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Model: | rm 600 |
Category: | Power Conditioner/Surge Protector |
Suggested Retail Price: | $1,295.00 |
Description: | Power plant conditioner with seven inputs |
Manufacturer URL: | Richard Gray's Power Company |
Review by strangebrewpr on January 22, 2015 at 17:50:25 IP Address: 70.45.57.111 | Add Your Review for the rm 600 |
Hi guys . Hope your all doing good .Well , I just wanted to give you guys my two cents worth on what I consider to be a very good product. Was on the market to get me a better line conditioner for my system as the one I had not only was kind of old and in reality was a low priced model , Van Evers companion line conditioner . It was a modified power strip which gave me some protection plus clean the line . The differences it did for my system were very subtle . But even though they were subtle it did protect my investment so I went ahead and bought it , so for 10 years it has work for me without no problem whatsoever .
Not only I wanted to get me a new line conditioner because the technology since I bought mine has taken big strides but also wanted to bettered the system . Another reason was that I did not want to change any of the components in my system as I was quite happy with what I had . My options to get to hear one down here in Puerto Rico are quite limited as right now we only have two Hi Fi stores in all the island so I new I was going to have to buy without hearing it on my system before deciding on buying . I ve always considered this to be a no no in Audio but I really didnt have any other option .
After some months of investigation of my options on the market I saw the unit in question on ebay at 100 dollars , so having read some really nice reviews on their units I went ahead and bought it . The unit is very well put together and is rather spartan with only a fuse and a electrical input in the front and six inputs on the back and provisions to use a captive power cable of choice . Its dimensions are those of a standard rack mount unit more or less which is rather different from their first unit on the market , the 400 which looked like a car battery laying on its side .
The unit is very heavy , I would say about 35 pounds and the reason is that inside the unit what it has is a very large inductor , thats it , well , it does have a power limiter to protect you from voltage spikes that could damage your equipment.When I received the unit I didnt have a high quality power cable to use with the unit so I went with a 10 dollar power cable which I had bought .
I did not start to use the RG 600 with my equipment one at the time as when I bought it I was going to use it with my whole system in order to protect it all , so I went ahead and connected my full system into the 600 , power amp and pre , cdp and turntable .
Since the very first song I knew I had hit on something special . I didnt want to go into the break in phase as it was a used unit but I didnt know how long the unit was not in use so I went ahead and let it burn in for the full 24 hours as recommened by the manufacturer . Now to the sound . First of all the sound of my system change dramatically and all for the better . All things pertaining to soundstaging were better , it was deeper and wider and images were rounder with better define boundaries and more space betweem them . Another aspect that change was the vertical size with bigger images as the recording permited plus it all sounded more transparent .
Frequency extreme were better define , the bass sounded more extended and easier to hear texture to instruments that had that information. The top end sounded more extended with less grit and harshness . Recordings that were bright still sounded bright but it was less troublesome and easier to discern detail .
The most dramatic change were dynamics . The whole frequencies spectrum from top to bottom were much more dynamic. Not only were they louder and softer but the subtle differences or what is called dynamic shading were better and easier to perceived . This aspect made the music more involving and exciting .
The only piece of equipment I have heard which made such a great difference on the sound on the line conditioner side of things was the psaudio p 300 . In reality I believe the differnces made by the PS unit were more dramatic but the RG unit wasnt far behind it. I have not heard everything that is in the market but I can say that on my system this unit made a profound difference and by what I have read many have said the same .
I too have read about people who have said that it didnt work in their system so maybe system mismatching is a possibility . I seems that it should be heard on your system before committing your plastic so it seems I was lucky . But for what I have read there are many more people happy with it then those who say it was a negative experience for them so it is more probable that it will work in your system .
Just one more thing . How does it work . I have a friend who is an electrical Engineer and read their white paper . He said that when the electricity from the wall enters the unit the electrical input is redone by the inductor and when it is full it sends it towards the unit connected to it . Now since the electical input is in turn making the inductor create a charge this charge it creates is new and eliminates in the process all noise and and junk carried on the line which is dumped to ground . So what reaches your equipment is basically a redone charge from the large inductor .
