April 2002 Reviewed by Doug Schneider	PS Audio Ultimate Outlet 15A High-Current Version

Description Model: PS Audio Ultimate Outlet 15A High-Current Version Price: $399 USD Dimensions: 3.5"H x 5"W x 7.5"D Weight: 4 pounds Warranty: Three years parts and labor	Features Hubbell duplex receptacle Standard and high-current versions IEC detachable power cord Spike and surge protection (TransZorb devices) Fuse protected All-Metal chassis 30-day trial offer

In a relatively short time PS Audio has managed to make us really think about the way we plug in our audio and video components. The Power Plant series wasn’t the first time a power-regeneration device was created for the audio market. However, it was the first time that a company did it in such an affordable way that ordinary audiophiles started using regenerated power. PS Audio commercialized the concept, so to speak, and today you see a number of similar devices. The Ultimate Outlet isn’t the world's first souped-up wall plug, but it’s being marketed in such an attractive fashion, with a 30-day money-back guarantee and all, that it begs to be tried.

Overview

The company has taken somewhat of a step back with the Ultimate Outlet -- well, sort of. See, this can’t really be called a poor man’s Power Plant because it’s not a power regenerator. It’s more comparable to the power filters we saw so many of before PS Audio unveiled the Power Plants. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a purpose. The Power Plants are still a little expensive for common use -- $1245 for the P300 for 300W of power (suitable for small components) and $4000 for the P1200 for 1200W (more suitable for amps). When I told you they were "affordable," I meant for hardcore audiophiles to whom $1000 is a drop in the bucket. The Ultimate Outlet is priced at $299 for the standard version rated up to 15A and $399 for the high-current version in either 15A or 20A configurations. That, for most, will sound a little saner.

The difference between the standard and high-current 15A Ultimate Outlets is primarily the receptacle quality -- something called a Power Port on the high-current version. There is also an internal wiring difference I’ll describe below. As for the 15A versus 20A decision, PS Audio uses amplifier ratings to draw the line on which model is suitable for you. Less than 100Wpc and you can get away with either model. Above 100Wpc and the 20A Ultimate Outlet is what you need.

This unit doesn’t replace the Power Plant. The Power Plant regenerates power; this does not. Still, if you start with this, you won’t be lost if you get a Power Plant later. You can use them together. And if you use the Ultimate Outlet alone, you don’t need to worry about how much power the Ultimate Outlet can deliver. Unlike the Plants, which deliver 300, 600 and 1200W depending on the model you choose, this gives you the full wall power (not regenerated of course), which is typically around 1800W.

Description

The chassis has an exceedingly solid and "dead" feel. Around back is an IEC connector for a detachable power cord, should you wish to try out a whizzy aftermarket cord some day (PS Audio supplies a very short, good-quality three-foot cord to get you going). As well, there is a fuse for overall protection. On the front plate of the Ultimate Outlet is a single duplex receptacle with two power sockets. One socket says "Hubbell" while the other says "PS Audio A/V Grade." The fact that each socket had something different on it initially confused me and I wondered how PS Audio's engineers managed to get two different sockets on a single duplex receptacle. Simple answer: they didn’t. The sockets are identical. There just wasn’t room to write the whole thing on each, so the wording is just split in two.

Open the Ultimate Outlet and at its heart is something called a "balun." PS Audio is quick to downplay its technology, in a way, explaining that a balun is simply a "donut of powdered iron, with a wire wrapped around each half of the donut." However, the simplicity is also touted as its key. PS Audio goes on to say that when an "AC signal comes into the balun's two-wire wrappings, the balanced design cancels out anything in common [between] the two wires." The inherent advantage, the company claims, is noise cancellation over a wide frequency range to the tune of 40dB.

The balun could have been installed stock with any ol’ wire, but PS Audio, being an audiophile company, used 10-gauge Litz wire, something more expensive than off-the-shelf cable. This, says PS Audio, isn’t just to impress -- it yields better performance in the upper frequencies. And the way this wire is implemented inside is also the other difference between the standard and high-current versions. The standard model has a single 10-gauge run wound around the balun; the high-current version has a double run.

