PS Audio GCP-200 w Separate Power Supply

GCP200 With SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY. THIS PRE (with GCPS) HAS BEEN AN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMER. SUPERBLY QUIET, OPEN AND ESSENTIALLY NOT THERE. IM USING THE DIRECT STREAM DAC NOW SO I DONT HAVE A NEED FOR IT. NON SMOKING HOME. ORIGINAL DOUBLE BOX CARTON. Separate box for HCPS. WILL SPLIT PAYPAL FEE. The GCPS is designed to provide a higher quality DC voltage for the GCP-200 preamplifier. Using a remote and separate chassis to convert AC from the wall to DC for the preamplifier benefits the sonic qualities of the preamplifier. The GCPS contains a high current diode bridge, 96,000 mFd’s of capacitance and a power transformer.
It produces clean, unregulated DC voltage for the GCP-200 preamplifier or other PS equipment designed to accept the GCPS. Expect a quieter background level, a more open spacious soundstage with clearly defined space around the individual instruments. The lowered impedance of this power supply will also help the GCP-200 have a more full bodied presentation to the music or theater presentation

Specifications:

• 6 inputs
• HT Bypass
• Polarity control
• 5 RCA 1 XLR
• Separate subwoofer output XLR output and RCA output Remote control
• Programable gain for each channel
• Price: Starting at $2195

In my view, this combination just plain works. It is not that the power supply transforms the sound beyond recognition it does not–but it does take it another clear step further and, consequently, offers a rightness of delivered sound that makes the power supply, for me, an essential, rather than optional, partner to the GCP-200. The improvements I experienced originally over the TLC-1 were now stretched a good bit further. Music seemed to come into sharper focus, the instruments distinctive and more present in my listening room. Again, on Starker’s first recording of Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites, the strings had a tactile nearness as if you were sitting closer to the action, Starker’s bowing technique becoame more discernible, and the body of the instrument resonated with more realism than before. The Emerson Quartet’s recording of Bach’s Art of the Fugue provides any system with a chance to show its resolving power, and the preamp combo handled the intertwining instrumental lines with aplomb. If I had to choose one word to describe the primary effect, comparing the fully tricked out GCP-200 preamp with its predecessor, ‘openness’ came to mind. The sonic picture had greater clarity, more frequency extension, particularly at the lower end, more tangibility, and as a result, there was a better sense of what the musicians were doing. Preamp reviewers always talk of a window being more transparent or of veils being lifted, and with good reason. Clichéd as it sounds, this is very much the effect one experiences when the line from source to speaker is improved. With vocals, this improvement manifested itself through the presentation of small details that gave greater flesh and body to the singer. Holly Cole (Temptation) seemed to move a little closer (one can wish!) and I found it easier to imagine a living, breathing woman calling me a ‘silly boy.’ On rock music, if well recorded, there seemed to be greater drive to the rhythm section, and lead lines were more discernable, more easily separated from the instrumental backing. Jon Lord’s Hammond playing on Deep Purple’s wonderfully remastered Machine Head (EMI) has vibrant tonal qualities that now seemed a easier to hear, and the music took on a freshness and life that better revealed the intricate interplays between the lead musicians and the good time swing of the band at play.

Summary for PS Audio GCP-200 preamp

In sum, the GCP-200 package offers a very clear window on the music, while possessing no sound of its own that I can determine. It takes what it’s fed and sends it on its way in a totally unfussy way. It’s loaded with inputs and outputs (the image on the site is not correct: the preamp has two pairs of balanced outputs), and seems to reflect changes in cables (but less so power cords). Paul McGowan tells me this could be the last preamp PS Audio makes, and while it was designed with the Audio Research Ref 1 as a benchmark, he believes that with the external PS it actually surpasses that design on all counts. Without an AR Reference preamp to test, I cannot comment, but against a very good TLC-1, a product which first convinced me of the importance of preamplifiers in a system, my nod goes to the PS Audio GCP-200 with external PS and, and I am not looking back. It will be some time before I consider this component to be the weak link in my chain.

I've owned two highly regarded preamps that the GCP200 w PS is more open, quiet and musical than:

Adcom GFP 750 designed by Nelson Pass

Musical Fidelity 308CR

the GCP200 is almost identical to the PSA Direct Stream DAC ..the difference could be the elimination of an added cable connection.....its that good.