P.S.Audio Perfect Wave Transport & DAC
default -- Tue, 11/10/2009 - 03:00
Has anyone tried the PW Transport or DAC by P.S. Audio in their systems? Mr. David Weinhart of Weinhart Design inc. in LA Seems to be pretty high on this combination. He has ultra high end stuff that he demoed this player with and according to his website the P.W. pair is quite a favorite. Any other TAS readers or audiophiles who have bought this pair, please share your thoughts with us.
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1999 - 2011 NextScreen. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
I have compared the Perfect Wave system to an Ayon CD-2 (player) and the Ayon simply sounded more musical. "Stereo Mojo" thinks the same...as the publisher of that mag recently purchased the Ayon after reviewing both it and PS Audio. The Ayon won Mojo's "Product of the Year".
CD-only systems are the best way to go. But too many co. are trying to deliver top-notch (CD) performance with multi-format players. We simply cannot do this. None of this would have happened if there weren't other formats !!
I have both and have been using them for approximately 6 weeks. They are an excellent combination. I primarily listen to vinyl using a SOTA Millennia with vacuum hold down and SME V arm. The PS Audio combo comes very close for a lot less money. The difference is minimal with rock and more noticeable with a classical pianist. I also use a power plant premier and their premier power cords. I think all offer great value (cost vs sound). Additionally, the system will be upgradable to a music server, per the website, sometime in the future. The HRX discs by Reference Recordings sound great. I also like working with established companies that will be around to support their products since I do not switch components very often. Finally, it is made in America which means we are keeping dollars in our economy. I have no reservations about recommending these products.
From the pictures and demos at the shows of the P.S. Perfect wave set, The built quality looks pretty flimsy even for a $3K each product. Any thoughts on that?
I've seen the Perfect Waves at the factory. Flimsy? I guess that depends on your standards. Their chassis aren't carved out of a solid block of aluminum, so if that's your yardstick for acceptable build quality, they are flimsy. But unless you regularly use your DAC as a chock under your Hummer I think their build quality is just fine and they should last far longer than their technology will remain cutting edge.
Frankly, many of the "better built" DACs of the past have, in the long run, proved to be no better at holding their value on the second-hand market than other older consumer electronics. Once the technology becomes outmoded it doesn't matter how robust their chassis or circuit boards are - if they sound dated and are leapfrogged in audio quality by units with prices at 1/10 their original MSRP their value will plummet to the point where they are little more than robustly built boat anchors.
I feel that "overbuilding" of any product only makes sense for the consumer if the product will be subjected to environmental extremes and has a long projected lifespan. A sport or tool wristwatch is a case in point where overbuilding makes sense and has value to the end-user.
Power amplifiers that have traditional circuit topology need to have heavy and rigid chassis to hold large transformers and heat sinks, but DAC's? No single component weighs more than a couple of pounds...
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Steven, Thanks for your post. And since you have seen these made at the factory you know better about the build quality then I do(I state this as a fact! I have only seen pictures online and seen them at the showes without touching them or withought cover removed etc. So Obviously my experience in that is not much). I agree with most of what you say, but I think for a CD Transport at least you still need a fairly decent amount of stability and high quality chassis for obvious reasons. Also there are some products that may loose value over time but are still for long term use like the Spectral CD Player RH reviewed. He says this might be the last CD player you will probably buy, and at 17K maybe so. P.S. Audio also claims on the website that this may be the last CD Transport you may ever need, therefore I would think it would still need a certain level of quality regardless of resale value to get long term good use. Yes eventually everything will be outdated some sooner than others but built Quality is still important and as you say it appears that the P.S. audio pair has good enough of build quality. The reason for asking the question was that when I called 2 dealers about general information on this product, both said that the Digital History of P.S. audio is not very consistant, they come out with a product that gets lots of hype then quickly its gone...an example is the Genisis Lens, they excell in power products but Digital it is has been questionable. They recommended I try some other digital products from companies with long term history of high end digital products. At one point the consumer relies on the dealers long term expertese and experiance on the other they say things that may be different from what the audio magazines may say....... well only time will tell....lets see where this P.S. Audio DAC/Transport combo goes.
Realize that PS Audio has actually been FOUR different companies - the original owned by Paul McGowan and Stan Warren, the second owned by Paul, the thiird owned by the guy who also bought Threshold (who's name I can't remember in a senior moment), and finally the current company owned by Paul again. In between, Paul formed Genesis with Arnie Nudel and Mark Shifter. That company was sold to Polk. Then Genesis Technologies was a new company with Arnie and Gary Koh. The Genesis digital lens was a very cool product that was ahead of its time and still, to this day, commands a decent price on the resale market when they come up for sale because it's still a useful sonic tool.
The quality of earlier PS Audio products was not, IMHO, of the same level as the current company. I think the dealers you've been talking to have the same salesmen who used to sell corporate bonds :) Past performance of products is no indicator of current or future performance in financial instruments or high end audio gear.
Very few high end companies can afford to pay a digital designer to be on staff full-time. Most firms use one of a small group of free-lance designers who work an a project basis. Doug Goldberg and Peter Madnick are two that come to mind. Between these two you'd be amazed at the list of products they've created...
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Thanks for the good background info of the company. I hope they don't turn into or get passed around into another 4 different companies. From what you say seems like Doug Goldberg and Peter Madnick might have a very promising product. Do you know the names/model numbers of any other products they have created? I will try to search it as well.
Peter and Doug have designed for at least a dozen other companies. They work independently of each other but their careers have had parallel paths.
As for researching their products, good luck. The folks they work for are not really interested in giving outside designers credit, and Peter and Doug are respectful of their client's wishes, which is why they continue to be in demand.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
They sound like dedicated secret agents. We may never know some of the great products they have made.
I find the fit and finish to be fine. I stand by my earlier comment that I think they are a very good combination. They do not match a first rate turntable but they are significantly cheaper. I am running them through an Audio Research preamp, Pass Labs x600 monos, and Revel Ultima Salon II speakers. With a good recording, it really is a very nice unit.
It may surprise folks to hear that Andeas Koch designed for EMM Labs and Terry Budge designed for Wilson. The names on the company banner don't always tell who engineers the products. But how much do these others do ? It sounds to me like a lot....
Mr. Robert Harley, Did you receive the review samples of the P.S. Audio Perfect wave trasport and DAC yet? I think you mentioned in an august post that you were to get it in a month...i.e. september. December is almost over. Im wondering if P.S. audio is still fidling with the bridge and when a sample will be available to the reviewers?
There's been a delay in getting the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport and Perfect Wave DAC. I'll find out more at CES in a couple of weeks. PS Audio makes a third component of the system called the Bridge; I'm waiting for that to become available before reviewing the system.
I have been curious about the delay in getting the PWT combo reviewed in a mainstream audio publication since it has been out for the better part of a year. I have seen a couple of on line reviews (Stereomojo and sixmoons) but these are both publications with which I have little familiarity. I wonder if there have been reliability or production problems. This has not stopped retailers from advertising these units for at least six months. I would certainly like to see the PS Audio products compared with well recognized high end players and combos (Meridian, Ayre, dCS, Esoteric, and EMM) at similar price points. Although one of the claims is that there is large buffer memory so that one is not hearing the actual physical disc and its associated mechanical issues, you could get some of this advantage through the use of simple USB drive with lossless compression into a DAC with an appropriate port.