Finally, the Ultimate Outlet does do surge protection. In place of the more commonly used MOVs, the Ultimate Outlet uses something called a TransZorb (PS Audio says that General Semiconductor holds the trademark on the device). The company claims that TransZorbs are better than MOVs for clamping down voltage surges. In the audio side I’ve never encountered such a device, nor did I encounter a spike that activated it when using this product, so I simply can’t verify any claims on performance in the context of this review. There's also a back-mounted fuse protecting the entire unit.

Video use

I noticed how effectively the Ultimate Outlet performed with my Sony Trinitron monitor in two phases. Surprisingly, I noticed the minor improvement first. This was likely because I was looking closely, concentrating on minute aspects of the image. I saw the trees and missed the forest. Then when I sat back for a while and took the whole picture in, I realized what the more important improvements were. Let me explain.

Like I said, I started by looking close for improvements. I did this using DVDs containing a couple of high-resolution close-ups of a woman’s face. These images have an intense white background with a skin tone that is quite natural. The woman's lips are a vibrant red. I concentrated on the cheek area where the skin tones turned varying shades. With the Ultimate Outlet in place I could more clearly see the subtle variations as the color changed from the middle portion of her cheek to her neck. Simply put, gradients were better rendered. Without the Ultimate Outlet, the nearly washed-out portions seemed more opaque, and the gradual change in color was degraded. The very small improvement in the way the colors were rendered gave an increased perception of dimensionality to the picture. It’s not 3D by any stretch of the imagination, but there is a notch more fullness to the 2D picture.

As for those vibrant red lips, that proved to be another good demonstration spot. Videophiles know that red was once the scourge of VHS home video. DVD changed all that and finally we can see reds without the color bleeding all over the place. In the case of this video image, the woman's red lips weren’t necessarily redder, but the color seemed fuller. I checked closely and again the oh-so-subtle shading differences helped give the impression of more dimensionality and that sense of vibrancy. The difference is very subtle, but it reminds me of the differences between some transfers of film to DVD. For example, there are two Boogie Nights DVD releases (I hate when studios do that because I end up owning both). Both look great, but that second one has a video image that is a littler more natural with better rendition of color and detail. The studio improved the micro aspects of the image, and that’s precisely what the Ultimate Outlet does on my monitor. Inherently, the image is similar, but with subtle improvement.

But enough of the small stuff.

It was when I stepped back for a while that I realized that there was a much more apparent change that I couldn’t see when concentrating on each and every dot. And surprisingly, I didn't notice it using a reference-grade DVD. It was when an episode of Frasier was on in the background that I took a quick glance at the TV and then shot my head back to look again. The skin tones were way "hotter" than I had seen before -- almost pinkish! Thinking that perhaps somehow the color was skewed on that one channel, I flipped over to CNN. It was the same thing. 'Round and 'round the channels I went, until I realized that my not-so-new monitor had taken on a new sense of vibrancy. It suddenly had more life when, given its age, I thought I was going to have to take it around back and put it down. All the colors seemed better, but it was the skin tones that really stood out for me.

This change in my TV seemed like an incredible bonus, but after a while I came to the conclusion that the increased color vibrancy was just a bit too much. So, after just a day of watching it like that, I did something I haven’t done in a long time -- I flipped open the panel and made a color adjustment downward to a point that was between what I had before the Outlet came into my life and after. Now I’m 100% happy. Does it work this way for all monitors? I don’t know, I only know what it did here.

