I know nothing about the Adcom or Monster, but, I once owned a Tice Elite3, which has no transformer, so that made it a very light unit with 16 outlets. Anyone could see it did its job when my Mitsubishi TV was plugged in it. It made an obvious stunning difference in the clarity of the picture that anyone could see. For audio, it gave me a blacker background which resulted in clearer/cleaner sound - and I don't believe it robbed power or current.. if it did I didn't hear it. From what I understand Tice is out of business, but they really did make excellent products, IMO. |
The hope is between the the one that doesnt
work and the one destroyed in shipping I can
make one good one for my second system where I
use 2 adcom 515's. My cd player has Bybee
filters,really doesn't ND ac filteration. |
Did he but it used? I have three,one doesn't work one was destroyed in shipping and the one I use which sounds awesome in my system with the Titan. When I hooked the Titan up to the power block which ran on its own for three years the Soundstage elevated in height at least 2 feet above my speakers. With just the power block things were more defined,the bass more extended space between instruments more defined. |
A friend of mine once had a Tice Power Block and it did nothing........I mean that in the best way possible. :?) |
I choose not to spend thousands on this so called new technology in line enhancers when I can get 90 per cent of the benifit of in a Tice. If you are not dragging around the 70 pound power block and it is just sitting where it is supposed to be dried out rubber cushions are no problem then do what it did massage them with vasiline and restore them or spend thousands on a line enhancer as good as the Tice. A power block with a Titan is a major improvment.I would rather put my money in lp's or another piece of equipment.
The improvement of a dedicated power line just for your stereo equipment is also an option. Call your power company. |
04-19-15: Qdrone
Look around the used market for a Tice Power Block and it's companion The Titan. I bought mine for 600 total and I'm very happy with it. You want to pick it up though shipping these behemoths is costly and they can easily be daged in shipping. The rubber grommets that hold the transformers get brittle from age and heat and if they are dropped can.Crack and them the transformer is jostled about damaging the innards. These are the ones that started the AC line enhancer market. Are line conditioner similar to NOS tubes, the older the better? Why bother dealing with brittle, crack ... No Thanks! I had a 515 and it's NOT very good to be kind. |
Look around the used market for a Tice Power Block and it's companion The Titan. I bought mine for 600 total and I'm very happy with it. You want to pick it up though shipping these behemoths is costly and they can easily be daged in shipping. The rubber grommets that hold the transformers get brittle from age and heat and if they are dropped can.Crack and them the transformer is jostled about damaging the innards. These are the ones that started the AC line enhancer market. |
04-17-15: Wolf_garcia
From my experience and knowledge, I can usually spot the nonsense emanating from people imagining things...like "current starvation"...but then there are a lot of people who will go to great lengths to justify a point even in the face of facts being elsewhere, and those people are ready to defend their supposed "golden ears" to make a useless point...roll some big, thick PCs indeed...it could make up for obvious shortcomings elsewhere.
Wolf_garcia (Threads | Answers | This Thread) Dude, do what works for you. It's your money. I have NO problems you guys are happy with 515. Like I said, I'm just sharing my experience ... and yes, I do believe PCs are as important as any components in my system. Thickness is not a requirement but just SQ! |
From my experience and knowledge, I can usually spot the nonsense emanating from people imagining things...like "current starvation"...but then there are a lot of people who will go to great lengths to justify a point even in the face of facts being elsewhere, and those people are ready to defend their supposed "golden ears" to make a useless point...roll some big, thick PCs indeed...it could make up for obvious shortcomings elsewhere. |
Well, call me a Neanderthal, I will always judge a component with my ear. From my experience and knowledge, I can usually locate the problem/bottleneck with my ear. It's not very difficult to hear components starving for current ... roll some PCs. |
I have no doubt that what you heard was a deterioration of sound quality, however, unless you actually measure the cause it could well have been some other interaction rather than current limiting. To say it was currently limiting in your application is at best a good guess, which is a place to start to measure.....but it really is only a guess and not a fact.