I don't know if my explanation is correct . What I can say is that it works and does so very well
Product Weakness: | heavy and spartan in appearence . |
Product Strengths: | Sound is improved and it is not subtle . |
Amplifier: | Mccormack DNA 125 and Counterpoint NP-100 hybrid amp |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Audible Illusions modulus 3A with gold phono mc stage and ps audio 5.0 w/modified power supply |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | project expresion II with optional controlled speed and Ortofon salsa MC cartridge / Opera Audio Forbidden city series cd player |
Speakers: | Magnepan 1.6 QR and Spica TC-50 with modified crossover and LSA 1 reference |
Cables/Interconnects: | JPS superconductor cables all threwout |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Ecleptic |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 14ft x 23ft x 9ft |
Room Comments/Treatments: | None |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | About four months |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Van Evers |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
I've been happy with my 400mkII 400pro and 1200C over the years. I have a television hooked up to the 1200C but I don't notice any improvement in video quality like many have reported. Richard Grays customer support is one of the best I have ever experienced.
I have been using a RGPC Pro400 for 12 years w/o any issue(s).
Glad you had a good experience. When I put it in MY system it took the life out of it and plasticized the whole thing. Awful. I caution anyone to audition any of this stuff in their own system to see if the outcome is a positive one for you.
The difference is so that I even would not even think of removing it from my system .
Actually, you should remove your Richard Gray to see if the difference is to your liking. You may be used to the sound now with a committed mindset. ..you could always put it back....
I fully know how my system sounds without it as Ive had for the last 10 years but you might be right , in any case I ll do it and see what happens even though I am pretty sure how its going to sound .
..just wondering you did take it out of your system for a listen,...if you did let us know....if you didn't aren't you wondering if it is complementary or not
The most important aspect of the RM600, or 600S, is the fact thats its an inductor for extra on demand current. I run one in parallel with a 240/120 V Substation Pro (isolation transformer), with excellent results, feeding downstream PS Audio P5 powerplants, which in turn power my amps and source components. These make complete engineering sense for power delivery. Secondary sonic benefits of course, meaning no line noise and mechanically disconnected from the world grid.
Edits: 01/23/15
Wow , I am impressed with your power set up , must be great and quite a few bucks invested .
Yeah I dont feel any and all such products are not what their cracked up to be. Im sure there are some that really do bring something to the table. RGPC has quite a following and many bright folks testify to their science. So Id like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Just wanted to see the tech specs on it and then found your link to not bring me where I thought I was going.
But many far more bright folk than I have pointed out how many of these power type devices end up creating a bottle neck to the draw of some high power amplifiers.
Folks would be wise to look into just what these power units are rated up to draw wise. Even then Ive read how some incorrectly rate their units. It reminds me of when in the car audio world, some folks discovered large capacitors. Suddenly less than informed folks put such .5-2 farad caps between their battery and the amps. Never mind a cap needs time to recharge when drained. So now its nothing more than an additional load between the map and its power source during high power use.
I use a less expensive, non exotic unit. A tripplite LCR2400. Someone turned me onto that product many years ago. Mainly bought for power protection and supposedly useful in the event your power dips low for whatever reason. Ive been told by someone even these are not always desirable as they can introduce a switching effect and jolt when it jumps between windings when doing what its designed to do. I could easily live without it should that happen.
Glad you like your new purchase. Thats what matters at the end of the day.
Quite a few audiophiles complain about this bottleneck effect but in my case it is quite the contrary . If anything it seems to be making the whole sound spectrum louder and much more dynamic .
It is important you understand what the RGPC is doing. It is a large inductor which ties together the hot and neutral AC lines. In essence the Hot line is unimpeded to the load, and the inductor is responsible for dumping current and evening out fluctuation of the hot lead vis a vis the neutral.
The RPGC is a parallel conditioner, not a through PLC
thanks for the "how it works" explanation. Clear and concise.
Thanks .
Excellent review!
I tried posting this in the review section but the option did not come out .
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