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Power Conditioners... the final frontier

I've found w stereophile there is a code where you can tell the difference between something they love and something they're lukewarm on. Art Dudley will out and out pan things too - remember him (gently) dissing a grado cart not too long ago. Ole Art is a persuasive SOB. Reading him religiously has not been good for my bank account.
 
davelarz said:
I think ultimately, in the inimitable way of we audiophiles with more money than sense, I came to the conclusion that I simply wasn't going to be satisfied spending that little dough, even if the thing worked.
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The audio industry's wet dream! LOL. I admire those that can know that about themselves and admit it. I think that sentence breaks down the difference between often opposing sides of arguments on AK: Those that are never satisfied unless more money is spent and those are perfectly happy with items that meet their needs without spending more than they have to.
 
davelarz said:
I've found w stereophile there is a code where you can tell the difference between something they love and something they're lukewarm on. Art Dudley will out and out pan things too - remember him (gently) dissing a grado cart not too long ago. Ole Art is a persuasive SOB. Reading him religiously has not been good for my bank account.
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Yep, amount of that customers ad buy.

If people think that money does not effect writer's opinions on the items they review, then those people are incorrect. Do people think that when Audi flies Car And Driver editors to the Alps to "evaluate" the latest model and put them up in a Chalet and feed them good food and booze that the editors will say something bad? Do they not want to be invited back?

Magazines, now websites, need advertising to survive, period. If magazines alienate their potential advertisers with bad reviews then where do they get their revenue from? Now and then when a bad review pops up, there has been an evaluation regarding future ad buys.

All the above being said, as long as one realizes the above and takes it all into account, then there are some good and interesting items being reviewed in the industry.........
 
davelarz said:
Saggy - I lived in one of those Italian built Brooklyn apartments for years! - fourth floor walk up on Powers near Graham in East Williamsburg.....To give you an idea of how long ago this was, I had an 1100 sq ft floorthrough and sole roof access. I paid $400 a month.
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Wow. Insane. Especially considering there is a place for sale at this moment on Powers, between Graham and Humboldt, for $1.87M.
 
I look at reviews as a way to get more information about a product than the manufacturer makes freely available. But questionable practices are rife throughout the review world, from posh trips to special “discounts” on buying gear.

But to the OP’s main point, I believe conditioners are very situational. If you’re in a building that shares power, you could probably benefit; if you’re connected directly to the pole, it’s probably less helpful.
 
In my simple pig brain, power conditioners are foundational components. Buy them right and you don't end up replacing them every few years. I went through a couple in the beginning that were terrible, and was convinced that in the PNW we had great hydro power and did not need one. I eventually got to use a Mini Reference from Audio Magic that worked well, was an improvement, and I bought it and kept it for 8 or 9 years.

When I moved into this new house and got the plan to redo the audio system, I decided to buy what was in my mind an end game power conditioner. Since its a foundational piece in my perspective, I bought the best one I could afford and now do not have to worry about upgrades.

So I bought a PS Audio P10, and am content with it. Congrats on your Running Springs, they are nice units from what I know of them.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Bodyblue said:
I think that sentence breaks down the difference between often opposing sides of arguments on AK: Those that are never satisfied unless more money is spent and those are perfectly happy with items that meet their needs without spending more than they have to.
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Well look, being happy with what you have and can afford... this is a slippery slope concept with implications far beyond our little corner of audio dorkery. Many young people I work with, all of them completely obsessed with music, do the entirety of their non-headphone listening on $80 bluetooth speakers streaming Spotify from their phones. And they are very happy with this arrangement. I have nothing to say about this happiness other than that I am happy for them. I have inaugurated a few of them into the dark arts of audiophilia and honestly I wasn't sure whether I was giving them the keys to the kingdom or slipping them their first taste of smack. The first bag's free kid...

