Harley Benton PowerPlant Junior

As a passionate musician and gear enthusiast, I recently had the opportunity to incorporate the Harley Benton PowerPlant Junior into my setup, and I must say, it's a game changer. This compact, robust power supply is an absolute must-have for any guitarist looking to streamline their pedalboard with efficiency and reliability.

Firstly, the build quality of the PowerPlant Junior is exceptional. Its sturdy, metal chassis feels durable enough to withstand the rigors of gigging, and its compact size is a perfect fit for any pedalboard, large or small. This thoughtful design ensures that it doesn't eat up valuable real estate, which is crucial for pedal enthusiasts like me.

The noiseless operation of this unit is where it truly shines. The isolated outputs eliminate ground loop issues and any unwanted hum or buzz, ensuring that the true tone of my pedals comes through without interference. This feature is particularly beneficial for recording sessions, where clarity and purity of sound are paramount.

With five 9V DC outputs, each offering 120 mA, the PowerPlant Junior effortlessly powers a wide array of pedals. Whether it's analog or digital pedals, this unit handles them with ease, providing stable and consistent power. This flexibility is a boon, especially for those who love to experiment with different pedal combinations.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the ease of setup. The PowerPlant Junior comes with all necessary cables, making it a plug-and-play solution right out of the box. For someone who wants to spend more time playing and less time fiddling with gear, this is a huge plus.

In terms of value, the PowerPlant Junior is a standout. It offers features and performance that rival more expensive units, making it an accessible option for musicians at all levels. This affordability does not come at the cost of quality, making it an excellent investment for any serious guitarist.

In conclusion, the Harley Benton PowerPlant Junior is a stellar power supply unit that combines durability, noise-free operation, versatility, and great value. It's a piece of gear that I can confidently recommend to any musician looking to ensure their pedals are powered reliably and efficiently. It's a small investment that can significantly enhance the performance and reliability of your pedalboard.

This is supplied in a neat cardboard box. Inside lurks the Powerplant Junior, a bag of cables and manuals in English and German. The unit is a robust pedal-sized folded steel box held together with screws. It comes with a captive 135cm mains cable terminated in a Schuko mains plug. As I'm in the UK, Thomann supplied a Schuko to UK adapter with it free of charge. This adapter is robust and works very well. On plugging in, an LED shows the power is on. The unit hums very slightly acoustically, but this is not audible from a few feet away. The black foam feet on the base help with this aspect.

The five 9V DC ouputs are all tip negative, as most pedals require, and are ideal for powering a reasonable sized selection of pedals. Each output is isolated from each other, so this stops ground loops forming, which usually result in obnoxious hum.

A good selection of power cables are provided. There are two sets of standard DC cables (5 short and 5 long), terminated with barrel connectors (right angle at one end and straight at the other). Having both lengths make for neater wiring on a pedal board, without excess cable needing to be coiled up. A "Y" cable is supplied, for powering pedals that need more than 120mA of current. Lastly, a daisy chain cable is included so you can power more than 5 pedals. Some pedals suffer less with ground loops, and the daisy chain will work for those.

In use, my pedals are super clean and quiet with the PowerPlant Junior. It's a huge improvement over batteries, a daisy chain cable, or using multiple power supplies. 120mA per output seems fine for my pedals. It might struggle on some power hungry pedals but the current doubler cable is there for those situations. The standard 120mA output powered a digital delay of mine with no problems.

In conclusion, this is a great product at a bargain price. I should have bought one of these ages ago.

Many people, especially beginners but also the more advanced ones, often seem to struggle when it comes to powering their effects and pedalboards. The most common problem is noise and hiss appearing in different situations. These effects often appear when people power their pedals with several wall warts, when using analog and digital pedals on a single power supply or when using effects in front of the amp and in the FX-Loop on single power supply. I really think powering your pedals isn't that hard to do. Although I often use a Visual Sound One Spot Power Supply when I need to supply one or two effects with power, I think one should use a regulated power supply like the Harley Benton PowerPlant Junior when you need to supply a bigger pedalboard. The advantage is that you get regulated power which is far less prone to noise and every single output is isolated. The isolation of every output is a very important thing especially when you want to use digital and analog effects at the same time or pedals in front of the amp and in the FX-Loop at the same time, because the isolation avoids ground-loops that can appear if the grounds of every output aren't isolated from each other. With the Harley Benton PowerPlant Junior you get five single isolated outputs. That's enough for a smaller pedalboard but you could use a daisy chain to multiply the outputs. You should consider that the current of every output is limited to about 120mA. That's enough current for most analog pedals but digital pedals often tend to draw more than 120mA. If you need more current you need to put two outputs in parallel. The output could also be used to double the voltage by putting them in series. There are cables from Voodoo Lab etc. for that purpose. All in all it's a great product that you should consider if you are looking out for a new power supply.

I've only recently found that these things existed for such a low price. My pedalboard is not big, I've only got three pedals so far, but the thought of having 3 different power supplies connected to 3 different sockets was just a nightmare.
That's when this PowerPlant Junior comes in hand. It's small, discrete and feeds all the pedals I need.
Honestly, for this price is more than perfect.

Pros:
- The price
- It works flawlessly
- The number of cable sets included is just mind-blowing. All you need in one box.

Cons:
- None, whatsoever

Harley Benton, just keeps on surprising me

I had already accumulated six effect pedals and it was just that there were not enough sockets for adapters, and it was simply tired of spending money on batteries. And you know, I looked at this power supply, looked more closely at its price and did not hesitate to buy it.
You know, I was pleasantly surprised. It is not only small in size, which will save space in your pedalboard, but it is also suitable for a huge number of lotions. Because of the five power connectors, I thought that he could only power five devices, but how shocked I was when all five of my pedals started working on him.
Four sets of cords come with it, for any task. There is one, branched into five devices, which, in theory, when connecting the same four, gives us the opportunity to power 25 pedals. I can’t believe it, and I can’t say whether this is true, but if so, then why pay more than the price of this device?
Yes, it only powers 9v devices, and if you need 12v, you have to look for another solution, but for me it was perfect. If they ask me about a convenient, cheap and small size power supply, then I will recommend this product to everyone.