've made in a long time, MUCH more than a tweak. I couldn't imagine not having one in my system now. Usually manufacturers' promises of improvement are liberal parts hyperbole, but I think the Power Plants are the real deal. No BS or hype as far I'm concerned.
