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Does a power conditioner do anything for audio quality?

TheMarco

TheMarco

Thrift Store Audiophile
Subscriber
I have the option to get a Furman RP8 power conditioner for 80 bucks. I'm considering this because I do believe my house has fairly dirty power. I regularly see lights flicker for example.

I'm wondering though, is this something that's going to make my music sound better or is it an overkill thing? I already do have a surge protector between the wall outlet and my actual equipment.

Thoughts? Is this worth it or should I not bother?
 
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A simple power conditioner like the Furman isn't going to do anything for voltage dropouts (flickering lights), it's just providing transient spike protection and EMI filtering (the EMI filtering is probably the only real improvement over your surge protector). If you've got low/inconsistent wall voltage you need a Voltage Regulator. I run an APC H15 because in the summer my wall voltage dips under 110V and my gear is happier at a steady 120V.
 
TheMarco said:
I have the option to get a Furman RP8 power conditioner for 80 bucks. I'm considering this because I do believe my house has fairly dirty power. I regularly see lights flicker for example.

I'm wondering though, is this something that's going to make my music sound better or is it an overkill thing? I already do have a surge protector between the wall outlet and my actual equipment.

Thoughts? Is this worth it or should I not bother?
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I have the Elite pfs-15. Other than doing some funky maneuvers to trigger the switched and delay switched functions of the outlets, it does well. I rode out a "reset the clocks" brownout a week ago while the system was playing vinyl. Thought the light bulb was going out, no other thoughts. Played right through it.
 
I have the Furman Power Station 8 and it does work. Previously, I was using an APC Surge Arrest. My amp would on occasion have very slight mechanical hum. Really bad when my wife uses the hair dryer, which is on a different circuit. I have a dedicate wall outlet for audio. Anyway, I just wanted something with 8 plugins that would offer surge protection and if possible condition the line. Oh, and previous to this, I tried out the Emotiva CMX2 which I thought worked ... this Furman is better. Amp runs quiet all the time now. Granted, the mechanical hum was not constant and extremely minimal. I know in part it's the quality of power in the town I live in. Bottom line is I noticed a difference, as slight as it was. I don't know if it "conditioned" the line, or it's my imagination, but I can testify to the fact I get clean audio on a regular basis, which occurred only after upgrading my "power strip".
 
1) Monitors and minimizes violent fluctuations in your wall power source before sending to your equipment.
2) Usually has 10-12 outlets on the back to neatly plug all your gear into.
 
I used to have a Panamax conditioner and it was great at consolidating my gear but I ultimately discovered that it was sucking the life out of my music . I tried other alternatives I.e Amp , Dac straight to the wall which yielded much better results than using the conditioner.

When I put in a Tice Power Block and dedicated line is when my system opened up by a wide margin and noise floor was much lower. YMMV with everything you try but in my journey the power conditioner was a major weak link.


Audiofreak71
 
I’m using a Panamax also. My thinking was it would save the life of my McIntosh power switches. Also I have an empty slot in my racks and the Craigslist price was right. She said her ex left it at the house. The price was right from this single mom. I paid cash. No services exchanged. How could you tell it sucked life out of you music ? Listen with and with out the Panamax I guess.
 
I'm using a couple Furman conditioners can't say that it made for a significant change the background noise got a little quieter otherwise my gear sounds good. The main reason I'm using them is for better surge protection.
 
Smokering said:
I’m using a Panamax also. My thinking was it would save the life of my McIntosh power switches. Also I have an empty slot in my racks and the Craigslist price was right. She said her ex left it at the house. The price was right from this single mom. I paid cash. No services exchanged. How could you tell it sucked life out of you music ? Listen with and with out the Panamax I guess.
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Yes I listened with and without it , little did I know until I listened without the Panamax the music was much more full and holographic. When I placed it back it was flat and 2 dimensional and at that time I knew that it was the weak link and had to go.


