Download The $ensible Sound - Panamax MAX® 5510 AC Regenerator A/V

Panamax 5510 AC
Regenerator
Power Conditioner
Manufacturer: Panamax, 1690 Corporate Circle,
Petaluma, CA 94954; 707/283-5900;
www.panamax.com
Source: Manufacturer loan
Price: $1,299
Reviewer: Tom Lyle
The Panamax 5510 is more than just an ordinary power
conditioner—it is the most complete power-strip/AC power
conditioner/surge protector I’ve ever seen or used. Not only
does it provide isolated, filtered, and balanced surge
protected AC, but it also provides protection for RCA-type
interconnects, coaxial antenna, and RJ-11 (modular) type
phone line connectors. It has adjustable sequential power
on/off switching, as well as a detachable gooseneck lamp
with a dimmer control. This lamp can connect to front or
back panel.
But that’s not all. It also has two DC voltage trigger inputs for
initiating its start-up/shutdown sequence. It has a backlit
front panel analog Voltmeter and Ammeter that indicates line
voltage and current draw. Plus, the unit has SurgeGate
Plus™ Circuitry that monitors the AC line voltage for unsafe
voltage conditions such as prolonged over-voltages and
under-voltages (brownouts). It disconnects the equipment
from the power under these conditions, and once the voltage
returns to normal, it reconnects. It also disconnects the power
to the connected equipment in the event of a catastrophic
surge such as lightning.
Panamax has a “$5,000,000
Connected Equipment Protection Policy” that protects one’s
equipment hooked up to the 5510, stating that Panamax will
repair or replace the equipment valued up to five million
dollars.
The front panel of the 5510 has a power switch that controls
the switched AC outlets of the unit: four isolation transformer
outlets and two high-current outlets. There is a receptacle for
the gooseneck lamp, which is also available on the back panel.
There is an LED indicator of power supplied to the switched
outlets, and an LED indicating activation of the voltage
trigger and unsafe voltage. There is also a pushbutton to
switch the isolation transformer outlets between isolated and
balanced power, and LEDs indicating which form is chosen.
The amp meter and voltage meters lights are can be dimmed
via a control next to the LEDs. There is also a “convenience”
AC outlet on the front panel.
The rear panel of the 5510 has a main circuit breaker that
shuts power to the unit, and below it an IEC outlet for the
detachable power cord. AC Outlet Bank 1 has two Balanced
Double-L Filter Outlets that Panamax suggest be used for
analog components such as preamps, receivers, VCRs and
tape decks. Outlet Bank 2 is a duplicate of Outlet 1, and both
are nonswitched, that is, there power is always on as long as
the 5510 is plugged into a wall outlet. These circuits are
claimed to eliminate the AC contamination that is detrimental
to the performance of analog or video components. These
outlets provide power filtration and inter-component “noise
isolation” for both common mode (line/neutral-to-ground)
and “normal mode” (line-to-neutral) EMI/RFI. This should
reduce high-frequency interference from not only the
incoming AC, but from equipment plugged into the other
outlet banks of the conditioner.
To the right of these outlets are the four Isolation Transformer
Outlets. These “ACRegeneration” 500W outlets are meant for
digital components such as DVD or CD players. I think there
might be some confusion with their use of the term “AC
Regeneration” with the type of pure AC supplied by the PS
Audio Power Plants that regenerate AC from scratch, using a
DC signal fed to its amplifier and transformers, and then
converting the signal back to AC. In Panamax’s case we have
“pure” AC that is obtained by using the isolation transformer.
The incoming AC feeds the isolation transformer’s primary
windings and is regenerated through electromagnetic
induction as clean power on the isolated secondary windings.
These windings have no physical connection to the primary
windings, thus this, according to Panamax, is “true” isolation.
The 5510, via its front panel, is able to switch the isolation
transformer’s output mode from “isolated” to “balanced”
power to “further match the system’s needs”.
Next to these outlets are two High Current “Inductorless
Filter” outlets for amps, subwoofers, and the like. Both the
Isolation Transformer and the High Current outlets are
delayed turn on, that is, they are part of the power-on
sequence activated by the front panel power switch. The two
inductor-less, high-current outlets are claimed to have “clean
unimpeded power.” These outlets are recommended for
components that draw large amounts of current to replenish
their capacitors. Panamax claims that “traditional” power
conditioners impede this current draw, and “starve” an
amplifier, resulting in a less than ideal sound. They claim that
their outlet provides clean, filtered power without limiting the
current, which would encumber performance.
