Choke regulation vs power conditioner

I've always heard that its not a good idea to use a computer UPS for audio.

There are products specifically made for surge protection & some noise filtering. They work very well provided one uses a rating ~4x the power rating of the devices connected.

I don't think a PC USB would be harmful -- at worst it will kill dynamic peaks unless you use the monsters for server farms.

OK, I'll concede that PC UPS was a bad idea, but I'm still unsure if dual choke regulation completely avoids the need for noise filtration. If it does its a nice bonus. if its "smoke and mirrors" then I may need to look at conditioners when my finances allow.

Alot of stuff sold here falls under the heading of it makes sense or under theory.Both of which usual die at the first rays of the sun.Most of that stuff is very system-dependant.Fortunately alot of the good guys offer 30 day trials.Go with God and watch your wallet,cheers,Bob

Tdav

Chokes or inductors are the same thing. They have varied applications. are fixed inductors primarily intended to "choke" off alternating currents, including rf from DC lines. The "rf choke" is designed to have a high imp. over a greater span of the freq range.

It’s in the application that one must approach appropriately. On paper it could seem as you say, yet the usual compliment of power storage in these pc back up units is nearly insignificant… as opposed to the requirements of perhaps a preamp, and certainly, an amp request routinely.

There are other considerations too. Abrupt changes in supplied power, spikes, and low voltage issues aren’t as quickly or even at times addressed by such units adequately enough that I’d want to place my $$$$$ whozit in the hands of one of these tinker toy gizmos given my own exp with them on lower voltaged computers & computer peripherals.

The problem with so many RS or likewise, uninterrupted power supplies is that they are not ‘full wave’ units either, with their resupplied emergency voltage. Neither do they attend to other areas of inadvertent untoward electrical problems. Unless you have inplace a good elec. Service, and other power conditioning/filtering devices, these low end units tend to leak back DC into the service itself while in standby and during charging. This result can appear as a ground loop sort of incident, and create some significant issues with an audio system. What I’ve experienced in the past was so similar to what a ground loop’s effects are it is difficult to determine the cause immediately. Especially if you have no previous experiences in that area.

The sibilance increases, the highs become glaring and brittle, and the overall sound is hardened or seems harsher. Usually the evidence is perceived in the upper midrange and on into the treble.

When an incident did occur with one of these (my only one) RS battery back up power sups, the only thing the makers of the unit were inclined to do, following a return and subsequent inspection, was to replace the unit…. And nothing towards the now blown out PC!

Their support tech informed me of the half wave vs. full wave units, and their attributes. Finding out the cost for a full wave unit then, I simply gave the replaced & then fresh unit to my pizza delivery man. The negative sonic issues only arose after a few days of charging the dry cells within the UPS back up unit. Now I just use PS Audio passive filters for the various computers. Either Duets, or a UPC-200.

I’ve had no further factual or perceived electrical issues which overtly affect my various systems.

For surge protection the Brick Wall works well. For sound quality dedicated lines have been better for me than power conditioners. My NuVista M3 has choke regulation but since I don't have an identical amp without it it is hard to say how much it contributes to the sound of the M3, which I find to be extremely good.

My phono stage is also choke regulated (Hagerman Trumpet). I've had several different types of power conditioners through my system to check them out in different places and the Trumpet sounds best directly into the wall. I don't think choke regulation works for everything, but I have found that if it is incorporated into the unit by the designer then nothing else will improve on it.