Power regenerator vs conditioner

Yes- although its possible to use ferro-resonant transformers to regulate line voltage, they also introduce harmonics and they can be pricey too  if one of the lower distortion models. I've really not seen a decent conditioner that didn't have a lot of active circuitry inside.


BTW this is something that has been going on a long time. They were making power conditioners back in the 1950s that were all-tube, using a device called a saturable reactor. You have to imagine that if there was a perceived need 65 years ago that if it could be solved by a glorified power strip that that would have been done and everyone moved on to bigger fish. But here we are in the 21st century and quality power conditioning is still a thing.

Ralph, what have you heard or have you tried the Puritan products? I put a lot of stock in your views, so I'm asking!

@hilde45  No, I haven't. I took a look at their website. IMO a passive product like this might have some audible effect, but without active circuitry won't regulate the AC line voltage, filter low frequency harmonics (the 5th in particular) and otherwise remove distortion of the AC line waveform. It does look like it would remove spikes and high frequency noise though.

Maybe newer PS Audio regenerators are much better, I don't know. Anyone compared ?

Yes. The new ones seem considerably better. We could not run our gear on the older ones but we can now and they help out!

Now those German things look serious and they use safe chemistry for batteries. $30K ?

One of our customers makes those- we had one at Munich about 6 years ago and it worked quite well. We used it only for the front end of the system- not the amps. It needed to be recharged every day, but it was on all day long.

They will have no effect on sound, unless you live in Texas :-), or at a place where power variations are more than 10%. In that case, instead of spending your money on those frivolous items, you should sue your power company anyway, to get better results. In this case, a conditioner is of no use anyway.. and maybe a regenerator may help, if it can keep the mains supply at a relatively stabe +/- 3% of what it is supposed to be.

This statement is problematic- in fact, false. The things that affect equipment performance are distortion on the AC line and of course the voltage. The former is responsible for a variety of problems. The 5th harmonic (300Hz) is arguably the most troublesome. It shows up when a power transformer (like those big cylinders you see on power poles) get pushed past about 50% of their capacity. The 5th harmonic can be responsible for power transformer vibration, increased diode noise, synchronous motors wanting to turn in the wrong direction, stuff like that.


Fluke Instruments has published a number of articles on this topic. I'm sure they want to sell meters and the like, but they aren't targeting audiophiles! So this isn't snake oil- sheesh!

The other thing that can mess with toroid power transformers in particular is DC on the line (which can look like a 2nd harmonic)- usually caused by an electric heater running on half power (and so only using half of the AC waveform). The resulting DC can saturate the core of the transformer and cause it to rattle. Removing the DC is cheap and easy though; we build DC blockers into our equipment and you can get them easily enough as outboard devices.


If the efficiency of the power transformer is compromised (low voltage or 5th harmonic, DC on the line, and often, all three...) then the power rectifiers, which only turn on at the tops of the AC waveform for a few milliseconds, won't be able to charge the power supply properly. This is both measurable and audible. A regulated power supply can get around this problem if it has enough headroom, but regulating the power supplies of power amplifiers is difficult to say the least and therefore a rare thing to see.


So a power conditioner that actually does its job correctly is helpful for audio equipment. What I see as problematic is that most (over 90%) of high end audio power conditioners simply don't do their job- most of them are glorified power strips.

I have owned passive conditioners, active conditioners, balanced transformers and regenerative conditioners. They all offer benefits. They do not sound identical.

The best conditioner we've run into so far are the Elgar conditioners, where were made a long time ago. They actively and dynamically process the AC power, removing distortion, noise and the like, and the output does not have more than 0.5THD at full load. They also regulate line voltage. Any that you find (ebay is the best source I've found so far) will need refurbishment. The only conditioners offered to high end audio that come anywhere close are the ones made by PSAudio.


The best way to use the Elgar in my opinion is to have it wired into the circuit that feeds your audio room. They made a 5000VA unit that can run a 20amp line with no worries. All the Elgars have a cooling fan which means they probably will need to be in a different room. They aren't particularly pretty either, having been made for commercial/industrial applications where clean power was a necessity.