Is an isolation transformer better than a power conditioner?


I was never thrilled with my Shunyata Triton/Typhon pc.

It improves the SQ but not dramatically. And it is two large chassis that take up a lot of real estate. And not particularly attractive. And we’re $18K new! One would expect transformative performance.

Just went to great lengths and expense to run a dedicated AC line. $4.5K of special Oyaide cable, duplexes and cover plates. And $1.2K electrician.

It was also highly recommended that I also go with an isolation transformer. Went from Torus to Bryston to Equitech. Focusing on the balanced power Equitech.

Getting one, I am curious to know if it will “blow away” my T/T as I have been told.

And with the dedicated AC, maybe not plugging my amps into the new duplexes but the Et would be better. Or plugging in the Et to the T/T and the T/T into the wall.

But I sure would like to get rid of the Shunyatas.

mglik

With a dedicated AC line I’d be tempted to say "leave it at that," but the balanced power approach some have mentioned here has me intrigued. To those who have experience with it, how would describe its sonic influence compared perhaps to using power (re-)generators or other?

As I previously mentioned, balanced trans. just sort of there, doesn't add any flavor or artifacts like the other pc's I tried. Vs. dedicated lines without pc, larger soundstage, greater image dimensionality and specificity, higher resolving, greater transparency. When I go back to straight out of wall, soundstage and image collapse, pretty bad.

 

I've also tried Lithium Ion battery packs, nice for lowering noise floor, but dark flavor always sets in over time. Never liked any pc with every tube amp I've owned.

@ghdprentice Haha, I use Blue Jeans cables to great affect in my rather resolving system! Many of the highend brands use Belden cable as the basis for their own (fancy jackets and dielectrics) cables and the buyer is none the wiser! As I said, before, at a particular level of clear and transparent sound (I have that in spades) focused and deep soundstage where the speakers cease to be identifiable as the source of the sound (I have that in spades), micro detail that is easily heard vs other systems that do not resolve as well or present such sonic cues as being common to true highend setups (I have that is spades); I don't personally see how one can claim that the change was so profound that the adjectives used are so extreme. If you had a wide/deep/detailed soundstage before, claiming that it was expanded so greatly with some new accessory seems dubious to me. A collapsed soundstage to me is just that, it ceases to give you the impression of the sound coming from behind the plane of the speakers, etc. Deeper is one thing, but many would have you believe that it wasn't present before, and it miraculously now is....

What about a high quality UPS? That cleans up pretty much everything in terms of AC line noise from other electrical equipment, voltage transients, line distortion (if you have it). It puts out perfect sine wave power. Plus, it would be a lot cheaper than some of the approaches mentioned such as the Shunyata Triton, or expensive rewiring of the last inch of electrical service.

I would note that a UPS does not typically provide galvanic isolation, and only secondary surge suppression.