Purepower 2000 & Synergistic Powercell 10SE

I have a Powercell 10SE and one of my best friends has a Purepower 2000. They are both excellent units.

The Purepower is excellent at providing a black background and is unique among battery-powered equipment in that it can handle a 20-amp draw. My buddy Glen uses the new Carver tube monoblocks to drive his Apogee Duetta Signatures and I cannot detect any current limiting or negative effect on dynamics with the 2000 in his system. His system sounds very clean. Plus, it is so cool when he reaches down and unplugs it from the wall while his system plays on.

The Powercell 10SE is in a different leaque though. It will literally transform your system. I recently added the Powercell 10SE to my system, which Glen had heard several times before. He came over a few weeks ago for a listening session and he just sat there with his mouth open, muttering "That's incredible" over and over.

Unfortunately, I have not heard both units in the same system. You can likely arrange an in-home trial for both (talk to Walter at Underwood HIFI for the PurePower and Michael at Vineyard Sound for the Powercell).

Good luck.

Dlockrum, What size are your power amps that are plugged into the SE10?

Krell FPB-600C:
600 w/ch into 8 ohms
1200 w/ch into 4 ohms
2400 w/ch into 2 ohms

Hi Dlcockrum,
Thank you very much for your comment.
I will think about spending $2995(add power cord) vs $5000 for Christmas then.

As I am going to use a 230V version, I have to check further if the Tesla Precision AC power cord has a BS1363 type of plug to the wall.

dlccockrum
is the 10SE the only synergistic component, or did you have to go whole hog w/ cabling all around by SR in order to receive the benefits of the SE? i've read somewhere that the 10se needs to see SR cabling...and my BS-ometer went up.
tia

Hamburger,

The power cord is a big part of making the Powercell work at its potential. The non-SE models come with an off-the-shelf molded power cord that SR will tell you is not optimal for the Powercell (putting it mildly).

The 10SE includes a 32 amp Speakon-connector version of the Precision AC cord (the standard IEC Precision AC is $1800 if added to the non-SE model) and the SE also has a more complete Quantum Tunneling process applied to it than the non-SE models. So, the 10SE is the real "bargain" (I know that is a hard concept to accept at $5k retail) since it includes the higher current Precision AC cord and the additional QT treatment.

Some of the 817 (and counting) posts on the SR cable thread here on Audiogon have discussed this at length. The T3UHC ($1200) with the non-SE Powercell can be used to good effect, but the Precision AC is much better in this application, and the full SE version is better still.

If you will contact Michael at Vineyard Sound, I think he will provide clarity around this and help you make the best decision.

Rhyno,

Yes, I have a fully loomed SR Tesla system. While the Powercell does work best with all Tesla cabling, it will still likely outperform the competition with non-Tesla cords.

See these reviews:

http://dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=26

http://dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=44

Norm Luttbeg (first review) is a friend of mine and I have heard his system several times, both before and after adding the Powercell 10SE. He had a full $17K IsoClean power system in place before he tried the Powercell and the Isoclean system was unceremoniously jettisoned from his system immediately upon hearing the Powercell. This was before he added the full compliment of Tesla cabling.

Rhyno, I also felt "BS-ometer" pegging when Ted Denney told me that adding additional Tesla products to my system would yield non-proportional sonic benefits (sum is greater than the parts) and that adding the last Tesla cable to complete the loom would take things to a whole new level. But now that I have done so, I cannot describe the effect without seeming like a promoter, which I am not. I will say that the year long journey to this point, starting with their entry level power cords and Teslaplex receptacle, and then Tesla speaker cables, then ICs, and so on has given tremendous satisfaction at every step. I think that those that recable their systems all at once miss the fun of having their socks blown off at every step of the journey. It has been a blast for me.

I likewise do not want to sound like a promoter, but have had a very similar experience to Dlcockrum's with SR, including dealing with Micheal at Vineyard who was very helpful. I ended up replacing a BPT 3.5+ and a full high-end Virtual Dynamics cabling and PC system. The improvements were very noticeable, and have taken my system up a few notches, at least. It has definitely been a fun journey for me as well.

They strike me as very different units? A battery system vs one that isn't. Have you tried/looked at Equi-Tech? I have a 3RQ and it does a great job. I am considering a PurePower unit for a system that has a Audio server, which strikes me as an appropriate use for the Purepower.