Audio

To evaluate how the Outlet affected the sound of audio components, I moved it to my two-channel music system. Why? First, I wanted to rely solely on the sound in a high-resolution system I’m very familiar with. Two-channel music sources are easier for me to do that with than five-channel surround. Second, I wanted to plug all my components into the Ultimate Outlet instead of just one or two. In for review was the Audio Aero Prima 24/192 CD player and a Roksan KA-1 integrated amp. I plugged each into the Ultimate Outlet. Speakers were the MasterSource Audio 20M two-way monitors. Third, trying to hear any difference in my home-theater system proved fruitless anyway -- surround effects and the artificial ambience in film sound swamp the minute improvements the Outlet made.

I played some typical evaluation music that I use regularly, such as Ani DiFranco’s Up Up Up Up Up Up [Righteous Babe Records RBR013-D]. This is a very nicely recorded disc with mainly acoustic instruments. The differences were subtle but there. Perhaps the vocal was just a smidgen smoother and the plucks of the guitar string just a wee-bit cleaner. In other words, small changes in the midrange and high frequencies.

Surprisingly, it was the not-so-nicely recorded, highly electronic "Say My Name" from Destiny’s Child’s The Writing’s on the Wall disc [Columbia 69870] that helped drive the point home as to what the Ultimate Outlet was doing. This is a "hotly" recorded track with some serious splashiness attached to the vocals. It was this severely tipped-up top end that helped reveal that, yes, the Ultimate Outlet did seem to have an effect by cleaning up the midrange and top end just a bit. Listening to this disc was kind of like putting a magnifying glass to it. When the girls sing "Shady" without the Outlet it is more piercing and comes through as "SHHH-A-dy." Play it LOUD and you want to cover your ears. While certainly not perfect, with my components plugged into the Ultimate Outlet, the sound is closer to "SHAdy." Still a little too hot, but not as piercing or objectionable. In terms of bass performance and other things audiophiles tend to look at, I could find no other real difference.

So the Ultimate Outlet seems to affect both video and audio, but it’s important to put that change into perspective. The difference I saw on the video side was quite startling and hard to miss. On the audio side we are talking a very subtle difference that one must listen very closely for. In terms of sonic differences, the unit is most relevant for audiophiles who do a lot of two-channel listening and who value every incremental improvement a component like this can offer. On the other hand, when I finished my evaluation in the audio-only system, I ran the Ultimate Outlet back to the video system. I now have trouble, watching TV without it.

Comparison

The Ultimate Outlet does a whole lot more for video than, say, the Brickwall 8R15AUD Series-Mode Surge Suppressor I currently own and use. In comparison, the Brickwall does virtually nothing to enhance video and audio performance. However, it should be noted that I don't use the Brickwall for performance improvement, I use it for power protection, and that’s really the unit’s prime purpose. It’s also priced at $150 less than the Ultimate Outlet, and given that, it’s good value simply to give me peace of mind that my stuff is protected (providing it works as advertised -- since I’m not sure it’s ever really come into play yet).

The Ultimate Outlet is on the flip side of that. I wouldn’t necessarily buy the Ultimate Outlet if my only goal were protection of my equipment. There are plenty of other devices today to choose from, including those with the great warranties. Instead, for me, it’s what the Ultimate Outlet does for video performance that makes it wholly impressive.

Conclusion

PS Audio’s fashioned itself into a jack-of-all-trades power company, offering a wide array of devices that range from simple wall outlets to power cables to units like the Ultimate Outlet to the Power Plants. And all of those products to work together, should you wish to connect them all. For example, you can use an Ultimate Outlet with a Power Plant and replace the stock power cords with various incarnations of what PS Audio calls Lab Cables. Some may call it excessive while others will call it an upgrade path. I don’t know how much sense it really makes to keep chaining all these things together, or more specifically, if you really get a performance improvement commensurate with the price, but what I do like is the ability to pick and choose devices to incorporate in my system individually. The Ultimate Outlet seems like a good place to start, particularly for your video monitor.

Manufacturer contact information:

PS Audio
3050 Broadway
Boulder Colorado USA 80304
Phone: (877) 772-8340 (in USA) or (720) 406-8946 (other countries)
Fax: 1-720-406-8967

E-mail: sales@psaudio.com
Website: www.psaudio.com

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