The Power Plant Regenerator debate drags on


I have seen a lot of videos on this topic and read a lot of threads. Do AC regenerators work -- in the sense of actually contributing to the improvement of a system's sound? This, of course, assumes there is a problem to fix, but if there is, it's an interesting question.

I know ASR did a couple videos about the PS Audio Powerplant in 2022 and there was a lot of discussion around that time.

It was surprising to see Paul McGowan raise the issue just a month ago (Dec. 2024) on his channel, here: https://youtu.be/wAywgassj1Q?si=6PqP7Y1jP2IebxE1

It's a pretty predictable "objective measurements" vs. "subjective listening" issue, but there is some discussion of placebo effects in Paul's reply.

Anyway, possibly of interest. Or not. Just weird to see it come up again after a couple years.

hilde45

Showing 2 responses by carlsbad2

ASR is a bunch of idiots saying stupid crap to get clicks.

The PSA regenerator converts the incoming power to DC, then inverts it to a near perfect sine wave (.1% distortion vs 2-4% incoming).  The voltage is adjusted to whatever I set it at.

It doen't always improve the sound--depending on the power supply of your component.  some components are very tolerant of distorted power supply.  But having perfect 120V sine waves makes sure the quality of the power does't limit your equipment. 

Every neighborhood has crappy power.  (I work for a very large utility).  

Why?  because most appliances don't care.  It really doesn't matter to most all appliances how crappy the power is. 

 Most power is generated by rotating generators driven by steam from gas, nuclear, or coal.  More and more power is generated by wind or solar.  The traditional power is generated as a pure sine wave and the large rotating mass is synchronized to the grid, not only providing great quality generation but adding important stability to the grid. 

Solar and wind are just the opposite and have to be converted to 60 cycles and fed into the grid.  this makes it harder to generate perfect power and makes the grid less stable.  But that isn't really the biggest problem.  Loads come in all different forms from motors to resistors (toasters, hair dryers, etc) to large asynchronous industrial loads.  These loads distort the shape of the electrical signal.  

So it doesn't matter if you live in an old neighborhood or a new neighborhood, it is all the same.

And a transformer doesn't change it.  If it did, we wouldn't want to send music through a transformer, would we.

there is no "if" you have crappy power, you do.

Jerry