PS Audio

[Bob257]

I still have "upgrade fever" unfortunately. I'm thinking of going from my Yamaha a-s801 to the PS Audio stack plus their phono preamp they just came out with. I'm driving Focal 1028be speakers and use a Rega P6 turntable. Does anyone have experience with the PS stack system? If so, what are your opinions?

 

[Leemix]

I only have the Stellar GCD but it sounds really great as a DAC or DAC/preamp. I use it with a Parasound a31 amp. Its in a surround setup so have the Marantz av8805 and use the Stellar GCD as a pure DAC into the 8805 or for even better sound when playing more music and less movies, with S GCD on HT bypass from the 8805 so i can only use the S GCD for music into amp. The Stellar GCD sounds a lot better than the 8805 for 2 channel music and even when used as a pure DAC with the 8805 as the pre-amp it sounds quite a bit better than the 8805 alone.


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[PENG]

I still have "upgrade fever" unfortunately. I'm thinking of going from my Yamaha a-s801 to the PS Audio stack plus their phono preamp they just came out with. I'm driving Focal 1028be speakers and use a Rega P6 turntable. Does anyone have experience with the PS stack system? If so, what are your opinions?

I may be biased but for such an upgrade I would not consider PS Audio. What's lacking from the A-S801?

 

[Pogre]

BS Audio.

Where you can upgrade endlessly and think you can almost hear a difference...

Speakers. Subwoofers. Room acoustics. Room EQ. All viable upgrade paths. Start going down that road with the electronics and you're never going to be satisfied.

 

[Leemix]

If you live in the states you can easily try for 30 days and return if you dont like it, not sure but might be free return even.

PS Audio have a lot of happy customers who have actually heard their products at home.

 

[Pogre]

PS Audio have a lot of happy customers who have actually heard their products at home.

Bose does too...

 

[Leemix]

Bose does too...

Thats a low blow, audiophiles generally cant stand the bose sound for more than travel radios but many choose PS audio over other well known and regarded brands.

(Im not counting the sprout, thats a lifestyle product not a hifi product)


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[Pogre]

Thats a low blow, audiophiles generally cant stand the bose sound for more than travel radios but many choose PS audio over other well known and regarded brands.

(Im not counting the sprout, thats a lifestyle product not a hifi product)


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Okay, okay... I would definitely take something from PS audio before I would Bose.

I've seen too many of Paul McGowan's videos and he has some goofy ideas that don't hold up so well with objectivists. When challenged he politely refuses and calls you a clucking chicken...

I don't know, anytime I see anything involving PS audio or Paul McGowan red flags and alarm Bells go off in my head.

 

[PENG]

Thats a low blow, audiophiles generally cant stand the bose sound for more than travel radios but many choose PS audio over other well known and regarded brands.

(Im not counting the sprout, thats a lifestyle product not a hifi product)


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There is some validity, and somewhat logical, not a low blow at all.

 

[Truthslayer]

I think like a lot of companies today, PS audio makes some decent gear and some what would be considered very entry level gear.

While many like to rag on Paul ( i'm probably just as guilty as others) he doesn't seem like that bad of an individual. Yes he may come up with and say's some things that a lot of people will disagree with, doesn't necessarily make him totally incompetent in the industry. Just maybe a little controversial. After all I doubt there is anybody in the industry, where everyone agrees with 100% of what there saying.

We should try and remember Paul is getting up there in age and some times the brains faculties don't quite work the way they used to.

 

[baronvonellis]

I'm sure they make quality gear, but the prices are 2-3 times more than a similar quality built amp. Their Stellar stack of a pre amp and a power amp costs $3200 and most likely will sound the same as your Yahmaha integrated for $899

Getting a higher powered amp from Monoprice would probably be a bigger step up for alot less money.

Although you could always buy them and try it out for yourself, I doubt there would be much if any sound quality difference. Yamaha makes very high quality amps.

 

[PENG]

Okay, okay... I would definitely take something from PS audio before I would Bose.

I've seen too many of Paul McGowan's videos and he has some goofy ideas that don't hold up so well with objectivists. When challenged he politely refuses and calls you a clucking chicken...

