Owner`s manual

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rules with a direct-to-consumer business model that offers all the flavor and none of the fat.
The ultimate “winner” of certain pending format wars (SACD vs. DVD-A) remains
up-in-the-air, but still, digital audio enthusiasts have much to be happy about right now.
Better still, digital-to-analog conversion technology continues to progress while the cost of
entry drops like a rock – even for the good stuff.
The Perpetual Technologies P-3A is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Not long ago,
you had to consider spending a few thousand dollars to get into digital playback that was
acceptably accurate, musical and dynamic, without being colored. Even now, people would
have laughed at the suggestion that a mere $699 would get you there . . . but it does.
Used as a stand-alone DAC, the sonic hallmarks of the P-3A are an uncanny sense of
realism coupled with astounding clarity, and a dynamic range that can be truly startling. It
exhibits that elusive sense of coherence that makes music sound like music, rather than a
set of disparate sounds. Reproduction of micro-dynamics, which are really just the small,
generally percussive musical details that only emerge when you have a pitch-black sonic
background, are also first-rate through the P-3A.
Because of the mind-boggling clarity of the P-3A, the soundstage stretches as wide and
deep as the recording permits, with appropriately proportioned images. Listen to Peruvian
vocalist Susana Baca’s passionate album Echo of Shadows (Luka Bob 72438-48912), and
you’ll see that it’s a match made in heaven with the P-3A. Like many of my favorite albums,
Echo of Shadows was produced by Craig Street. His presence virtually ensures that you’ll
be hearing a recording where the vocals, the accompaniment, and the recording venue
converge in such a way that it all makes wonderful musical sense. The P-3A is the
consummate companion with which to hear these gems.
The Monolithic Sound P
3
Perpetual Power Plant, which Stacey and John discussed earlier,
is more than simply an accessory for the P-3A. In my opinion, it’s closer to a necessity if the
goal is to extract maximum performance. It isn’t that the P-3A has any true deficiencies
using the stock wall-wart power supply, but at a retail price of $699, Perpetual Technologies
had to choose their R&D battles with discretion. After extensive listening, I’m certain that the
Monolithic Sound P
3
offers the sort of improvement that justifies the added cost. With the
additional $349, the total price of the P-3A is bumped to just over a grand, but heck, that’s
still comparatively cheap for what you get. From here forward, all my comments about the
Perpetual gear presume that the Monolithic is supplying the juice.
I also should mention that, early in my audition, a problem arose that seemingly resided with
the P-1A, as it didn’t occur until the P-1A was brought into the system. On two occasions,
during a certain musical passage, I heard what sounded like a small electrical “blip”.
Immediately following, there was a distinct lack of high frequency detail until I powered down
the P-1A/3A and re-set them both. After contacting Perpetual, Jon Lane, the Director of
Technical Support, was incredibly responsive and authorized a return, at Perpetual’s
expense, to check the units and correct the problem. They were returned to me within a
week and have performed flawlessly since. The P-1A and P-3A are right on the edge of
audio technology, and as such, one has to expect little problems to pop up at first.
Comparing the P-3A to Other Stand Alone DACs
I spent considerable time comparing the P-3A to a few other acclaimed, high performance