I use an Acme Audio silver-plated AC outlet receptacle, with a dedicated line, for my system. You'll read lots of positive comments on this item at Audio Asylum (particularly the Tweaker's page), and I agree with them. I haven't had the $$ to experiment with power conditioners and such yet ...
I avoid using any conditioner on amplifiers - just a quality AC cord and a good wall socket like the Acme Silver is far superior to any conditioner I have ever tried.
I've been rewiring the basement room in my condo. (Hmm, I wonder if this thick-ass copper wire would make good SPEAKER wire??) noticing the girth of most of the wiring in the house is good, but what's found in home improvement stores is vastly improved as conductibility and cost. The weirdness of electricity cannot always be harnessed and controlled too well. You COULD put UPS's on every outlet that uses electronics, but a Radio engineer (who used tubes on transmitters that looked like light-house lamps) said a few things about this radio station after it got hit violently by lightning. We called him "Dances with Transmitters" because he was 'native American", very tall, skinny guy. Gentle giant! Still loves his cigars and could be coaxed into most anything with a box of Devil Dogs. He taught me a lot, but I've yet to understand why he's so sincere about how "the world is bound together with the cosmic connection of Devil Dogs". His name was Skip. Only guy within 800 miles that knew how to keep our transmitter happy. Skip said, "Sckott, Electicity has 2 rules. Rule 1: Electricity does whatever the FFF it wants to. Rule 2: See rule 1." This specific power spike knocked out 4 486 PCS (gone for $1,000 per, at the time) the Optimod (Stereo matrix unit for radio), the circuit breakers and even an exciter circuit plus tubes. The damage went into the hundreds of thousands. I wasn't there when it happened. but supposedly, it sounded like a bomb went off, and this was in a boggy area, too. (The spot for a transmitter there still stands even though the original studio has been condemed, and they've since moved to the suburbian areas. The bog works like a big amplifier, especially for the AM side. People could hear us 2,000 miles away!) So, when people ask me about power conditioners and power strips, I tell them getting like a strong Belkin or even a UPS (if the power buffer is useful) is just fine, but even for high-enders, we are all mercy to whatever bleeds though the transformer/capacitor unit from the pole. Having something on your end might help, but I've seen a lot, and no one is safe from BLAMMMM! Side note: If you know the electric company monkeys are clowning around on the poles outside, disconnect everything in your house short of the cost of a toaster. Twice this year, people in this area got SUPER-ZAPPED from noodle-heads attaching the wrong sized transformer on the poles. One lady I know said "one of my walls just caught on fire from the jolt". Eeeek!
I use a Monster Power HTS-3500 Power Line Conditioner. It is plugged in to a PS Audio 20amp Ultimate Outlet. The Parasound HCA-1500A amp is also plugged directly into the Ultimate Outlet. I use CablePlex Power 1 Power Cords for my Sony SCD-XA777ES SACD player and my Monolithic P3 Power Supply for the Perpetual Technologies P-1A/P-3A Combo. Very happy with the sound and very very low noise floor.
Having lost the power supply on my Super VHS Sony deck I have installed surge protection at my circuit breaker box on both legs and use a quality surge protector at the 20 amp line I run to my equipment setup. I see no merit to line conditioners (I used to design power supplies in my yourth for several well know companies and understand why a major industral user needs such technology (done properly it can run about $100,000 for the building's testing and design room). Most of what you read from Monster, and others on this subject does not hold water in my opinion.
What would you recommend, Richard? A dedicated fuse / fusebox and power line with a high quality surge protector? With a high quality wall outlet?
It really depends. In an older home, like mine, with fused boxes and lines with undependable ground, I put in a new Square D boxe with circuit breakers and ran new higher amperage underground service into the home and had my power company put in a new higer amperage transformer. This eliminated poor connections and provided higher capacaty service. In my service box I added two Square D surge protetors on each leg of the box. I also made sure my ground was secure and more than adequate. I ran a dedicated new 20 amp service directly to my stereo case and a dedicated 15 amp service to my sub amp. Each is plugged into a quality surge protector. How can you tell if it is any good. It should state that it provides protection to both legs and ground and should carry an insurance protection policy (not likely you will collect but it tells you something about their quality). You do not need medical quality ground outlets or anything that specialized. If you suffer a hum or buzz try reversing some of your plugs and make sure your interconnects are not bundled together in a neat package and not bundled with a power supply wire. I am not saying that people that claim to hear an improvement with power conditioners are nuts, just that I know of no reason why it should impact what you hear. Low voltage will reduce power output and increase thermal load, but short of that????? Do not use a backup power supply like some use on their PC's. Except for some low end stuff, most power supply designs are more than adequate.
MIT Z Iso Duo MIT Z-Stabilizer MK II Synergistic Designers Reference Squared Power Cords. I live in a brand new live/work loft in San Francisco, which has separate 20 smp circuits for every room. Voltage is a stable 126 all day and night. The above units make a HUGE difference in the sound of my setup. I've owned and tested and sold (at a friggin' loss, of course) the following in search of the best sound: - ExactPower 2000 - PowerPlant 600 - Equitech 2Q
I assume you meant to smash 116 volts. If you actually measure 126 try a different volt meter. If you still measure 126 volts call your utility immediately.
I'm using 2 Optimus Home Theater Power Center units that were being discontinued a while back. Got a great price on the pair. I also ran a dedicated 10 gauge wire from my panel box to entertainment system with it's own breaker. I got the above units the same day a power outtage/surge blew the small power strip surge protecter I was using. First time that had ever happened while my system was on. Freaky!
That is a mid 1920's R.B. Radio Co. Page 6 tube radio and 1920's Radiola Loudspeaker made by the RCA Co (pre-Victor I think). It is a battery set but I didn't really have that battery hooked up, was just fooling with Andy. The type of batteries these things used were real messy and I don't believe they're available any more. There are conversion devices available but I haven't gotten around to buying one yet. I have about 40 or so old radios that I collected some years ago.
Tweaks Shunyata Research Power cords. Throw away the filter boxes, they cut the bass transients. The Shunyata cords will get you to that same Nirvana without the problems.
