Intro
Contents
The regular Alpha Reader/Follower knows that at Alpha Audio we really believe in a good foundation for a hifi system. By that we mean energy. That’s why we pay quite a bit of attention to it and also do research on it. This time we take a look at the Yeti Reference 1000 watt power conditioner. And yes: that is – no pun intended – one of our references.
Funnily enough, we never have a full review of Yeti’s Reference filter. Even though it is part of our reference system. The advantage is that we have been working with it for a long time and therefore know what the filter does.
Yeti Reference
The 1000 watt version of the Yeti Reference filter costs 4999 Euros. That, of course, is not a small price tag. And it puts itself between, for example, Audioquest’s Niagara 3000 and Niagara 5000. Or at the level of the Isotek Sigmas V5. Those are serious products and companies to compete with.
The construction of the Yeti filter is as follows. First, there is a giant isolation transformer – balanced – that is custom made for Yeti. Then there is another parallel filter which removes clutter. So, in effect, a kind of “two-way filter. Internally, we see high-quality cabling, a QSA Yellow fuse and solid, decent inputs and outlets.
In our case, we have six outputs that are not specifically configured for low or high loads. The outlets meet in one star ground. They are also wired from a single point and not interconnected as we saw with Plixir. We suspect this prevents contamination between devices….
Sources or amplifiers?
We use the Yeti Reference 1000 watts primarily for sources. Now, in principle, this filter can supply energy to (power) amplifiers. But our Pass Labs X150.8 and the Yeti Reference 1000 are not really good friends. This can have several reasons and it also shows that it is always wise to test combinations first before making a final purchase.
The Sonnet Pasithea and the Mutec MC3+ and REF10-SE120 are definitely a nice addition. In short: experiment with it.