Accuphase PS-550 Clean Power Supply

One has to go back in time a very long way to experience recorded audio without the benefit of electrical power. Indeed electrical power is fundamental to every home audio system, in my opinion only second in importance to the actual recorded music, and then only by a small margin. What most people fail to realise is that the energy that flows from a wall socket is really a “Power Signal”. This power signal should be 50Hz and the figure is well within the Audio band. The nature of our power generation, distribution grid and varied load characteristics results in a horribly polluted 50Hz Power Signal. Additionally this signal is actually altered by the huge number of power factor modifying loads it is required to drive. This polluted and corrupted power can easily and usually does adversely effect the quality of audio a system can deliver. There are solutions and this Accuphase PS-550 Clean Power Supply is one worthy example.

Accuphase  PS-550 Clean Power Supply

The power supply delivers the energy your audio equipment uses for music playback. Accuphase PS-550 Clean Power Supply provide a power source with minimum noise and distortion. It utilises a groundbreaking waveform shaping technology that compares the power supply’s waveform to a reference waveform, then supplements insufficiencies and removes any excess misshaping. The results of waveform shaping are then observable in a new waveform display. The PS-550 delivers impressive improvements in audio quality, making it an essential supplement to fine audio equipment.

Clean output waveforms:

The waveform shaping process Figure 1 shows the waveform for power and its harmonics supplied in a typical home. These typical power supply waveforms are distorted and contain unwanted harmonics. When these harmonics find their way into the audio equipment, they interfere with the audio signals and degrade the sound quality. Figure 2 shows the output waveform from the PS-550 and its harmonics. Third order harmonics have been reduced from –40 dB to –80 dB. This is how the PS-550 significantly reduces harmonics in the output sine waves and minimize distortion.

Three stages of noise elimination:

The Accuphase  PS-550 features three stages of noise elimination. In the first stage, a line filter removes noise components from digital devices and other similar equipment. The second stage involves a shielded toroidal power transformer, which eliminates common mode noise. The third stage consists of a waveform correction amp, which uses waveform shaping to generate an extremely clean power supply.

Waveform shaping to achieve high efficiency and low noise:

Waveforms are shaped as pure AC with no conversion to DC, which helps improve efficiency. And because the PS-550 does not rely on oscillators, the risk of generating high-frequency noise has been eliminated.

Features

Input /output waveform display

Output power meter

Input/output voltage meter

Input/output distortion meter

Massive output capacity

0.08% total harmonic distortion waveform shaping

High-grade output voltage correction

Numerous output terminals

High-sensitivity protection circuitry

Large high-efficiency toroidal transformer

Large filtering capacitors

Specifications

Rated Output Capacity 400 VA (continuous)

Rated Output Voltage AC 230 V ±3.0 V

Rated Output Current 1.8 A

Output Frequency 50 Hz or 60 Hz (identical to input frequency)

Output Waveform THD 0.08% or less

Rated Input Voltage AC 230 V ±10%

Input Frequency 50 Hz or 60 Hz

No-load Power Consumption 43 W

Cooling Principle Natural air cooling

Display

VOLT-AMPERE 0-510 VA

VOLTAGE INPUT / OUTPUT (green zone range) AC 230 V ±10%

DISTORTION INPUT / OUTPUT 0~6%

WAVE FORM INPUT / OUTPUT

Maximum Dimensions [ Width x Height x Dept ]

465 mm x 181 mm x 396 mm (18.3")    (7.2")    (15.6")

Mass

Net 24.0 kg (53.0 lbs.)

In shipping carton 31 kg (68.4 lbs.)