Furman Upgrade to Niagra

@tonywinga Very interesting. I remember a few years ago at a show in New York (THE show?) Richard Gray’s Power Company made an absolute killing. The hotel power was terrible and lots of TVs were on display and looking poor. Word quickly spread that the TV’s on a Power Company conditioner were doing better than those that were not and many vendors were buying units right there.

As you know, I’m a Furman fanboy, so I am not surprised it helps, but the more a conditioner helps, the worse your power quality was to begin with. In your case I think it is really worthwhile to understand why your starting point is so poor.  Might be worthwhile to have an electrician come and check things out.

@navyachts To be honest I’ve stayed away from boutique noise protection. I’m afraid if you want to know about the effectiveness of devices like that you’ll have to ask others.

What I can say is that series mode surge protectors excel in reducing noise because of how low a frequency they start working, around 3 kHz. That’s absolutely in the audible range. A lot of RFI/EMI filters don’t even do anything below 100 kHz, which is radio range.

What I do use is iFi power adapters and shielded power cords and interconnect cables.  The ifi supplies reduce AC noise generated, and the shielded power cables prevent pickup of noise after the AC power has been cleaned.

@classic8 because that requires real surge engineering chops.  🤣

Not to mention a willingness to undergo UL testing.  Even when it comes to testing, in all my life I have seen exactly 1 article where surge protectors were actually tested with surges.  The rest of the Internet press/influencers and magazines evaluates surge protecdtors on features and specs alone.

OP:

I recommend SMP and LiFT as must-haves and the least expensive unit with that is the PST-8. Beyond that, the Elite 15 PF (or 20 PF) adds things like power factor correction and multiple separate power banks and switched outlets, which are great when used with a processor and extra amps. That’s what I use.

If you know you have unsteady power a unit with voltage regulation can also be considered but they are a significant extra charge as it requires a big heavy transformer. It will keep your AC voltage within a tight 7V range except in the worst of circumstances. I lived in a complex with 130 VAC (long story) and the regulator kept me between 118 and 122VAC.

Honestly if the PST-8 has the necessary outlets for you it’s an excellent choice for simple systems.

Unfortunately, Furman makes many models and their feature set is confusing. The two key features audiophiles care about which your Furman strip lacks is SMP, and LiFT. SMP is series mode surge suppression, and LiFT is linear filtering. The PST 8 on the other hand adds those features: The noise filtering of SMP + LiFT is much better than without it, and the surge protection of SMP is simply outstanding.

If you read the description of the PST-6:

but without all of the advance features that the other Power Station products possess. 

They mean it lacks SMP and LiFT.  Look at the description for the PST-8, which calls out SMP and LiFT to compare.

I don’t really recommend Furman products without those two features.