I don't know, anytime I see anything involving PS audio or Paul McGowan red flags and alarm Bells go off in my head.

Amazing, that's exactly what got me biased haha..otherwise I don't have much to go by..

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

If you're not fully like the sound, solving it by changing electronics that happen to have a suitable sound distorting/changing property is akin trying to improve the car ride quality by messing with different car seats, instead of addressing the actual issue (tires/suspension/shocks etc..) or in case of audio SPEAKERS !!!

 

[PENG]

I think like a lot of companies today, PS audio makes some decent gear and some what would be considered very entry level gear.

While many like to rag on Paul ( i'm probably just as guilty as others) he doesn't seem like that bad of an individual. Yes he may come up with and say's some things that a lot of people will disagree with, doesn't necessarily make him totally incompetent in the industry. Just maybe a little controversial. After all I doubt there is anybody in the industry, where everyone agrees with 100% of what there saying.

We should try and remember Paul is getting up there in age and some times the brains faculties don't quite work the way they used to.

Fair point, my reference point is not the characters but their apparent depth of knowledge.

 

[PENG]

The fact is (objectively speaking), the A-S801 should have no issue driving a pair of 1028 listening within, say, 4 meters even at near ref level.

So upgrading to a more expensive amp will be for better look, more headroom that won't likely be put to use, and other reasons than "sound quality".

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thats a low blow, audiophiles generally cant stand the bose sound for more than travel radios but many choose PS audio over other well known and regarded brands.

(Im not counting the sprout, thats a lifestyle product not a hifi product)


...

You stated:
PS Audio have a lot of happy customers who have actually heard their products at home. [b/]

So, how is Pogre's post any different? Both have happy customers. Is that how things are rated, customer satisfaction?
Homeopathic garbage has happy customers. I guess then it must be OK.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...

Although you could always buy them and try it out for yourself, I doubt there would be much if any sound quality difference. Yamaha makes very high quality amps.

Most likely yes, but an uncontrolled comparison is biased and leads to favorable outcomes.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thats a low blow, audiophiles generally cant stand the bose sound for more than travel radios but many choose PS audio over other well known and regarded brands.

(Im not counting the sprout, thats a lifestyle product not a hifi product)


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Being an "audiophile" leaves much on the table much of the time.....

If you're not fully like the sound, solving it by changing electronics that happen to have a suitable sound distorting/changing property is akin trying to improve the car ride quality by messing with different car seats, instead of addressing the actual issue (tires/suspension/shocks etc..) or in case of audio SPEAKERS !!!

One of the better car analogies for audio I've heard so far! Altho I have had some damn good car seats.....so maybe not that good of an analogy.

 

[bombadil]

If you are considering a purchase of PS Audio gear you really owe it to yourself to see the objective testing done at ASR (Audiosciencereview.com). I have no dog in this fight, in fact I listened to many of McGowan's videos and thought he was quite knowledgeable but over the top with cables etc. He even claimed he could hear a difference when his turntable was sitting on a special, very expensive, table made in europe blah blah. Anyway, check out the really awful performance of their very expensive DAC at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-dac.9100/
Best of luck with your purchase; I would also second the opinion that speakers, room acoustics and the quality of the original material are the things to focus on because we can actually hear the improvements!

 

[PENG]

If you are considering a purchase of PS Audio gear you really owe it to yourself to see the objective testing done at ASR (Audiosciencereview.com). I have no dog in this fight, in fact I listened to many of McGowan's videos and thought he was quite knowledgeable but over the top with cables etc. He even claimed he could hear a difference when his turntable was sitting on a special, very expensive, table made in europe blah blah. Anyway, check out the really awful performance of their very expensive DAC at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-dac.9100/
Best of luck with your purchase; I would also second the opinion that speakers, room acoustics and the quality of the original material are the things to focus on because we can actually hear the improvements!

And here's another one that had worse THD+N than all the AVRs (the DAC portion) ASR measured so far except the NAD T758. I would like to see some, even one PS Audio hi end gear that measured well on a reputable bench.

Stellar gain cell DAC