There is no BEST power conditioner, however there are a few that don't limit current and let your gear perform to the best of their abilities. The one I would recommend is the Running Springs Audio Jaco line conditioner, which I decided on after trying at least three others in my system. |
I would recommend Sound Applications, they are a bit pricey, but the moment I heard it in my system I was sold. |
When you request info re. BEST--- there's a lot of room. If your ears and system are up to it I recommend the brand I use. This, after trying MANY, Inc. Monster,Chang,Audio Magic-(2 dif. models) and many other pricy ones. Monster,(AVS200) and Tripp ;-- not to much help 4me. The brand I use is a "whole-system" conditioner. It has 6 duplex outlets. Oh' the good news--only $3800-- Right now on new today there's a used one--$2400--not mine nor a friend of mine.
One hard task is my Mitsubitsi 65'w/ 9" guns, CRT,tv. All the mid priced ones did zip for pic.quality. This one does video picture and audio quality at the same time; all being on at the same time.I run CJ8 mono block and the music doesn't get better if the tv gets turned off/nor does the pic. degrade when the amps go on.-- I have no idea but I would guess there might be something better--but I would guess it be more $$.---Post what you got if you want. Otherwise don't ask for best---ask for best in your price range. |
How much they help will depend onthe quality of the power you have. Sometimes lower end gear can benifit a lot because they have lower quality power supplies. Try one out on CD, DAC & pre-amp. Amps usually work best plugged direct in the wall. Some units say they don't current limit. That is what you want on your amps if possible. Get rid of all cheap power strips. |
Check out the Adept Response by Audience. The best conditioner I have yet heard and I have heard many. |
Dedicated circuits help a lot, but how much they help depends on the environment. Today inner city and suburban areas all have RF issues, but they are greater in inner city areas.
You can't do much about the condition of the transformers and lines to your house or the meter on your house. But from that point on, you can control it.
My DVD player, a modest and aging Pioneer DV-47A, produces quite decent sound and picture quality with my new dedicated circuits, power conditioners and SRA isolation system. The improvement over the undedicated circuits and my 1980s vintage sound organization stands is amazing.
My dedicated circuit begins on the house side of my meter where power is divided into a 100-amp circuit serving only the AV system and a 200-amp circuit serving the rest of the house.
100-amp circuit begins with the best commercial 100-amp breaker Square D makes and feeds into an 85-foot run of 0-awg armored BX copper cable cooked and cryo'd by Virtual Dynamics. The 0-awg added greatly to the cost but we used it because the run is so long we wanted a heavy enough wire to prevent loss of voltage. The 0-awg terminates into a Square D QO breaker box which distributes 5 AV circuits of 10-awg armored BX copper cable cooked and cryo'd by Virtual Dynamics, one for each of the mono blocks, one for digital sources, one for analog and one for the projector. The receptacles are Hubble hospital grades cooked and cryo'd by Virtual Dynamics. With all of this the quality of the power available to the system is pretty good.
Because we live in one of the lightning capitals of the world though, we still need top drawer power conditioners with the best surge protection circuits available. We chose the Transparent line for 2 reasons, first because it is among those that do not limit power and second because its surge protection circuits react in pico seconds rather than mere nanoseconds. The surge protection circuits were the reason we chose Transparent over the other conditioners that do not limit power.
Together with the resonance isolation properties of the SRA racks and amp stands, the result is a completely silent background from which the music springs, wonderfully rich low level detail, extended decay of notes and a wide, deep soundstage. Video images are free from noise as well (digital artifacts from the cable -- less from the DVD player -- are another matter). |
Geez,I didn't put the name of the conditioner in my post but to those in the know the price might give it away--Adept Response |
We'll have to recommend yours to OR/ICU's accross the globe, George!
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Cipherjuris - long ago and excellent post. The dedicated A/V circuit from the circuit breaker is a great "front end" to power conditioning. I'm in NE Florida where lightening is on the cooks short order menu.
Some strikes are hard to stop. On a partly cloudy day, I saw the freak lightening stike that hit a tree from a window I was looking out 15 feet away. It killed a 25 foot Sable palm.
It jumped from the tree over about 10 feet to an outdoor speaker, and returned through the outdoor speaker lead to blow out a 12 channel amp, 2 indoor wall volume units 80 feet away, two sets of ceiling speakers, and a variety of non-audio items.
My higher end products are now completely separated. I'm now using a lower priced reciever and multi-channel amp for the whole house. It works fine for background music.
I have a dedicated 110 and 220 for a hot tub right outside my indoor A/V area. I'm having a electrician look at converting them to a dedicated, indoor A/V circuit.
Thanks for the info. |
Soundsbeyondspecs,
Sorry about Mother Nature's attack on your system - glad it did not seem to damage your high end one. I had a similar attack 2 years before I upgraded my entire electrical system, including the dedicated A/V circuits - it fried my security system, computers and all my phones, but didn't seem to touch my A/V system.
Even with my dedicated A/V circuits and 3 layers of surge protection, I still unplug my A/V equipment during thunder storms.
Best of luck to you, |
ADEPT RESPONSE 6T I have had many no other line conditoner comes close raised my system to another level. |
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Silver Circle Audio
pure power one 5.0 |
You want the best? ... that's what we're using in the studio.
An Equi=tech wall cabinet with all JPS in-wall cable connected to Oyaide R-1 receptacles. Nothing better.. period! |
Audience Adept Response R12, AMAZING!!! |
Quite the merry-go-round isn't it.
It's is enlightening to know what others are using.
The only way YOU WILL KNOW is Audition some units at home,
on your gear,your room ect.A lot of audio stores will let you audition their products at home.Usually with a small deposit.
Here's another one to drive you up thewall,Torus(Bryston site)
They are also pricey.It's YOUR EARS THAT LISTEN,YOU BE THE JUDGE. |
Drummertitchell is correct- you need to listen to a power conditioner (or anything else for that matter) before you can decide what is best for your system.
I listened to several line conditioners before deciding on a Synergistic Research PowerCell. In my system the difference between the PowerCell and other well known brands was not even close but that was in my system.
YMMV |
