For this review, I will refer to the new balanced supplied unit as the “Chinese” unit when compared to the CPT balanced units. (Which are probably Chinese made transformers).
Visual appearance: The first view of this unit is that it is a very well-made, heavy, black, aluminum unit that looks very attractive in my audiophile opinion. The front of the unit has a nice power on button that turns blue when on. And on the back, there is an IEC inlet and 2 double outlets both made by an unfamiliar Chinese brand. Internally, there is a resettable fuse/ circuit breaker along with some substantial wire with a nicely laid out design. Albeit the outlets are daisy chained together (as are the CPT units).
First listen, with the Chinese unit replacing the CPT 300. Note: This unit will be powering my low power, mostly digital components that are on a separate dedicated line. I was surprised at how close the Chinese unit sounded to the CPT 300. But there was a slight harshness that could be contributed to burn in.
Replacing the CPT 1800 (which is also on its own dedicated line) with the Chinese unit: Now, my CPT 1800 has had Furutech outlets and inlet and higher-grade wiring installed. So, it is not a far comparison to a stock CPT 1800 unit. I used the Chinese unit with a preamp and a couple of tube mono blocks plugged into it. With this configuration, the music sounded harsh but also sounded like it was straining. I was surprised that it powered the amps at all. Too much current draw for this unit.
My conclusion is based on a very short play time with the Chinese unit which had ZERO hours on it compared to a well broken in CPT units. I believe with more burn in time it should get better and compete nicely with the CPT 300. However, it doesn’t have enough transformer power to power adequately higher draw amplifiers. So, keep the power draw low 200- 500 watts.
ozzy