amplifier power consumption

Rrog, my amp has been modified and puts out more power than it did in its original state, but i will look on the back of the amp anyway (hadn't actually thought to do that! duh!)

Riley - thank you very much - I may just go out and pick up one of those!

Almarg and Jea48 - I appreciate your advice as well (and will pay heed to your warning about the unit not measuring peaks).

by the way -

Stangely, a very good service technician whom i know suggested using even the CHEAPEST one by a company called APC (the unit that puts out 200w). He states that he has all his equipment (all tubes) ALL connected to it (amp, cd player, tt) and that it 'does the same job as the more expensive ones', therefore 'you don't need anything more'. I asked him several times if he's sure... and he insisted it was more than fine for my application.

His statements really confused me, to be honest, since it doesn't seem to make all that much sense to me. Then again, i'm not an electronics technician.

thanks a ton, guys! i really appreciate this help.

Perhaps i was confused with what my techie suggested (although i doubt it).

I may just try one of the cheaper units from APC for now (since i can always return it) and report back here as to how it worked out for me.

One point to note is that i'm getting a bit of a buzzing coming out of my woofers, which the technician says is non-existent in his tests... apparently, my amp runs cleanly and well above spec. This is part of what led me to believe i need a UPS.

Further, I used to own two Blue Circle Power Line Pillows and every time i plugged one into an outlet, the breaker would trip. I'm not certain what that means about the power here, but i'm sure it's not good.

Any thoughts from anyone on that?

Face: Well, the situation is this: I used to own a pretty good setup (unison unico, rotel transport w/ msb link dac III with half nelson upgrade, variety of speakers including Neat mystiques, StudioLab Ref 1, NHT 2.5i). This setup sounded great w/ all speakers mentioned at my former residence.

Upon setting up in my new condo, the sound collapsed. Flat, undynamic, lacking in clarity, no real depth, thin/hard, lacking air. Further, every time i plugged in my Blue Circle Power Line Pillows, the breaker would trip, which raised a red flag right off the bat. However, since the condo was brand new, i simply assumed it CAN"T be a problem with the power.

I was told that, unfortunately, the wiring in newly built condos is done SOOO cheaply and in a shoddy way that i'm likely picking up all kinds of interference, not to mention experiencing power fluctuations. Further, I never had any buzzing coming out of my woofers at my former residence, then suddenly, out of the blue - buzzing out of the woofer cones at the new residence.

My tech said that these issues w/ my system could be the direct result of the power in my building, which is why he suggested essentially stabilizing the power flow by using a UPS. This was also suggested to me by a high level electrical engineer at my office building.

Regarding line conditioning, from what i've read, for the most part, line conditioning deadens the musical experience - and i'm trying to go in the other direction! What was suggested by both techies is that a UPS would be more effective...

At this point, i'm almost ready to bail on the system entirely and take up basket weaving, so i wouldn't have to worry about power, acoustics and setup.

Hi again, Al

No, no new cables... cables are routed cleanly... standard cable with rca ends... no dimmers...

yes, i was under the impression that both these people were talking about a power regenerator built into a ups (or that all ups' were power generators, more specifically).

I also make a point to turn off everything - even shut off my fridge at the fuse box - just to to get the best sound...which ends up still being mediocre at best anyway.

Tonywise -

funny you should mention that. I was sitting around, trying to 'enjoy' some tunes the other night..fiddled around w/ the wiring a bit...Turned the amp off for a few moments and when it was turned back on, the left channel began crackling. Upon touching the volume knob to turn it down, there was a static discharge that made the left channel cut back in.

I talked about this with both an audiophile friend and an electrician; the audiophile mentioned the possibility of ground look, so i'm going to go grab a cheater plug and check things out. Beyond that, the electrician suggested lack of grounding in the condo and offered to check it out for me.

Something is definitely amiss and, after all your comments and my further observations, it seems as though i was originally barking up the wrong tree.

This is definitely an exercise of my patience. At least I have something to work with at this point.