AC Power


I have a relatively nice system, but have done nothing with my AC power, with the exception of upgraded PC’s and a cheap iFi plug in power conditioner. My question is multi fold… do I need to do something, and if so what? Dedicated line (15A or 20?)? Quality power conditioner? Both? Which one first? How do you tell?

My system is a combination of HT & 2 channel & I tend to use both simultaneously as I like to watch sports while listening to music.
My amp is (I think) a relatively low draw… Moon 330A, Rythmik sub, BHK pre, Aurender, Qutest w/Sbooster, R11’s. No high power amps are in my future & never listen above 75db. I do currently plug my amp directly into the wall. All my wall warts are gone. For my HT, add a 75” Sony TV, Marantz 7015 AVR & a Klipsch sub (although at zero volume the AVR & sub should not come into play).

I am considering buying the Furman IT-Reference 15i or 20i first as they are well reviewed & are priced very well on Amazon ($1,400 / $1,900). Before I pull the trigger, should I go dedicated power & at what amperage (my nephew, an EE & audiophile thinks I am drawing no more than 5 amps) as that will dictate the Furman model?

Interesting, my nephew thinks neither are worth the investment. His statement: “Do you have appliances on the circuit now? What kind of interference can they inject?...voltage drops would come from current draws...which trip breakers.
Not steady 60hz a good power supply handles. So it all comes back to was the power supply engineer dropped on his head as a child.”

”Personally I think it’s something audio people do when they have run out of gear to buy.”

Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

signaforce

Showing 7 responses by immatthewj

+1, @gdnrbob .  I always pay attention to what jea and EricSquires and Atmasphere type about electrical.  

Sounds like you might be thinking all the breakers on the left side of the electrical panel are on one leg, and all the breakers on the right side of the panel are on the other leg. That is not the case... The breakers on each side alternate from Line 1 leg and Line 2 leg down both sides of the panel. The wider breakers, two breakers with a single common handle, are for 240V loads. Single breakers are for 120V loads.

@jea48 , I was also thinking that the left side is one leg and that the right side was the other leg. So I guess that this means that the 240A breaker for my drier is using both legs?

And also: the way you explained that is that the top most breaker on the left side and the top most breaker on the right side are both on the same leg? (And from there on all the way down the legs alternate in pairs of breakers.) Am I understanding you correctly?

 

Thanks, @jea48 , that explanation and illustration made it so perfectly clear that even I could grasp it.  

@erik_squires , just now I finally got around to checking av volts where I have my gera plugged in and I read 121.8.  Assuming my readings stay right about there, that doesn't seem problematic, does it?  

 I believe the utility companies consider anything between and including 110 VAC to 130 VAC to be within spec, so 121.8 is fine. 

The performance issue for devices with linear power supplies, especially unregulated supplies (i.e. power amplifiers) are at the mercy of the incoming voltage so seasonal and daily fluctuations can affect them.

@erik_squires , as always, thank you for the time you spend offering informational content.  As far as the Furman P-1800 AR, and I apologize because this has probably been addressed but as bad as my eyes are I cannot find it, you did say that voltage regulation is more important to you than isolation of components.  But, judging from one of OP's follow ups, it does have an analogue side and a digital side?  So I assume that to some extent it does isolate?