2. misc-audio
  3. 175582-163437

Power Conditioning on the Cheap

This is my first post here after a bit of lurking, so please be gentle.  I realize this subject must come up a fair amount and I've read erik_squires blog posts on the subject, but I was hoping to get the community's opinion on the relative merits of a few relatively basic power conditioners.  I've narrowed my list down to a few options at a range of (fairly modest) price points.  From low to high they are:

Furman PST-8D

ifi Power Station

Furman Elite-15 PF I

Shunyata PS10 w/ Venom Defender

Audioquest Niagara 1200

In a perfect world where I didn't have a limited budget I would probably buy something higher up the line from Shunyata, but since we live in a decidedly imperfect world, these are my options, although I would welcome other suggestions that fit within this price range.

I should also probably mention that while I value subjective reports on the sound quality of various products, generally speaking I give more weight to objective measurements or at least arguments based in sound science.  More embarrassingly, I also place a certain amount of value on aesthetics.  Aesthetic taste being inherently subjective, (a debatable point, but for the sake of argument lets just assume that it's true) lets just say that when I lust after completely unobtainable equipment it tends to be from companies like Soulution or Pilium rather than Dan D'Agostino or darTZeel.

incorporeus

Showing 1 response by auxinput

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Last year I went through a search for a small size power conditioner for my computer and digital audio setup.  The lower level Furman's were okay, but they only had 3 outlets on the rear (6 plugs).  Also, the Furman has a single filter design.  I looked at the Audioquest products, but rejected them because of the silver-plated components.  I ended up getting a PS Audio Dectet.  Review and teardown here:

https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=19276

It has 5 outlets (10 plugs) and actually three separate filters for three high current A/C zones.  It's more like a large power strip similar to the Audioquest, but does not use silver-plated components (if you are critical about that).  And it uses better outlets than the Furman.  Can use any high current power cord for A/C input.  Retail is now $750, but you can sometimes find these used for less.  The PS Audio Dectet worked out great for my scenario.

More to discover