Power Conditioners
ecrotty OP4 posts05-04-2020 9:40am"So basically the best bang for the buck right now is a dedicated line from my panel and a high quality surge protector. Thank you all for the information, it definitely helps weed through all the garbage out there!" Sounds like a good plan. |
ecrotty, Living in Florida with lots of storms, I would be looking for a Series mode (SM) type surge suppressor. The Pangea unit you list is an audiophile power strip and offers NO device protection. The Furman does offer SM protection, but I believe also has MOV devices, which are sacrificial and will fail after one or more events. Other SM protectors are also offered by Zero Surge and Brickwall. These units offer very good protection and line filtering at a reasonable price. One of these two would be my call. |
I had an AudioQuest Niagara 1200 on my system and it didn't do much for my sound. Moved it to the office system just for the surge protection. I'm a McIntosh tube guy. I just last month added a McIntosh MPC1500 Power Controller and it made the most significant improvement I've heard in my system, by leaps and bounds. Of course, it costs as much as your system combined. But, Holy Smokes, what a magnificent upgrade it was. Wowza. I love it. |
Before I bought any conditioner I would install a dedicated circuit. After that if you have power surges or brown outs the next consideration should be Environmental Potentials EP-2050 system. Cost about $1,000. After those two moves you should look into power regeneration. Conditioners are the last move. |
Hi ecrotty Your question is a very sensitive one and if you play your cards right you can be ahead of the game. I happen to have the Furman that you are considering. I also have a Zerosurge ten outlet power surge protector and a Synergistic Research Powercell 12 UEF SE. The best use of your money at this point of time would be to get an electrician run a dedicated line for you with 10 gauge wire and 20 amp fuse terminated in a good hospital grade outlet. From there you can start testing different power solutions and pick the one that works best for your system. While you have the electrician, have him install a whole house surge protector for you. Get one on Amazon for less than $200. It takes about 15 minutes to install. The whole job can be done in an hour (dedicated line plus surge). I hope that helps. |
Stabilizing your VAC is very important. If it's all over as you said. I can't think of anything more important for expensive equipment. It will shorten the life there is no doubt. Whether it sounds better depends on what your filtering out, and letting in so to speak... Different outlets on many maintainers and cleaners do different things. If you plug into the wrong one, it can impair the performance of a given piece. Normally to filter HF, 40KHz> they use iron ferrite rings. Some complain that while using those rings, some systems lack luster, lose dynamics and brilliance. I've noticed any source I use sounds better when NOT having ferrite rings in the VAC pathway.. I try to stay out of trouble, not get out of it. No voltage cleaner and maintainer is a sure way to ruin great equipment. Whether it improves SQ, is just a secondary benefit, longevity it their primary function. I can't see how your SQ wouldn't improve if your just plugged into the wall currently. My SQ was improved 35 years ago, I never thought of NOT using a cleaner/maintainer. Even my plate amps amps have them. NOT surge suppressors, maintainers/cleaners and suppressors. They don't have to cost a fortune to do a great job.. Just might have to do a couple thing to make them quieter, or pay a fortune for someone else to do it for you.. Either, Or.. as long as you have something... Regards |
Such as? BDR Cones, $20 ea. https://www.musicdirect.com/vibration-control/bdr-cones Synergistic Research PHT, ECT, HFT, Orange Fuse. These are all in the $200-400 range. All very effective. https://highend-electronics.com/products/synergistic-research-pht-phono-transducer?_pos=237&_sid... Ceramic insulators (Cable Elevators) generally around $20 ea on eBay where they are sold as collectibles, or you can go with the brand name Cable Elevators. They all look different but work just the same. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ohio-Brass-Co-Porcelain-Ceramic-Insulator-Electric-Pole-Telegraph-E... I would go with these, you can find cheaper on eBay but not a matched set like this. https://www.musicdirect.com/brands/cable-elevators/?manufacturer=Cable%2520Elevators&sort=popula... Owens Corning acoustic panels. OC703 is industry standard found inside a lot of expensive acoustic panels. Look around for a hardware store that will sell you individual panels. Cuts easily, and once covered in fabric looks and sounds just like the professional stuff. https://www.tmsoundproofing.com/Owens-Corning-703-1-inch-Fiberglass-Panel.html Then when you’ve tried this stuff and realize holy crap this guy knows what he’s talking about PM and I will hook you up with the really good stuff. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Look close, notice two Green Dream and one Black Widow PHT on my tone arm, plus one ECT on the tone arm base and motor. They aren’t there for the looks, I can assure you that! |
This question comes up so often I've made a blog post about it: https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html |
Agree with others that a cheap power conditioner is probably not worth your $, and this area is very unique to each individual’s household power situation and system. I’d buy a good used conditioner you can turn around and sell for little/no loss if it doesn’t do anything for you. I’d consider getting something like a used Audience AR2P for about $350. If something at that level makes no improvement I’d sell it and put $ into something else that does. I do think it’s worth exploring though, because if it it makes an improvement it can be significant. Best of luck. |
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Those two are nothing more than overbuilt power strips. For not much more you could get a Synergistic Blue or Orange outlet that really would make a difference. But there's a lot of other more cost effective improvements and it would make sense to do those first. If you need more outlets get a cheap power strip and don't sweat that it looks like a cheap power strip. If you want better outlets go Blue or Orange. Or even better get a used Synergistic Master Coupler, there was a guy on here recently with a whole bunch of them for only $200. He may still have a few left. |
Are you sure? If you're correct, your voltage is quite low and out of spec. Nominal voltage in the US is 120VAC ± 5 percent, so you should measure 114VAC minimum.My exact voltage is 114.8v. You are correct that 120v is standard, however voltages vary greatly depending on your grid. Regardless of voltage, are cheap ac conditioners worth it? |
Anyone who gives you a definitive answer to your question would be speculating. There are too many variables - including the nature of your existing AC power - for anyone to do anything else. Music Direct has a money-back return policy and they are nice people to work with. So if you're curious, you might want to order from them and decide for yourself. |