You resolved your problem by removing the component and replacing it with something else. In the end, pleasing your ear but actually not determining what was causing the poor interaction. Which doesn't really matter on a 1 on 1 case basis as long as it works for you but should not be extrapolated to others with unverifiable root causes. |
Oh, I thought you might have mesured it. I measured with my ear ... hearing is believing. My non messurement experience has not been the same as yours and I have been running high current demanding amps out of them. However, this is anecdotal and not empirical, since I never measured it. Although, stereophile reviewed it when it first came out, circa 1988 or so, and stated that it did not limit current. I bought my first one shortly after that. Glad it works for you. I guess we have very very different systems. |
Nope,Ive had good luck with one! |
Oh, I thought you might have mesured it. My non messurement experience has not been the same as yours and I have been running high current demanding amps out of them. However, this is anecdotal and not empirical, since I never measured it. Although, stereophile reviewed it when it first came out, circa 1988 or so, and stated that it did not limit current. I bought my first one shortly after that. |
04-16-15: Raymonda
Joecasey....can you explain your conclusion regarding the 515. Your statement is strong but you failed to support the reason(s) why you made it. Please do so empirically. Much appreciated. I had one in the 1990's and it's a current tourniquet to my components. It stripped the soul and life out of the music. At the time I was using Adcom 555 amp and 565 pre (I think model# are correct ... long time ago). Pre, CD player and LP plug into 515. Shortly it was replaced with Van Evers and a huge improvement. Van Evers is long gone now. Line conditioners have improved tremendously in last 20+ years and 515 was a POS back in the 90's so it's a bigger POS in 2015 IMHO. Just like K car that saved Chrysler. POS back then a bigger POS now. 04-16-15: Casey621
No Relation You bet NO relation!!! Going out of your way looking for a little attention and love??? |
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Joecasey....can you explain your conclusion regarding the 515. Your statement is strong but you failed to support the reason(s) why you made it. Please do so empirically. Much appreciated. |
I've thought of re-wiring the main cable of the 515 with a Pangea or Shunyata or something, but am too lazy. I'm used to the snarky comments from Joecasey and others as finding people with great sounding rigs using 515s here and there does fly in the face of the entire "Large and Expensive AC Power Gizmo" industry, of which the 515 was an early very well regarded although never really expensive component. Nobody imagined when these things came out that you could easily spend 4 thousand bucks on an AC plug device, but then people scoffed at my secret backyard nuclear reactor (thank you mothballed submarine industry)...my neighbors have NO idea... |
I use the Adcom ACE-515 for my entire analog front end and sonically I have had no issues at all with it. The delay switches for it work great in my situation. Best $60 I spent on my system. |
Sure Geph,
it is the design of those Monster products- taking away power & current to operate. (2) other considerations- where do you live? what other gear is in your system?
Keep me posted and Happy Listening! |
I would not recommend Adcom 515 on anything draws more current than a clock radio. 04-14-15: Wolf_garcia
Other's claim better results with expensive AC stuff (some of these results seem directly related to EJS or Expense Justification Syndrome), but I've used an Adcom 515 since new and it works perfectly and the system sounds great with the thing.. If Adcom 515 sounds good with your components, I would not waste money on after market PCs but stick with stock. It will make NO difference. |
Other's claim better results with expensive AC stuff (some of these results seem directly related to EJS or Expense Justification Syndrome), but I've used an Adcom 515 since new and it works perfectly and the system sounds great with the thing...I've plugged amps into the wall, tested bypassing the 515 various times and otherwise been compelled to mess with it, but it stays (I put "Power Port" plugs in the wall and my sub is on another outlet by itself, all with beefy wire). I would't use it with extreme high current amps, but with my 65 watt PC or so tube amp (in a PS audio Humbuster III after the 515) it seems well within its range and until it dies it stays...the turn-on timing feature is useful. |
When you say they steal current what do you mean?? I turned out the Monster blew the fuse |
Geph-
the Monster products steal power/current from your system- be aware of this fact. The Adcom is good, certainly there are better products.
Give us an idea of the rest of your gear. Look into Richard Gray Power Company products. I use a 400 Pro since 2004 w/o any issue/problem(s). Keep me posted & Happy Listening! |
I have a Furman Elite 15 pfi which replaced an Adcom 515 for my source components. My amp is plugged straight into the wall. In my system {all tube} the Furman sounds much better than the Adcom. Also the two cord deal on the Adcom is a bit of a pain. I have never tried the Monster Conditioners. If I were to upgrade it would probably be to a Furman Reference 15i or 20i.
One thing about the Adcom, I have owned it for about 20 years now and the damn thing still works. I have never had any problem with it at all.
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I use all of the above with fine results.I use the Adcoms, 1 each, for my mono block amps and plug them directly into the wall outlet. I use the Monster for digital equipment. I use a Furman for my analog equipment. All sound good to me. The reason I use the Adcoms on my amp is that I was told that it does not limit current. |
