Basic Power Line Conditioner Recommendation

I do not believe this model is for sale any longer, it may however been replaced with a new model number, not sure.

 

ah. surely the newer stuff is even better.

 

Furman stuff looks pretty nice. Now if I can only find one of those compact P-1800 pf models

 

Got myself a used PL-8 C to try out. Apparently the pull out LED lights don't work. No biggie as that feature is useless to me.
I'll report back on my findings when I get it. I plan to take the cover off and inspect the innards.
I may even transfer the guts to a more "audiophile" friendly enclosure. Stay tuned!

 

you may know this, but if you dont... you have to push the twist knob to engage it.

 

Yes, I am aware of this. I had thought perhaps the seller wasn't. But he sold another similar unit a while back with working lights. He had a picture of the lights shining underneath the pull out tubes on that particular unit.
Perhaps its a minor thing. The unit I bought seems a little rough judging from the seller pictures, with a bar code on the front. But the protection light was on, so that's a good thing.
If I decide to transfer the guts to a custom case, the LED pull out lights will have to go, so again, no biggie...

 

oh ok. Just to clarify, I meant push the knob that reads: Lamp Dimmer ON/OFF. Sorry if I am being redundant. When I first got a PL-8C I was pulling out the light tubes and wondering why they werent on. I think on the Furman PC I have downstairs the lights engage when they are pulled out. Anyways, curious what you find when you take it apart. I seem to put a lot of faith in their products simply because they work for me without havning to know too much about circuitry.

 

On the other hand I love to build stuff, so a premium power "conditioner" custom made for my setup would be fantastic. And it will benefit from Furman's filtering and over voltage protection. Hubbell hospital grade outlets are a must.
I may add a digital meter to monitor incoming AC voltage as well...

 

My used Furman PL-8C is out for delivery today.
Will take the cover off and share my impressions of the build later today.

 

The Denali is working quite well. After some experimentation all the components are now going into the tower whereas before I had a separate rig for the amp. The amp through the tower has no loss of dynamics which is the first I have experienced that. The PS8 and Defender combo is excellent but this tower just takes it to a new lower noise level. There is also some filtering being done in the Alpha HC zitron cable that connects it to the wall.

 

The Furman arrived at my listening room today. The chassis is quite sturdy with decent gauge steel. AC outlets have good grip and the overall build quality is very good. There is a main PCB with a large inductor and a relay that engages when power is applied.

The lights are powered by a small step down transformer and it appears to have failed, not catastrophically though. There was no voltage I could measure on the secondaries. Like I said, no biggie, as I don't have a use for these lights.

The main protection/filtering circuit is working great. I was a little tired today so I wasn't able to listen too critically. I did notice less electronic hash and definitely more "blacker" backgrounds.

I was going to transfer the guts to another chassis, but I may not do this after all. I like the way the thing is built. And it is tucked neatly under my salamander rack. So I think it will stay that way...

Definitely you cannot beat this unit at the price, even better if you find it used!

 

For the record, you can get these new for around $150 on Amazon

 

Those always intrigued me. Cool

 

Powered up my system with the Furman PL-8C again tonight. I noticed the conditioner prevents sudden/quick voltage sags due to other appliances in the home turning on and off. I verified this by looking at my vintage RCA WV-120A AC line meter. It was rock stable during my whole listening session.

I noticed no loss in dynamics on my most demanding recordings, so great news there.

My thanks to the OP for recommending it!

 

The Furman stuff I use works really well. I can't recommend their voltage regulators enough for tube users.

Breaker before sub panel.



Rock steady 120ACV output with 30 amp load capacity.

 

When you start messin' with the actual circuit breakers, that's gettin' a little past my pay grade, but that's interesting to here about their stuff for tube setups. I have to use one at my current residence because the power is horribly-inconsistent here. I run a Tripp Lite SU1000RTXL2UA with my electronics (1964 Fisher 800C, Dual 1019, & 1963 Wharfedale W90 speakers, plus my computer/music-server setup and Xbox One, which all seem to fit without any issue... Plenty of juice left as far as the meter says). The Tripp Lite is a rock-solid unit as far as what I'm using it for (It's about $500-$600 new, depending on where you get it), but the one big issue I have is the fan. It's louder than an industrial exhaust fan. I've heard of people swapping them out for quiet ones, but it's kind of an extensive mod for someone with my experience, so I just keep it in the other room and run a few extension cords to it. Not the best way to go about it, but it gets the job done. I'll be moving in a month to a place that will have much better electricity, but I still plan to use a UPS of some kind (uninterruptible power supply, I mean). I would love a setup with the Tripp Lite's steady power, but with much-quieter fans. I don't need to access it from my phone or anything like that. I have a living room closet at the new place, so maybe I can use my current one for a while with it tucked in there, otherwise it's goin' in the hall closet.