Power conditioner or outlet?


I have a Shunyata MPC-12a power conditioner. Read that it was a good choice for audio equipment so I bought it. I also have high end power cords to all my equipment, as well as to my Shunyata.

I have recently read comments from listeners that you should plug your amp/preamp straight into the wall. Is that the case if you have a good power conditioner? I will do so if it is a better option, just concerned about no surge protection for the amps...but also don't want degraded sound! I am asking this because I am a newbie at all this, more money than audio sense. I am interested if anyone might have any experience in this
easola01

Showing 2 responses by vair68robert

easola01
Like every tread that asked for others experience you'll receive
every side of a rubik's cube full of opinions .
So here is my side and my opinion , until recently most power conditioners could not handle the high current of power amps so
plugging them into the wall was recommended ,
which is where I plug my amp into .  
I have an isolation transformer that I plug my
turntable , phono preamp and CD player into , an isolation transformer
eliminates DC voltage and separates the ground from neutral .
I do not have a power conditioner , I went a different way .
I have all my electrical equipment plugged into Tripp-Lite
Isobar surge protectors , Refrigerator,  TV system , Deep Freezer , computers and Clock Radios ( I read where they are very noisy ) .
Years ago I had my stereo equipment plugged into one when my house lost the neutral feed , all I had was 2 x 120 lines entering the house , turn a light and bang . We lost a refrigerator , clock radios and a toaster
but my stereo system was saved AND
Tripp-lite sent me a new Isobar , they have " isolated " outlets ,
they filter between outlets so I am cleaning some of the noise before it gets onto the houses AC.
I also have 5 PS Audios noise harvesters on the circuit that my stereo system is on , as well as Green Wave filters on the circuits with motors like the refrigerator and deep freezer , and AudioPrism Quite Line noise filters on any circuit that does not have a Green Wave on it.

One misconception some have is that if you have a dedicated power line
that you are eliminating noise from other sources in your house ,
all that does is allow for fast current draw and no problems with connections .

I read another post about an electrical panel of 200 amps only being able to pass 200 amps , the ratings are for constant draw ,
a powerful amp on a 20 amp circuit could have instantaneous demands for 50 or more amps without tripping the breaker in the panel .

You could buy one power conditioner or you could try to protect everything in your house as well cleaning the electrical noise at the sources , theoretically everything should operate a little better ,
I know the TV systems seem to look and sound a little better .
And after moving the 3 different electrical noise cleaners around and finding how each one produced different effects I have a very clean sounding stereo system .
All together my little separates cost less that $750 .

Good Luck
Rob

P.S. I had taken my PS Audio Noise Harvesters over to my friends house, we plugged them in one at a time into both his Furman power conditioner and just the wall outlets ( before and after the incoming current on the AC line ) . The most improvement was heard when using all 5 that I have plugged into an outlet strip that was plugged into the outlet that his power conditioner was plugged into .
So even with a quality power conditioner you can improve your sound with other " filters " that are non-invasive .








easola01
Yes surprisingly we heard an improvement in sound quality 
when adding PS audio noise harvesters to a system with a Furman power conditioner, 2 minimum ,
I really liked when when we got up to # 5 ( I thinking of a few more )
I do not have a power conditioner or AC regenerator .
stringreen
When I was trying the Green Wave , Audio Prism and PS Audio noise harvesters I had unplugged everything in the house and one at a time I would plug one of those filters in where my refrigerator was plugged in and listen . This is how I determined that the Green Wave was best being plugged into the outlets with motors .  
As for the PS noise Harvesters , They are only on my circuit that supplies my stereo and for me they improved the sound  and when my furnace motor runs the lights go crazy " eliminating " the noise .
Ozzy
great idea , covers everything for surges .

Happy Friday
Homemade Pizza night 
Rob