PS Audio Multiwave-good or bad?


I know a simular thread was written some time ago when the multiwave option was very new, but now hopefully there are many more users. I own the P-300 & am very satisfied with it. I consider it to have made a huge sonic improvement to my system. I'm curious to know what kind of improvement I could expect from the multiwave option. Is it worth the $250.00. Please be specific on the sonic improvements. Thanks in advance...Sagger
sagger
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.
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