AC regeneration
After some recent chat with Jason of NVA TFS fame I decided to purchase a Power Inspired AG1500.
The AG1500 is a full blown AC regenerator chucking out up to 1500VA of pure 230V sine wave. Or something...
Initial impressions are extremely positive. Especially at the relatively low £499 price tag.
Will post more detailed thoughts soon.
The AG1500 is a full blown AC regenerator chucking out up to 1500VA of pure 230V sine wave. Or something...
Initial impressions are extremely positive. Especially at the relatively low £499 price tag.
Will post more detailed thoughts soon.
Comments
At least I can't see any obvious evidence of that in the manual. It does say it'll work with an INPUT of 60Hz and down to 160v full load (120v 50% load).
What are you running off it?
Haven't experimented at all with different permutations.
It's only got the one 3 pin output (which is orientated on its 'side' as it were), so I stuck a 3 way adaptor in to hook up a couple of bits of kit. I had wanted to use an unfused 2-way, but the close proximity of the iec input to the 3 pin output made squeezing the plug into the top socket of the 2 way impossible. The side inputs of the (fused) 3 way are fine.
It seems to be having more of an effect than an ancillary. E.g. more significant than a cable change. Really smooth and narural all over, and bass sounds have more heft but also more definition.
The a funky little LED screen on the front is showing an input swinging around 242v, while the output is fixed at 230v (+/- 0.5v). The tranny hum from the the big PSUs of the TSS and TFS is (unusually) almost inaudible. I have the fan in the AG1500 down at minimum and that too is inaudible.
The unit's a big bigger mind. Including the plugs stuck in the outlet at the back it has a depth of 50cm. Not too bad here as its sitting on the floor under the Hifi shelves.
I read about these at WigWam a couple of months back. The manufacturer posts there and even offered a group buy discount. They seem like a really grounded (boom boom!) no-nonsense company. IE, they dont make HiFi equipment!
Jim once talked about the benefit of balanced mains supplies for HiFi (and the controversy surrounding them), regen was way more expensive, but probably a more comprehensive solution. If I had the dosh I would definately try one of these.
Ben already seems to have answered the next question; whether it works with a hefty power amp.
I may put it on the phone and listen to it on the way to work.
Tho' if you're thinking of multiple regenerators I would suggest considering looking at the lower priced AG500s...
The AG1500 (capable of 1500VA) was powering my TFS and TSS last night, and never registered more than 0% load. Jason tells me that with 2 TSSs and a TFS he has managed to register 25%, so even with 2 big monos the AG1500 has got a lot of spare (wasted?) capacity there. I'm no physicist, but may be some AG500s (500VA obviously ) could do a job for you at better value...?
Ben
No idea who the meters are. Will get on to them pronto...!
[-X
Remarkable clarity and realism.
Dave - you'd love the precision it gives to the shapes of the percussive events...
As mentioned above, I ended up having to use a standard fused 3 way into the AG1500's single 3 pin output, rather than the unfused 2 way I'd hoped.
The point was that I wanted to avoid the additional contact points, cabling and fuses post-regeneration that a distribution block would have brought. So, I was annoyed about the fuse in the 3 way (I don't think that either unfused 3 ways, or unfused 2 ways with sockets on the side exist). So, I took the 3 way to bits and soldered a small piece of solid 20amp mains wiring into the fuse bay of the 3 way. I'm sure that I could hear a difference... :-/ ... May be.
At the very least the annoying niggle at the back of my mind has gone away. I hate niggles.
I haven't been this impressed/surprised since I first tried NVA SSP.
And the difference is far more significant with the AG1500.
Best upgrade,...eva.
I'll shut up now.
But yes, you guessed it an hour went by and I found myself fitting the unit.
It is quite a big piece of kit, the width is kind of standard but it is very deep and it hangs off the back of my hifi rack. As I was pushed for time I wired it up as fast as I could using a lawn mower extension lead and an Ikea extension block. It didn't work at fIrst which wound me up, I called Power inspired and I re set the unit with engineer on the phone.
Sat back, put on a test track and couldn't believe my ears, this upgrade is massive! I'm not talking about a new mains cable upgrade, or a new speaker cable I mean a massive upgrade.
Everything is richer, deeper, clearer and cleaner. There is a swing rhythm in songs that I thought were just a straight beat, the music has A LOT more textured and tonally accurate, the music separates better and stands out from the speakers and the best thing of all it just sounds a hell of a lot more REAL which is what we are all trying to achieve.
Bloody well done Power Inspired. Have a fat pat on the back from me.
And thanks for your previous reviews on the ag1500. After speaking with Jason (figlet) about the ag1500 I took a look at the threads on hfs and elsewhere, and yours was one of the recommendations that clinched it for me. Cheers.
As stated above, I am very pleased with - and surprised by - the unit.
P.S. why do you say that may be it's a good thing that you don't post here much?
Move along please. Nothing to see here.
My AG1500 appeared seems to have developed a fault (keeps cutting out and emitting a high pitched alarm). May be mendable, don't know, have contacted the good folks at Power Inspired.
In the meantime, I've plugged the media PC and the power amp direct into the wall now. Being a creature of habbit, this is the first time I've bothered doing this since I've had the TOCA SECA power amp.
Interesting. Definitely a change. Most noticably now:
1. More bass. Quite a lot more bass actually from Colin's monster...
2. Sounds are somewhat less clearly defined in the soundstage.
3. Possibly slightly less trebble extension / sweetness. Not sure about that tho.
Will be interesting to see what changes may occur when Sov's balanced mains jobbie arrives...
A thumbs up to Power Inspired cutomer service. I had a reply by 9.30am today.
Suggesting various possible options. One of which was the air intake being obstructed by dust. A good hoover was suggested. There appeared to be a duvet of filth in there! Now gone and now working fine.
I'm trying just the media PC running off it, the power amp staight out of the mains. I think I can hear a difference, but i want to switch and swap more. A bit late to test bass levels properly, will try over the weekend.
I think i hear differences. The partial squashing of bass from the SECA appears to tie in with your observations about transients. (Odd as the AG1500 is rated at 1500VA and the SECA is *only* 500W (38Watts getting to the 4ohm Goodmans). The AG1500 registers 35% load, so that tallies.)
I guess things are more conplicated re. transients...?
What it does to the media pc seems an improvement.
I've booked the forklift for Tues...