Audiofreak71
 
This is an interesting discussion. On the one hand, some say it kills the dynamics. I just purchased a Furman PST-8 and can't say it has done anything negative to the music. If anything, it has provided a quieter background with increased dynamics. I'm not sure what part of power conditioning may be responsible for squashing the sound for some, but it would be nice to know which models are more of an enhancement to the music, and which models are not, and why.

If we're talking about audio quality and not surge protection, I am curious to try the Greenwave power filters. Has anyone used them? I've seen alot of products claiming to do something similar, but from everything I've gathered so far, these ones seem to be legit- especially since they can be purchased with a "noise sniffer" to do your own before and after comparisons. They're about the size of a Glade plug-in, and while they eat up an outlet similar to a wall wart, they do have a receptacle built in to them and provide greatly reduced EMI for all the surrounding outlets on the same electrical circuit (moreso than most other power conditioners). They reduce line noise to approximately 50mV afterwards which can be a great reduction for outlets providing 1000mV+ of noise or more. You can plug them directly into the wall in an unused outlet, or into a surge protector/ power conditioner which does not have truly "isolated" power banks (otherwise it will negate the effect). Two per room is recommended, and of course they are a bit pricey. You can also purchase their 'Test Kit' which includes power filters and an EMI meter/ sniffer, so you can see just how noisy any outlet is before and after the filtering.

https://greenwavefilters.com/store-front/
 
I use a hospital-grade isolation transformer in my shop system as well as a Quiet Line module (by AudioPrism - is that company still around?). The amp bypasses the transformer. More importantly, I switched from the circuit the system formerly plugged into, to a circuit which was much quieter. Maybe that does not make sense, but that is what I found.
 
I'm using a Monster Power HTS2000 conditioner/surge protector for my equipment and when I A/B it to just a power bar I prefer the sound through the HTS2000.. The sound is cleaner and more open.
 
onanysunday said:
I am curious to try the Greenwave power filters
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Read good things about it so I bought one. Plugged a power bar into it & sat back and listened. No go, the sound lacked dynamics compared to my Monster Power HTS2000. After one day's use I retired it and chalked it up to another audio experiment that didn't quite live up to expectations.
 
My MC2505 can be rapidly switched from on>off>on during play and it keeps playing without interruption- which is basically going from 120V > 0V > 120V - with no audible change to the sound. This should illustrate that if the equipment's internal power supplies are well designed in the first place, the audible benefit of outboard power conditioners should be little to none.
 
62caddy said:
My MC2505 can be rapidly switched from on>off>on during play and it keeps playing without interruption- which is basically going from 120V > 0V > 120V - with no audible change to the sound. This should illustrate that if the equipment's internal power supplies are well designed in the first place, the audible benefit of outboard power conditioners should be little to none.
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Not sure that's correct.
In my opinion that means that the power supplies in your geae can handle quick voltage fluctuations / drop without resetting the gear. When I lived in the Dominican Republic we had all our computers on an APS to prevent these quick voltage drops from constantly restarting them.

There's voltage variation and there's buzz / hum / noise in the signal, which I think is the most prominent source of audible issues.

Thoughts?
 
TheMarco said:
Not sure that's correct.
In my opinion that means that the power supplies in your geae can handle quick voltage fluctuations / drop without resetting the gear. When I lived in the Dominican Republic we had all our computers on an APS to prevent these quick voltage drops from constantly restarting them.

There's voltage variation and there's buzz / hum / noise in the signal, which I think is the most prominent source of audible issues.

Thoughts?
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That I can't answer but I doubt whether PTs would be affected by any RFI that found its way into the A/C power mains.
 
62caddy said:
My MC2505 can be rapidly switched from on>off>on during play and it keeps playing without interruption- which is basically going from 120V > 0V > 120V - with no audible change to the sound. This should illustrate that if the equipment's internal power supplies are well designed in the first place, the audible benefit of outboard power conditioners should be little to none.
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Seems logical to me. I think the Mc has a large unregulated supply with large filter caps!
 
DesertRatt said:
Seems logical to me. I think the Mc has a large unregulated supply with large filter caps!
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Probably both in the case of Mc! :D

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