Good power conditioner overview in TAS

Hey Y'all,

Labtec, I really appreciate your input and suggestions. As for putting in a 240v line and a substation in the attic, I would definitely consider it, except for one thing. I live in an apartment. I do know that once I get myself into a house, I will install a few dedicated 20-amp lines. Underwoodwally, the gentleman who sold me the BPT, said the BPTs performance would jump significantly once I'm able to feed it from a 20-amp line. I will take your suggestion and get myself the RGPC 400s for the video part of my system. I currently have my amps connected directly to the wall outlet. I perceived the soundstage being a bit constrained and not full enough when I had both amps hooked to the BPT. I noticed the opposite when I switched to the wall outlets. Again, I really appreciate the help with this little quandary........John

Not to hijack this thread, but can anyone tell me if older Chang (3200) or Vanservers (Cleanline 141) conditioners will limit current delivery to my Llano Trinity 300

Bound for Sound just published a review of the excellent Foundation Research Line Filters. I saw a demo once in a Home Theater, where a Richard Gray could not deal with some interference in the picture from a projector. The guy plugged the projector into a Foundation Research filter and the interference disappeared! It sounded great on his audio components too.
The guy says that the Richard Gray stuff is good for distributing power in a system, but it is not really all that good as a line filter.

Jrw7

You have alot of very high quality stuff and powerful amps that need alot of juice. In that vein, you're probably smart to have tried the RGPC and 20 amp BPT stuff for all your equipment versus the more current limiting types of power conditioners/filters. If you liked the RGPC on video, then I, frankly, would pickup a used RGPC 400s for around $400 and just plug your TV into it.

I agree that the RGPC has a more pronounced imrovement on video. In fact, at CES, many of the HT and TV vendors were using it in their setups. For audio though, I don't think you're going to find much better than the BPT stuff, especially for the $$$.

You could look into upgrading your BPT to the 3.5, but I would run it past Chris at BPT first for what potential improvements you could expect.

Other than BPT, I'd recommend installing a 240 volt line and use Richard Gray's new Substation. I would put the Substation in the attic and have all the outlets in your room fed by it if possible. Combined with a few RGPCs, that would be a pretty impressive (albeit expensive) power conditioning solution.

You could also look into new Running Springs Audio conditioner, which has gotten excellent buzz. Also, I recently heard through the grapevine of a "revolutionary" new conditioner that is expected to come out in October, and it supposedly outperformed the $10k Burmeister and Accuphase products.

Again though, I think you may already be at the point of diminishing returns .

Hey Y'all,

Avnut, the BPT has done a wonderful job for the audio part of my HT set up. It has provided a better soundstage and a deeper, blacker background. It has also added a bit more punch and liveliness to the bass. The one thing it seems to come up short on is with the video, specifically my RPTV. I remember my picture being much clearer and more vibrant with the RGPC 400s. If I could get the audio performance I get from the BPT and the video performance I got from the RGPC I would be very happy.

Labtec, I understand that the associated equipment has a lot to do with how any power conditioner will perform and what improvements it will provide. Maybe you can give me an idea if I can get what I'm looking for once you take a look at my system. Here is what I have:

Krell Showcase Surround Pre
Plinius SA-250 mkIV Amplifier
Edge AV8M three ch amp
Sistrum Systems SP-101 x2 Stand
Lector CDP-7T CD Player
Sony NS999ES DVD
4 Jean Marie Reynaud Trentes Monitor
Jean Marie Reynaud Gran Ecran Monitor
2 Rel Strata III Subwoofer
Stan Warren Design 12 AGW Quad Interconnect
Stan Warren Design 12 AGW Quad Speaker cable
Transparent the wave 100 Speaker cable
Balanced Power Technologies BPT-2.5 Ultra AC filter
Silence Source x2 Signature 1 High Current Power cord
ARS 6' and 8' Power Cords
Shunyata Diamondback Power cord
Mitsubishi WT-46809 RPTV
Goldmund reference digital link Interconnect
WireWorld Starlite III Interconnect
Nordost Optix component video cable Interconnect
Zu Cables Megular Interconnect

I thank you all for your comments and I hope they will continue.......John

I like the attempt to compare various power conditioners in a given system, but you have to be careful not to draw any absolute conclusions for your own system.

First, the associated equipment used by the reviewer may be less/more high quality than your existing system. Some PCs help offset deficiencies in the build quality/design of the other equipment and, thus, the results can be very system dependent. In particular, lesser quality power supplies in a component can often see more substantial improvements with the right "conditioner".

Frankly, the reviewer's system in this article is a more "real-world" type, but, compared to many, I can see someone saying it's less than normal reference caliber. Thus, your results could vary if your system is using much higher quality components to begin with.

I'm particularly surprised that the RGPC made such a large improvement in that system -- given that he was using a Musical Fidelity integrated amp. I liked and used Richard Gray's products, but I thought the MF products already have a choke regulated power supply, which is similar to what the RGPC does. I would have suspected a less dramatic effect on MF stuff.

As for the Audio Magic, I understand some people swear by them, but it's hard to figure out such high pricing based on parts. Has anyone cracked these open? There must be some unbelievably expensive stuff under the hood or maybe the value is strictly in the improvements it makes.

JRWR7,
What is the BPT 2.5 doing for your system?

Hey Y'all,

I read the articles and was very intrigued by what I read. It made me question my choices in power conditioning. If I read things correctly, it seemed to me they/he liked the Richard Gray 1200s the best. I was using two RGPC 400s in daisy chain and upgraded to the BPT 2.5 Ultra with all the extras, silver internal wiring, Bybee filters and Auric caps. Does anyone have experience with both of these units? I would love to hear from any and all because the article has me wanting to try the RGPC 1200.......John

yeah, I saw it...interesting collection of nine name brand and new name (to me) units...I'd like to see them continue that series and include more, like BPT, Sound Application and others...

http://theabsolutesound.com/newsletter/144/power_conditioners.html