PS Audio DirectStream Power Plant 12

[K4680]

Hi, the PS audio distribution means:

There are many factors and variables that determine this, so I can not give you exact numbers. What I can tell you is that the fans will rise to 40-50 degrees Celsius or 200-300 watts. Factors such as the heat in the room and the air circulation can influence this.

I assume those numbers refer to the internal temperature of the P12 and the power it's outputting.

According to the photo in post #2, Arup's P12 is putting out 70W and 0.72A which is 8% of maximum load. Mine is currently putting out 50W and 0.25A which is 4% of load (the difference in the watt/amp relationships in our output is no doubt due to the fact that Arup is in the US and running on a 110V system while I'm in Australia running on a 230V system). Both of us are well under that 200-300W draw figure you suggest so heat generation from within the P12 is highly unlikely to be a problem for us. Heat in the room could be, especially when my room temperatures hit the mid 30s which they can during the day in summer heat wave conditions. I think I might get a chance to test that possibility out within the next 3 months, probably more often than I'd like.

Hi, if someone wants to test, just connect a spotlight with 200 Watt or a fan heater with 500 watts !! The fan should then run!

[David A]

But who cares if the fan runs under those conditions, even if it's noisy, if it never runs in real life conditions?

[audio_engr]

But who cares if the fan runs under those conditions, even if it's noisy, if it never runs in real life conditions?

+1 ... 

[K4680]

But who cares if the fan runs under those conditions, even if it's noisy, if it never runs in real life conditions?

Exactly, that's why I do not use PS-Audio but Isotek (without fan) !!

[Haas]

What about fan noise from the two active fans?

The old P5 did have some fan noise but I have read that the P12 is using larger fans.

My dealer was concerned about the fans. When I rang him to order the P12 after using the P5 for a while I told him that the fans don't work. They simply don't switch on in my system. It's not drawing enough power to heat up enough to trigger the fans. I've had the P12 in the system for 5 days now and the fans still haven't kicked in. I'm in Australia in Brisbane which is sub-tropical and we're heading into summer and getting some early heat wave conditions in the state. Temperatures today hit 34 degrees Celsius outside. It's currently 26 degrees inside and humid at 10/00 pm and I've just been listening to the system for a bit over 2 hours. The fans did not kick in.

Fan noise is not an issue with the amount of current my system draws because the system isn't drawing enough to cause the P12 to break a sweat. The status screen tells me I'm drawing around 51 watts and using 4% of capacity while playing music. The only reason I suspect I'll ever hear the fans kick in is if the temperature in my room, which isn't air conditioned, gets into the high 30's and if that happens I'll go and stand over the P12 and let the fans blow air on me to cool me down as well.

With a large class A or class AB amp fan noise from the P12 might be an issue. After nearly 2 weeks in total with a loaner P5 and my P12 and more than a few hours listening during the day on some vey hot days, I have yet to hear the fans start up. I can't see it ever being an issue with my 140. It might be an issue with larger amps but Arup's photo of the status screen shows he's only drawing 70 W (0.72A) with a 440 and that represents 8% of load capacity so he may well not be having the fans kick in either. With your 250 you should be seeing power and current draws that are between Arup's and mine and since you're living in Denmark I doubt you're going to see the temperatures I see here. If Arup isn't having the fans kick in then you shouldn't either but he hasnt said whether or not he's had them kick in. Perhaps he'll respond on this issue.

BTW, when I say the fans haven't turned on, I mean exactly that. It's not just that I've never heard them. I've gone over to the unit and looked through the ventilation opening on the top of the unit and the blades are clearly visible and stationary. They are simply not turning on for the load my system places on the P12.

Are you still happy with the P12?

What about the fans are they still silent?

[David A]

I'm sitll happy with the P12, extremely happy.

I have heard the fan. I noticed it switch on for a few seconds the other day when I had had to shut it down to move some gear and the fan came on briefly as I started it up and then stopped. I haven't heard it while playing music.

As I said, it's summer here and we're in heatwave mode on and off. It's been so hot in the room (my house isn't air conditioned and that room is possibly the worst room in the house for heat and humidity in summer) that there are times when I simply can't be in there because it gets too uncomfortable to listen and I still haven't heard the fan kick in while music is playing. I've had the temperature go over 35 degrees Celsius a couple of times so far this summer with relative humidity in the high 70% range which makes things very uncomfortable and the fan hasn't kicked in with music playing, even over long listening sessions. Unless you get higher temperatures than that in Denmark or you're drawing a lot more power from it than I am with your system, then I doubt you would have the fan kick in. We're both running an amp (yours is bigger than mine and will draw a little more because of that plus your speakers are a little less sensitive than mine), a server which probably draws significantly less than your amp, a disc player which I don't have but which is also a relatively low draw, so I think you'd draw more power than I do from a P12 but I even if you drew twice as much power as I do, that would still only be 8-10% of the P12's rated load so the odds of the fan kicking in with that kind of load are pretty low.

As for the noise level from the fan when it came on during start up, it was extremely low and I had to check to see whether it was the fan. It must turn on briefly every time you power the unit up but I've never noticed it before. I think you could call it "whisper quiet".

[audio_engr]

i have great doubts whether you would even notice when the fan comes ON while playing music ... During my telecon chat with Paul of PS Audio, he did say that if the load on the Power Plant is low-to-medium and even when the fan is on, listeners wouldn't even notice it.

[Antoine]

I have a P3 and also have never heard or seen the fan in use except when you switch it on where the system tests itself. Don’t worry about the fan guys!

NB. During music playback I’m at around 120W usage.

[David A]

I think we have a consensus of 3 PowerPlant owners that the fan is a non-issue in our systems.

[mmorrison55]

P5 owner. I leave mine on 24/7 and just turn off the front touch screen. I have not heard the fan once and the unit sits about 8 feet away from my chair.