To the right of the power outlets is the rear panel outlet for
the gooseneck lamp, and a 12VDC/5W/4A transformer
circuit breaker. This breaker is activated in the event that
equipment connected to the Isolated Outlets exceeds 4-amps
current draw. There are two 3.5mm mono mini-plug voltage
trigger inputs next to this breaker. These connect to a remote
trigger device that provides VDC to trigger a
startup/shutdown sequence. There is also an Isolation
Transformer Outlets turn-off switch. This allows adjustment
of the turn-off delay for the four Isolation transformer outlets.
The High Current Outlet also has a turn-on switch that allows
adjustment of the turn-on delay for the two High Current
outlets. Both are switchable between 0, 10, and 30 seconds.
Two telephone jacks are provided, one in and one out. These
are for telephone lines or pay-per-view type (or TiVo) surge
protection, and are on the right side of the rear panel. Above
them are six coaxial jacks. Two of these gold plated FConnectors are for cable TV or a rooftop antenna line
protection. The other four are for satellite TV line protection;
there are jacks for two satellite connections. To the left of
these are the AV RCA jacks. There are four pairs of
connecters meant for all varieties of audio/video connections.
If you’ve read any of my reviews you’d know that I am a twochannel type of guy. I do not have a multi-channel system in
any room of my home. So, after hooking up my entire
system’s AC to the Panamax 5510, the first thing I focused on
was its “sound.” Sure, changing the source of the AC, in
theory, shouldn’t affect the sound of one’s system, but it has
been my experience that in my case it can make a huge
difference. It is undoubtedly due to the very impure AC
provided to my home that I’ve discussed in detail in previous
issues of The $ensible Sound. Briefly, I live in a very dense
suburb close to the city, and the sound of my system varies
drastically with the time of day and the month of the year.
As far as I know, the folks at Panamax were aware that I was
going to use their power conditioner in a “simple” twochannel system. I had no phone jacks to connect, no cable
antenna to hook up, and I even didn’t hook up my
interconnects to the 5510. I don’t dread the fear of a electrical
surge migrating to my equipment via an interconnect and
damaging my equipment, and I didn’t have much interest
in finding out how much or how little sonic degradation
would occur when using these inputs and outputs. I assume
those with complex audio/visual systems might want to use
the 5510 to its fullest potential, because I appreciate that noise
can be introduced via all cabling, interconnects included. But
I didn’t have extra interconnects of the same length and brand
to perform any tests. Of course I didn’t use the satellite, cable,
or phone line connections. I was interested to hear what sonic
effect the Panamax had on my system when all my
equipment’s AC lines were hooked up to it. I connected an
Audible Illusions Modulus 3a preamplifier and Basis Debut V
turntable to the Balanced Double-L Filter Outlets filter outlets.
A Sony DVP-NS755V DVD/SACD player, Perpetual
Technologies P-1A and P-3A digital processors and their
Monolithic power supply were connected to the Isolation
Transformer Outlets. The two High Current “Inductorless
Filter” outlets supplied power to a Krell KAV-250a power
amplifier and Velodyne HGS-15 subwoofer.
I’ve had other “traditional” power conditioners in my system
before, and all made a sonic improvement over plugging my
gear straight into the wall outlets. Those from MIT, Tice, Blue
Circle, and Chang all made an improvement. I still use the
Change Lightspeed conditioner for my subwoofer and
turntable. The sub draws too much power to use in the
PS Audio Power Plants, and the turntable uses an AC
Synchronous motor that cannot be fed power from the PS
Audio units.
Comparison to PS Audio units only serves as an illustration to
where others fall short (although it should be noted that the
P300 costs about as much as the Panamax but can only supply
power to the front end, and the circa $2,250 P600 is needed for
the rest of the system). The Panamax was not embarrassed by
this comparison—at least if the tests were performed in the
evening. I’ve never heard any other power conditioners that
could compensate for the crummy AC that comes into my
home during the day. The Panamax improved the sound of
the system during the daylight hours as just about every other
power conditioner that has ever passed through my system,
but not to the point where it could be considered to be
performing to its full potential. But still, the difference
between day and night was made much less when the
Panamax was used.
At all times the system sounded substantially better when the
entire system was plugged into the Panamax than directly
into the wall current. Although it was close, I also think it
might have sounded a tad better than the Chang Lightspeed,
the only other conventional power conditioner I had on hand.
I consider the Chang to be a fine unit that has served me well
for years, and it can hold its own against most other popular
conditioners.
In my listening notes I observed all sonic parameters
improved by the Panamax—the soundstage and imaging, the
high and low frequency extension, the dynamics, and just
about any other characteristic that defines audiophile sound.
Combined with its unparalleled flexibility and convenience
this makes the Panamax 5510 one of the best power
conditioners on the market today.
-TL
T$S
Excerpted with permission from The Sensible Sound,
Issue #96 June/July 03. Subscriptions to TSS can be purchased
by calling 1-800-695-8439