Power conditioner types

@millercarbon - I have one - a Furman elite 15i, which is a little above entry level and was thinking about upgrading to one that did more than filter. When I originally got it, it was for functionality of having a large number of outlets and protection against power spikes, but I found it improved the sound a little.

For a very cosmetic reason (other boxes are silver, Furman is dark brown) I am considering a change. I like the fact that the Furman shuts off when it senses a problem and has a switch on the front, that I haven't seen on some.

There are so many out there, it is really unbeleivable.

@erik_squires - sounds like you are a fan of my Furman.....good to know. Now if I can only get a silver face plate for it......any ideas?

@bigtwin - than one requires a 20 amp receptacle and sounds like it gets as close as you can to a battery or generator using a special transformer, versus capacitors, which I guess is what the more expensive ones do.

@mbennes  - they protect against surges or spikes, from what I understand, not against direct lightning strikes. I doubt anything is immune from getting fried, which is almost like catching fire. Nothing is fireproof.

@bruce19 - painting won't cut it = I asked Furman about switching faceplate colors and haven't heard back...I doubt they would do it.

So if I understand this correctly, the only real way to do what I asked is to have some kind of rechargeable battery or external generator. Capacitors act like filters and can't totally clean the noise out of the electric company current. Or am I wrong and some PCs do have batteries or generators?

So the reason people theoretically pay thousands of dollars for PCs it that some do a better job (supposedly) of filtering out the noise?I thought originally that there were 2 classes of PCs, filtering ones and generating ones.

A guy from Furman said that their upper level conditioners do this, but he still said it was like filtering water and you can never get rid of all the noise, which makes me think their upper level ones don't really do it.

I know that my phono stage manufacturer, Sutherland, used to make one that was battery powered called the PhD which was popular back in the day. Not sure why he stopped making them, but it makes sense since they use so little power.

@mijostyn - IMHO I must disagree. They definitely filter dirty current from the power company to varying degrees in addition to providing some protection.

Now....can you hear it? What is that improvement in SQ worth to you? I think it is more important that power cables, but @millerccarbon may disagree with that.

I heard a small improvement in SQ when I put mine in years ago. I mainly got it for protection and to have something better than a power strip.

Hey @minorl - is there any way to figure out which ones recondition vs. condition? Isn't that done through a transformer versus a capacitor?

@nonoise - none of this stuff is a matter of need.....I never knew I "needed" a phono stage - my integrated amp has an internal switch for high output and low output cartridges with a phono selection, and I thought it sounded great. When I got one, it was a significant improvement - immediately VERY noticeable. 

I never knew I needed "vibration control" - for my turntable....for my speakers....for my phono stage....for my integrated not as noticeable as the phono stage, but once again VERY significant and audible.

No-one needs a power conditioner. A power strip will work. However for convenience, protection, and some SQ improvement (probably no where near along the lines of the 2 areas I just mentioned above) IMHO for any stereo expenditure over $3-4K out of pocket, it should be part of the system.

Looks like I'm getting the Puritan 136. For my SS amp, it has more than enough capability. Thanks @hshifi - silver it is, and supposedly it will improve the sound over the Furman 15i.

@twoleftears - did you try the 136?

I know that my phono stage manufacturer, Sutherland, used to make one that was battery powered called the PhD which was popular back in the day. Not sure why he stopped making them, but it makes sense since they use so little power.