Z-Man Posted June 30, 2004 Report Posted June 30, 2004 (edited) Is anyone using a power conditioner on their system? I'm sure that my AC line is full of noise, but I don't want to spend $1000 cleaning it up. If there is something that would give me a noticeable improvement in the $200 range, I'd give it a shot. Any recomendations? Edited June 30, 2004 by Z-Man Quote
jacknife Posted June 30, 2004 Report Posted June 30, 2004 I'm not so sure anything in the $200 range will make much a difference but here's a couple to consider Super Companion AC Power Bar I use the Vansevers Model 85 which I am quite happy with, but it costs a bit more than $200. Quote
skeith Posted June 30, 2004 Report Posted June 30, 2004 I like the PS Audio power conditioners. I have the P300 but it cost about a grand now, works wonders. Quote
jazzbo Posted June 30, 2004 Report Posted June 30, 2004 I have that same animal skeith, and I love it too. . . . Costs a lot though as you note. I think it may depend on how bad your power is. My house. . . power is bad. PS Audio Power Plant made a big improvement and I won't live without it. . . . Quote
Z-Man Posted July 1, 2004 Author Report Posted July 1, 2004 Thanks for the tips. There is a ton of interesting info on the Vansevers and PS Audio sites. Time to save those pennies, I suppose... Quote
SEK Posted July 1, 2004 Report Posted July 1, 2004 I got a Monster Power HTS2000 "Powercenter" after I heard the difference it made in a friend's system (Audio Research amp, preamp, and CD player). It does not make as significant a sonic difference in my system (NAD integrated amp and CD player), where it functions mostly as a glorified surge protector. My friend lives almost across the street from a few public schools and a Catholic school and is closer to the village's power substation. My house is about 1/2 mile away, and most of my house wiring is newer. So my friend's AC line is probably noisier than mine. Quote
jazzbo Posted July 1, 2004 Report Posted July 1, 2004 Also possible is that your friend's system is likelier to be tube based, and there is a lot of talk that tube systems can benefit/exhibit more from cleaner power. . . . Quote
Shawn Posted July 1, 2004 Report Posted July 1, 2004 I'm living in a "house" that was at one time or another in the past a real estate office, a welding shop & then a bakery. There are numerous 220 outlets that I'm not using, but the key I think is that the wiring in the building was totally redone about 7 years ago. I've noticed that my stereo sounds better now than it ever has before...and it has to be the improved wiring. Quote
SEK Posted July 1, 2004 Report Posted July 1, 2004 Also possible is that your friend's system is likelier to be tube based, and there is a lot of talk that tube systems can benefit/exhibit more from cleaner power. . . . His amp and preamp are tube-based. Quote
wolff Posted July 2, 2004 Report Posted July 2, 2004 Make sure to get one that comes with a trial period. I have gotten rid of my power conditioners and I have tube kit. I felt they made the sound worse. Never tried the PS Audio models, but have heard good things about them. Quote
DrJ Posted July 7, 2004 Report Posted July 7, 2004 I don't have a power conditioner, but do think wiring makes a huge difference. First, we lived recently in a 50 year old house with the original wiring. The main breaker blew, at which time we learned that there had been a prior repair where the wires were literally left hanging on by a thread. When we fixed all that and had it done properly, my stereo sounded remarkably better at once, although the other wiring was still 50 years old. Now we recently moved to a brand new house and it sounded even better (this was before I started upgrading to tube stuff, so it's not the upgrades I'm hearing). I don't think it's the room; if anything my current room is a little less favorable for sonics as the back wall is unavoidably close to the listener's ears so you get some reflection whereas in the old room you sat right near the middle. So anyway, I'm a firm believer about the importance of good wiring. Someday I'll start playing with power conditioners to see if I can hear an improvement. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted January 1, 2007 Report Posted January 1, 2007 Last night, I walked away with a Tripp Lite LC-1800 1800-Watt Line Conditioner that someone brought to the New Year's Eve party for the post-midnite 'White Elephant' gift exchange game. Never tried one....we'll hook 'er up to the MAC and see what happens. Hopefully not ZzzzzZssssssazzzzssstttttt sizzzleeeeecrackle.... Quote
Kevin Bresnahan Posted January 1, 2007 Report Posted January 1, 2007 I just bought a rather expensive television so I was thinking about protecting it. I also am a bit worried about RF interference affecting the picture as I've seen it affect the display model at Circuit City. So, taking advantage of the last day of the $20 Google Check-Out at buy.com, I ordered a Belkin PureAV PF31. Less than $100 delivered. I'll see if it does anything for my system. I doubt it, but I'll give it a try. Later, Kevin Quote
