Pick one:Shunyata Hydra or PS Audio

As a little background, I own (and use) the Hydra, the P300, and the P600. However, which unit is "better" depends on the particular application and the quality of the power in your home. For example, using the P600 with CJ Eight XS's produced a whitening of harmonic textures, a reduction in soundstage depth, and most annoyingly a muting of dynamics and transient attack. Thus, if you plan to use the power conditioning for larger power amplifiers, I would prefer the Hydra. However, for both digital equipment and turntable power supplies, I find the Power Plants win hands down. For digital front ends, the Power Plants produce a significant reduction in the noise floor (which the Hydra did not), improved bass definition, and a more transparent window to the recording. As a caveat, though, I live in a condominium complex with terrible power (voltage ranges from 95V to 120V, all kinds of garbage on the line). As a second caveat, some users have indicated on AudioAsylum that they experienced transformer noise problems with the Powerplants. I have (fortunately) not experienced any such problems.

Thus, without knowing more about your system, I think the best thing you can do is see if you can arrange a home demo of both the Hydra and a Power Plant. I believe several dealers carry both units, and would possibly be willing to arrange an in-home demo (if you definitely plan on buying one or the other).

On a side note, I also tried a Richard Gray Power Company 400 in my system, and was not impressed - either the P300 or the Hydra would be a better choice.

One more note:
The power plant uses a prodigious amount of power.
The Hydra and the MIT Z center do not.
That said, has anyone compared the MIT line vs the other 2 contenders?

JD

The Power Plants draw less than many believe, but it is a consideration and one of the reasons why I've never been completely comfortable owning one, although I do (I also have a Hydra).

The Power Plant 300 draws about 40 watts with nothing connected to it, about 43 in multiwave mode. My Pass Aleph 3 draws around 200 watts at idle (196 acutally, although I think the Pass docs say 250). Plugged into the PS Audio, the total draw is just under 300 watts. Which suggests that there is some additional overhead in there somewhere (more than 200 + 40), but not a doubling as some reviewers have suggested. By the way, I don't normally have the Pass amp plugged into the Power Plant; I just used it for this measurement.

Drubin
That is interesting. I had thought that the power draw of the power plant was much higher.
I see you live in california as I do.
How did you check what the draw was when both were plugged in?

JD

I have a device called a Wattsup, which is a small box that goes between the wall and the device under test and gives a nice digital readout of power draw. It is sold mostly to schools as an educational device. I bought it specifically to measure what the Power Plant was drawing because I was curious (and concerned) about how much power I was consuming. My findings are clearly at odds with some of the claims I read in early reviews of the product. PS Audio has not done as much as I would have (if I were them) to dispell the bad information.