Topic: clean AC power...WOW

[BobW]

thanks guys.
anyone else want to show me how little I could have paid?

fwiw..its a good investment even at a buck sixty

I just won one on e-bay for $63.50 !     


(kidding)

[chadburr]

I highly recommend the PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. My DAC and Pre-Amp are plugged into the 15 A Standard and the rest of my system is in the Monster HTS 3500. A great combo. I have also heard great feedback on the PS Audio UPC-200 which is a pair of Ultimate Outlets in one box (4 outlets)

Clean AC power DOES make a substantial difference. Of course everything is system dependent.

[Nick's Picks]

i wanted PS audio products...but out of my price range.
the UPC200 goes cheap sometimes on agon.  sometimes.

[udovdh]

Please convince me.
What is your mains power like when you need a conditioning device to improve your audio a little?
I mean: each power supply for low voltage electronics is a filter of some sorts: transformer, rectifier, regulator, etc, etc (or how they implement these thinsg nowadays), so if power irregularites still manage to get past these something is wrong in the devices as well? (within reasonable borders of course)

Please explain why the power does not necessarily have to suck to hear the benefit of a power conditioner.

[Nick's Picks]

got me.  i dont claim to understand it.  but i'm certain i can hear it.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

It's correct that if a device's power supply is properly implemented, an external conditioner will probably not provide a significant improvement.  But most devices do not have optimal power supply designs.  Designers must work to meet retail pricing constraints and even when the price doesn't matter there may be more effective places to spend the money in the design.

It's not only the quality of the mains power at your panel that affects the sound in your system.  Anything with motors (washer/dryer, AC, electric clock) that is plugged into your house wiring is going to induce noise onto the home AC wiring.   Dimmers introduce noise.  All that comes back through the panel to your playback components.

The conditioner I use is implemented using an isolation trasformer that outputs balanced power(out of phase +/- 60V).  It made a striking difference in the quality of the sound.  Just as Nick described, the first time I used it the music just seemed to rise out of blackness and there was a lot finer detail in the presentation.  There was noise present that I never realized was there and it was masking low level information.   Over a week or so I noticed that I was listening at a lower volume setting because I no longer needed to crank up the volume to bring the detail above the haze of background noise.

[Daryan]

I use a BPT 1.5 I think it is with absolutely stunning results.  I would reccomend against the ps audio p300 fwiw, as the one I heard did very little to my ears.  equitech and BPT for balanced power.  They supposedly do not limit dynamics, so I went with one and couldn't be happier.  I use a class d amp, and I heard no limits in transients or macro/micro dynamics when I installed the unit.  It is REALLY heavy though and a pain to isolate.

Try isolation products under your PC for better results....trust me

[Daryan]

Interesting and affordable...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Power-Plant-AC-Regenerator-for-Pre-Amplifier-PS-Audio_W0QQitemZ5774534117QQcategoryZ14980QQcmdZViewItem

[wboswell]

I picked up a ps audio upc-20 and have enjoyed the subtle improvements.  I've noticed more improvements in the video than audio, but honestly, I haven't had a chance to have a nice listening session (infant in the house creates a volume constraint).  However, the video image is much more vivid with greater contrast.  These should be required with all new video purchases

[pfife]

do you plug the television and the audio into the power conditioner?  Would image on cable television improve with this, in your opinion?

[pjdavep]

I highly recommend the PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. My DAC and Pre-Amp are plugged into the 15 A Standard and the rest of my system is in the Monster HTS 3500. A great combo. I have also heard great feedback on the PS Audio UPC-200 which is a pair of Ultimate Outlets in one box (4 outlets)

Clean AC power DOES make a substantial difference. Of course everything is system dependent.

I have a UPC-200 for my analog components.  There are two dedicated lines in my system - one for analog, one for digital.  The UPC-200 feeds two subwoofers and a 300x2 amp and I can't say that I've really noticed decrease in dynamics even though there is probably too much power being sucked from the line, but I haven't switched everything around to see what would make differences in the sound.  I choose the UPC-200 because I needed more than two outlets, and it got a lot of good reviews.  It was picked up pretty cheap of Audiogon.  My digital section uses a monster MK5000 conditioner and that seems to do a great job as well.

Later,
   pjdavep

[L Ron Hoover]

Ya made me bite again Nick. First the 3000, now this. (made an impulse buy yesterday afternoon)

[coop]

The cleanest i have ever heard my system was when i swiched off the grid connection to our house and ran off of our solar.  It was shocking.  I removed the Chang conditioner i had and it sounded even better.  Listened to it for about 2 days on and off before boxing the system up and selling it.  Sigh...
        Coop

[MattD]

That is a cool idea - why not just use solar for that room only?

[scervin]

I use a BPT 1.5 I think it is with absolutely stunning results.  I would reccomend against the ps audio p300 fwiw, as the one I heard did very little to my ears.  equitech and BPT for balanced power.  They supposedly do not limit dynamics, so I went with one and couldn't be happier.  I use a class d amp, and I heard no limits in transients or macro/micro dynamics when I installed the unit.  It is REALLY heavy though and a pain to isolate.

Try isolation products under your PC for better results....trust me

Was the P-300 set up with Multiwave II?  What wave were you using?  Voltage and freq?  Balanced power and AC regenerators = very different technologies.  At some point in time I want to hook up my dedicated lines to an oscilloscope to see the waveform.  Maybe I should do this before bying a voltage regulator/regenerator.

Personally I'm hoping to find a good deal on Exactpower units.