J Larsen Posted January 1, 2007 Report Posted January 1, 2007 Rotel now has a $200 model. I can't speak to its effectiveness, though. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted January 1, 2007 Report Posted January 1, 2007 Last night, I walked away with a Tripp Lite LC-1800 1800-Watt Line Conditioner that someone brought to the New Year's Eve party for the post-midnite 'White Elephant' gift exchange game. Never tried one....we'll hook 'er up to the MAC and see what happens. Hopefully not ZzzzzZssssssazzzzssstttttt sizzzleeeeecrackle.... It's funny you should mention that because I was just going to suggest that very model. I have one that I bought off ebay for $50. Why? Because when we were doing a northern Michigan tour one year and I tried to record one of the gigs at this restaurant, the power was so bad that my digital recorder would barely power up and would not recognize the harddrive. The next year I came back to the restaurant with that very model of line conditioner and plugged it in. The conditioner's LED let me know that the voltage of the line was extremely low, but it smoothed every thing out and my digital recorder worked great. Now I don't leave home without it. It also massively attenuates hum from my Leslie at Baker's Keyboard Lounge (they have terrible power there, too). I need to get a few more for my computers, since they are very susceptable to power fluxuations and my house is very old. Highly recommended and much cheaper than these "audiophile" ones. Quote
jazzbo Posted January 1, 2007 Report Posted January 1, 2007 I agree that Tripp Lites are good products. Personal experience with their isolators such as the IS500 are very positive. Quote
Z-Man Posted January 1, 2007 Author Report Posted January 1, 2007 Lately I've been using a Shunyata Hydra2 for power conditioning on my tube amps. All of the other components remain un-conditioned. The Hydra did make a big difference. There is definitely voltage fluctuation in my NYC apartment, but the only solution I could find for it was the overpriced and oversized Monster AVS-2000, so I pretty much decided not to worry about it. That TrippLite box looks like a great find. I'll definitely pick one up and give it a try, though I'll probably go for the 2400 watt version (LC-2400). Quote
Larry Kart Posted July 21, 2008 Report Posted July 21, 2008 Last night, I walked away with a Tripp Lite LC-1800 1800-Watt Line Conditioner that someone brought to the New Year's Eve party for the post-midnite 'White Elephant' gift exchange game. Never tried one....we'll hook 'er up to the MAC and see what happens. Hopefully not ZzzzzZssssssazzzzssstttttt sizzzleeeeecrackle.... It's funny you should mention that because I was just going to suggest that very model. I have one that I bought off ebay for $50. Why? Because when we were doing a northern Michigan tour one year and I tried to record one of the gigs at this restaurant, the power was so bad that my digital recorder would barely power up and would not recognize the harddrive. The next year I came back to the restaurant with that very model of line conditioner and plugged it in. The conditioner's LED let me know that the voltage of the line was extremely low, but it smoothed every thing out and my digital recorder worked great. Now I don't leave home without it. It also massively attenuates hum from my Leslie at Baker's Keyboard Lounge (they have terrible power there, too). I need to get a few more for my computers, since they are very susceptable to power fluxuations and my house is very old. Highly recommended and much cheaper than these "audiophile" ones. Just got one. Hooked my Creek amp and Cambridge CD player to it today (before I was using one of your standard power strips) and WOW! Recently had my house rewired at some expense (house's old, original equipment wiring dated from the 1950s and wouldn't have supported modern kitchen applicances if I ever want/need to go that routine), but even though the Tripp-Lite shows my AC power source is perfectly OK, what's coming through my speakers now is not what was coming through them five minutes ago. Imagery, depth of soundstage, highs and lows, you name it -- it's like I've got a whole new system, and for about $160, shipping included. I thought there might be some difference but nothing like this. Thanks, Jim. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted July 21, 2008 Report Posted July 21, 2008 Everything's normal now ...but the voltage spikes at least ten times a day -- ten times that I'm in the vicinity and able to hear it 'click'. I'd like to know how many spikes there are in an average 24-hr period around here? That damn Pentagon! What are those power suckers doing over there?? Quote
sidewinder Posted July 21, 2008 Report Posted July 21, 2008 (edited) That damn Pentagon! What are those power suckers doing over there?? Effect of massed ranks of Cray supercomputers working overtime searching for Bin-Liner? With the occasional pensionable PDP-11 and Vax dumping additional crap into the mains.. Edited July 21, 2008 by sidewinder Quote
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