Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Running Springs Audio Haley Power Conditioner/Surge Protector by jaybar

Model:	Haley
Category:	Power Conditioner/Surge Protector
Suggested Retail Price:	$1695
Description:	6 Outlet 15 Amp Power Conditioner. Includes Mongoose Power Cord.
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by jaybar ( A ) on October 23, 2006 at 17:49:32
IP Address: 207.38.181.45

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for the Haley

I have been using the Running Springs Audio Haley for the past 2 weeks. The Haley is a 6 outlet Power conitioner. It is rated at 15 amps. My unit includes the RSA Mongoose power cord. The unit can also be purchased w/o the power cord for $1195.

I have it sitting on the bottom shelf of my Solidsteel 6.4 rack. I am using the Ayre/Cardas wood blocks instead of the supplied sorbethane feet.
I am in NYC. The power in my apartment building is not the cleanest to say the least. Moreover, the outlets behind my rack are not very accessable. I need something that I can easily place on my rack that can accomodate my modest (in terms of the number of components) two channel system. The unit can handle up to 1850 watts without current limiting. My system's total power consumption is well below that-- so the Haley is ideally suited for my needs. For those of you who have a 20 amp circuit, there is the RSA Jaco. Both units use the same technology.
The unit is quite heavy for a small power conditioner. It weighs in at almost 25 pounds.
Flat out, this is the best power conditioner I have tried to date. In my system, it bettered the Shunyata Hydra 8 with Shunyata's Python Helix Alpha. It the past, I have also tried the PS Audio UPC 200 and the MIT Z series components.
I lived with the Hydra 8 for more than a year. Prior to that I had the PS Audio UPC 200 and prior to that the MIT Z series components for many years.
While I did not A/B the various power conditioners, I had each for a fairly long term, so I am familiar with their virtues as well as their respective weaknesses.
The RSA Haley just gets out of the way of the music, like I have not experienced before when using a power conditioer. Generaqlly speaking, while I have found most power conditioners to drop the noise floor, quite effectively, what they did well came at a price of a darker and more relaxed sound than I experience in live unamplified music. I was alweays keenly aware of the respective power conditioners placing their respective imprint upon the music. I regared them as a necessary evil, given my equipment layout and power quality.
What do I hear that I have not experienced before? The Haley improves the overall PRAT of the system, by a considerable margin. I am more away of how notes build and decay than I have ever been before. Tthe acoustics within the recording environment are clearly more evident. The complexities of timing within the musical selection and the selection's overall rythmic sructure are MUCH easier to follow.
The unit also does the audiophile approved things in terms of tighter bass, more "air", improved imaging and better soundstage. However, it is the Haley's ability to unravel and make lucid the structire and emotion of the music without imposing its own character (or less character than other units) that is its greatest strength.
If you have a modest system of six or fewer conponents, whose overall power consumption fits within the Haley's limits, that I highly recommend you audition the Running Springs Audio Haley. One of the best values in power conditioners that I know.

Product Weakness: More sensitive to footers than I would have thought.
Product Strengths: Ability to improve the overall PRAT of my system which making clear the structure of the music.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Ayre AX-7
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Ayre CX-7, Ayre P-5x, Rega P9 with Benz Ruby 3
Speakers:	Harbeth Monitor 30's
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas GR IC's and NR speaker cable. Cardas Power Cords
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, Chamber, Baroque
Room Size (LxWxH):	23 x 12 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Very nearfield listening. Drapes, Rugs, wall hangings, Echo 1/4 Round bass busters (2). Roomtune corner tunes. L shaped room from hell.
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Shunyata Hydra 8 preceeded the RSA Haley
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	More sensitive to footers than I would have thought.
Product Strengths:	Ability to improve the overall PRAT of my system which making clear the structure of the music.