PS Audio Duet Power Center

[HiWire]

I just bought a Duet this weekend. The salesman (Lorne at Executive Stereo in Toronto) says it will take a while to break in, so I'll try to record my impressions along the way.

[HiWire]

I've listened to the following albums since I plugged into the Duet:

Pixies - Bossanova

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend

Vladimir Ashkenazy - Moments Musicaux - Rachmaninov

Darren Hayes - This Delicate Thing We've Made

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

Roy Orbison - All-Time Greatest Hits (MFSL)

Since I don't listen to more than about 2-3 hours at a time, it takes a long time for me to break in new equipment. I don't like leaving stuff playing while I'm gone, and I enjoy the break-in process anyway. I've plugged each component into a separate "Zone" on the Duet - the CD player goes into one zone, and the headphone amp into the other.

So far, it's tricky to separate the effects of a passive power conditioner to just listening to a warmed-up (I generally consider about 30 minutes to 1 hour warmed up: equipment and listener) system. From what I can tell, I'm inclined to turn the volume up more often because of a definite smoothness to the sound. Also, I've been sitting longer than usual to enjoy the music - earlier, I was itching to get up and about after about an hour. Although these aren't particularly audiophilic descriptions, they do indicate that I'm enjoying the music more, probably beyond the curiosity of trying a new toy.

Harshness has been reduced, in my opinion. I think the weakness of my headphone amplifier was its simplicity - as far as I can recall, Norm (the designer) eschewed filters for a more lively, direct sound in the Headsave Classic and his other designs. The active ground channel in the v3 series of Classics apparently helped to lower the noise floor. The power conditioner may protect the Elpac power supply from problems in my condo apartment's power.

There haven't been major differences in bass or treble performance that I can tell. The sound may be slightly more dynamic and imaging more cohesive, but I am listening more carefully now than before I got the Duet. One thing that I have noticed - I thought there was something indefinable missing from my system and I was considering switching interconnects, but I don't have an urge to do that now. I think the Duet might be one of the best bargains going in audiophilia - I paid a little over $200 CDN for mine.

I'll continue to update this thread as I listen to more music. I'm definitely enjoying the journey and looking forward to listening to all of my music on my "improved" system - there aren't enough hours in the day.