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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 geof3

geof3
1,125 posts
 

As Eric mentioned the Furman units are surge protectors first and top notch. I think the idea of “conditioning power” is dubious. However, keeping voltage as constant as possible along with surge protection is a smart thing. I need surge protection like Eric, in CO, t-storms can be monsters. Very real deal. This year I’m installing a whole house surge protector and dedicated line. For now I too use a Shunyata Hydra 6 for my amps and front end along with the Furman PTS-6 for digital, TV etc. they haven’t failed me yet. The new Viper block looks like a winner IMO. I like Shunyata gear, it has served me well overall on the power side of things. I’m considering an upgrade of my block to a unit that can do all my system as one… not sure what that will be just yet.

I think the most important question you need to ask yourself is how robust of a surge protection unit you need. If your needs are minimal then I think about any decent block would get you where you want to be.

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