I was goofing on myself, yes, but the truth of it is, for my own ears and tastes, I've found that in audio (with a few notable exceptions) more money spent has yielded better performance. In regards to all manner of products, this is not a controversial concept. It's all a question of what you can afford or what you're willing to spend. As they say in the rooms... you can get off on any floor. Whether the elevator in this analogy is going up or down... I'll leave that to you to decide.
 
saggy said:
Wow. Insane. Especially considering there is a place for sale at this moment on Powers, between Graham and Humboldt, for $1.87M.
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That whole hood now is... what can you say. I was there long before it happened, and then I saw it happen. It was something to see. I could have bought a huge building on S 1st for 180k. Mind blowing. Jay Z has a line about that on his new record about Dumbo...
 
saggy said:
"You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave..."
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This is basically step 1. But we're straying into a different arena.

Mister Pig said:
Since its a foundational piece in my perspective, I bought the best one I could afford and now do not have to worry about upgrades.

So I bought a PS Audio P10, and am content with it.
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I was very very close to going that route Pig though I was thinking P3 because my whole system maxes at around 450w. Still curious I admit. The "best one I could afford so I don't worry about upgrades" has been a guiding tenet for me this last year. There's a P3 on US Audio Mart right now for a grand which is a hell of a price.
 
 
I lost a TV and receiver some years ago due to a lightning strike so these days I switch over to a pure sine wave inverter whenever I want to listen and there is any chance of lightning. Beats any power conditioner since the only thing on the line is my stereo, which is plugged directly into the inverter, and I run the inverter off a huge 12v deep cycle battery so absolutely no chance a power surge can damage anything. Oh, and I noticed a marked improvement in the sound quality. Lastly, at low to moderate volume levels the inverter's fan never runs and if I'm cranking it I can't hear the fan so for the same kind of money you might want to consider a high quality pure sine wave inverter.

Great to be able to watch TV and play the stereo when everyone else is sitting in the dark!
 
analoge4ever said:
I lost a TV and receiver some years ago due to a lightning strike so these days I switch over to a pure sine wave inverter whenever I want to listen and there is any chance of lightning. Beats any power conditioner since the only thing on the line is my stereo, which is plugged directly into the inverter, and I run the inverter off a huge 12v deep cycle battery so absolutely no chance a power surge can damage anything. Oh, and I noticed a marked improvement in the sound quality. Lastly, at low to moderate volume levels the inverter's fan never runs and if I'm cranking it I can't hear the fan so for the same kind of money you might want to consider a high quality pure sine wave inverter.

Great to be able to watch TV and play the stereo when everyone else is sitting in the dark!
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Is there a good brand you recommend taking a look at?
 
saggy said:
Wow. Insane. Especially considering there is a place for sale at this moment on Powers, between Graham and Humboldt, for $1.87M.
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Family house in Los Altos, CA was 320k in 85. 1/2 acre. Same price hike. Couple mil.

Its crazy. There is no way a "normal" family can buy a home in a safe area here anymore...

All my high school friends but two moved. San Jose, East bay out to Antioch. 3 hour commute to work, hell no.
 
Fascinated by those $15-$20 ebay deals. At that price you could protect TVs and audio systems all over the house and garage.

My question is, how can you compare features and performance between different models? Even with some limited electrical knowledge, I can't look at the specs on one of these and understand 100% what I'm looking at. I'm sure there are huge differences in performance in terms of spike/lightning protection, voltage regulation, noise reduction, etc. etc. I wish there was someone to translate it into English and explain the big picture. Probably straying off topic here, it's really a different thread.
 
toxcrusadr said:
Fascinated by those $15-$20 ebay deals. At that price you could protect TVs and audio systems all over the house and garage.

My question is, how can you compare features and performance between different models? Even with some limited electrical knowledge, I can't look at the specs on one of these and understand 100% what I'm looking at. I'm sure there are huge differences in performance in terms of spike/lightning protection, voltage regulation, noise reduction, etc. etc. I wish there was someone to translate it into English and explain the big picture. Probably straying off topic here, it's really a different thread.
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I'm hesitant to send this link because after reading it everyone is going to snag up all these ONE AC power conditioners!
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=4012

It's an old link from audiocircle where one guy describes his experience with these units.

To speculate on your question about voltage regulation and spike protection I'll paraphrase my original post: These are used in hospitals. They are literally counted on the be the difference between life and death for someone who needs a powered machine to survive. I suspect they're made to withstand a lot.
 
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