That is not a task for a conditioner, but for a surge protector and insurance.
The units I have seen in service (made by Furman) are there to help big amplifiers (think 1kW per channel) from blowing fuses when supply voltage dips below 220V during high load conditions. They stabilize the supply enough to get by.
The power sequencing some can do is nice to turn on equipment in such an order they don’t produce loud pops and klicks (so in order: recievers, processors, mixer, amplifiers). Not realy an issue at home as you may have a USB-powered DAC, Pre-Amp and Amplifier at most.
Here is a bit of protection for your investment if you want to dip your toes into this. Read first and make up your mind though on your own. There will be NO sound improvement at this level.
And lastly if you really want to purchase some nice cables from a reputable mfgr. That look good and make you feel better about your connections. It’s a safe bet that you will still drop $1k Even doing this as cheaply as i can think of, but at least it will satisfy your need to protect your investment and have something nice.
This is a hotly debated topic, everything i have stated i have done and own. This is my own opinion and i have no professional training as an engineer nor am i a hobby scientist to back yup anything i’ve said.
read some more and make up your opinion based on your situation at home.
My neighborhood drops power allot, i have a whole home suppressor, lightning protection and a bunch of different surge protectors and UpS units all over the house. I also turn off my equipmnet and unplug things when i know bad weather is coming in.
Hello,
I wouldn’t get too crazy about this, and I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on it either.
The first basic requirement would be that the connections no matter whether it is power or Rca cable for the hifi system.
That would be cables should be halfway reasonable with a good solid connection.The wall socket should be free of contamination.Happens quite often when the apartment was renovated and there is paint on the contacts because it was not properly taped.Or just outdated and already oxidized is.
These are the main reasons why there may be interference at all if you do not live in the apartment block.
A reasonable power strip also makes sense.
Taga Harmony pf 1000, because of me still the Audioquest power cord 2/3 are enough there.Kostet however gladly times little dynamics.
And then you should observe whether that is sufficient.
Should really still perceptible disturbances are there then you can look at a Furman or something and try.
I personally do not have something like that in the house and looked at the connection and wall socket fits.
The house was built in 1970 and it is enough.
Surely everyone must make out for themselves and possibly also have tested times.
With Class A amplifiers I usually worry less rather with 12 volt things there it has tendencies that times what distorts.And sometimes makes more sense to use a Psu.
To maintain the voltage better.
Surely has such advantages grad in big cities or busy apartment blocks where the power street is already bad without and the power suppliers even their own network no longer understand.
Ultimately, it is each his own decision.
The important thing is that the costs are halfway in the frame at the time of purchase.
Wish mine was that tidy.
The general rule is high voltage with high voltage, keep high voltage away from low and if you have to cross high voltage over low do it at as close to 90 degrees as is practical.
Thank you all for your thoughts, suggestions and links to readings …
I took a little time to read what you sent me.
My two main places in the house with audio equipment are “protected” by surge protection bars from Tripp Lite. I will be looking in the future to consider adding line conditioner / voltage regulator at a reasonable price.
I can see by looking on the web that APC and Tripp lite offer reasonable prices. Other manufacturers like Furman seem to be in a higher range and much more expensive here in Canada.
Cheers!
Conditioners aren’t always a win, they are often described as introducing a veil or reducing dynamics, a lot of people prefer the sound out of the wall.
Having said that I run one on my headphone gear, and the difference isn’t night and day,.
You can buy a whole host of Furman stuff downright cheap on eBay if you don’t mind a chassis that’s beat up a bit. The best bang for the buck is the rack mount elite series. I got mine for something just north of $100 bucks. A lot of professional cast off stuff for sale. Something like this.
And on surge protectors, most of the stuff in my house is plugged into a surge protector, and they are all not created equal.
I had my whole house generator serviced recently and the tech did something that caused a massive overvoltage to my entire house wiring when he tested it. it eventually blew the main fuse in the generator control panel, but you could literally here pops and see sparks coming out of the surge protectors for the few seconds it lasted.
Most of the surge protectors did not protect what was plugged into them.
My next door neighbor had lightning strike a tree in his yard. I took protective measures that year after seeing how much damage the strike did to his electronics, that bolt traveled down the tree through the ground and into his home up his cable line. Since then in the past 15 years i have had 2 trees struck and destroyed in my yard from lightning but took no damage to my home… That was money well spent on my part.
I have also experienced outlet failures, thus once every few years i walk around the house with a screwdriver and a box of outlets and switches and jiggle them all. I usually find one or 2 that need replacement. YMMV good luck.
It doesn’t matter what you buy, it will never do you justice.
It doesn’t matter if it’s high end cables, power strips or transformers.
Something will always have an effect on something.
The question is always where to start first, what is legal, and especially if there really is a fire or lightning strike and the nagging issue of insurance.
They look without a reason not to pay.
The basic principle is that the socket and, if necessary, the fuse are always important for a trouble-free supply.
Then the mains plug strip would be an advantage if it has lightning protection with a mains filter.
After that, I would stay on the level of buying cables at a good price-performance ratio.
Then you usually don’t need transformers or conditioners.
Because it won’t get any cleaner or smoother.
Another feature that is never mentioned is the PC.
It’s no use spending $1,000 if nothing is done on the PC.
If you connect the USB card via the PC, a lot is already done.
Replace old power supplies and familiarise yourself with the technology of the power supplies.
That saves more trouble and money in the end.
If everything has been done correctly, I see no reason for additional expenditure on transformers or capacitors.
i have cloth 2 wire from a million years ago in my house. i don’t have ac line issues. odds are you don’t.
and buying a cheap 500$ car and crashing it into a telephone poll to get the power company to have to change the lines is cheaper then high a end power conditioners
but seriously, a well built power strip with surge protection breaker is all ya need to protect your gear. I have industrial equipment in my garage i use all the time and so do 3 of my neighbors. I never hear line noise on my antique wiring. You have to have bad wires to get a lot of noise. and by bad i mean not safe to use anymore bad.
the whole industry exists still because power grids were shittier in the 70’s when they started developing them. Power grids are much much much better these days as a whole, then in the 70’s.
that’s just my personal take on the matter. YMMV and to each their own
Yeah… no.
The home-use UPS are shit with their random self-tests, battery cycling, etc. Also “line interactive” is only acceptable for home, maybe office use.
All the good UPS are “call for quote” in the price department (IIRC the cheapest ABB unit starts at 4000€)
APC is mostly surge supression, Furman is power conditioning.
Get a true sine wave power supply like the Cyber power. The one I have also has USB C and A ports and it’s a battery backup as well as squeaky clean power. An optical USB cable going into a powered hub is also a great and audible upgrade to achieve a silent noise floor.
I got some 1ft UL listed power cable extensions to use all the plugs on the UPS, even with huge power bricks or weird shaped plugs.
