Power Conditioners

[astrostar59]

At the risk of being lined up against a wall.... do Power Conditioners work for anyone

in a typical high end headphone setup?

 

I have a (small) amount of low level periodic but irritating static going on in my amp, and was wondering if these power line devises

actually work. I live in a city and no doubt the mains is as dirty as hell!

 

If anyone could recommend an affordable unit for 220-240v. Or tell me I am an idiot,

Either is fine.

[postjack]

Not a power conditioner really, but a Brick Wall, which is like a beefed up surge protector, helped me with a ground loop I had several years ago.

[nikongod]

High end headphone systems have components with power supplies designed well enough that a minuscule (or even significant) amount of noise on the power line is inaudible. 

 

That being said, I use a cheap monster power power conditioner. It gives like a zilion outlets, and has a neat switched connection so my lazy ass can turn all my amps on and off with one button. 

 

This is dum. 

[Mister X]

Adding one helped me to eliminate noise from the AC unit but running a new circuit into that room did the same thing for half as much so....

[aardvark baguette]

My lights dim when the AC cuts on, but the music is unaffected.  

 

Obviously we want surge protection, beyond that I think its dependent on whether or not your voltage is consistent or not.  Power conditioner vs Voltage regulator.

 

(I can see on my Furman conditioner that the voltage changes a bit, so I'm going to upgrade to an Accuphase 1220 balanced voltage regulator and be done with it. )

 

 

 

some day

[luvdunhill]

I use an isolation transformer and it lets the basses through just fine. I need a larger one though.

[Dusty Chalk]

Dew et.

[swt61]

I'm a fan of the old TICE power conditioners, and not just because I share the name. They can be found on ebay relatively reasonable.

[Pars]

High end headphone systems have components with power supplies designed well enough that a minuscule (or even significant) amount of noise on the power line is inaudible. 

 

That being said, I use a cheap monster power power conditioner. It gives like a zilion outlets, and has a neat switched connection so my lazy ass can turn all my amps on and off with one button. 

 

This is dum. 

 

Ray makes power supplies and he is considered "high end". He's not the only one. I think many of the high end audio manufacturers have major fail in that regard, and have for years (see Counterpoint for an example).

 

Not a power conditioner really, but a Brick Wall, which is like a beefed up surge protector, helped me with a ground loop I had several years ago.

 

Agreed. I had some noise thru my system due to a light dimmer and the Brick Wall took care of it. Look at Zero Surge as they are the makers of Brick Wall.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Pars

[roadtonowhere08]

Yep, two Brick Walls here.  That (or Zero Surge) is good stuff.

[shellylh]

Zero surge here.  Lots of big afternoon thunderstorms here so it seems worth the price.

[skullguise]

I use an APC H-10 unit that helps regulate voltage, I get minor swings/variances in my main system room and it certainly helps.

 

In our basement, which we 1/2 finished when we moved in, we have a newer 20-amp circuit, and I've had systems down there that need no conditioner and sound great plugged right into the wall.

 

I've also used Shunyata (currently) and Audience (past) AC conditioners that subjectively seem to make a subtle but nice difference; but I got them used on great deals, would never buy them at new prices.

Edited July 16, 2014 by skullguise

[robm321]

I'm a fan of the Tice also, but I ended up with the Chang Lightspeed CLS-6400 ISO years ago because it didn't really affect the sound in a negative way and provides protection. 

Edited July 16, 2014 by robm321

[aardvark baguette]

Was browsing about these recently and found this post.  Can't speak to its accuracy, but the THD looks rather high for battery backups.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/5315601-post2.html

[luvdunhill]

Was browsing about these recently and found this post. Can't speak to its accuracy, but the THD looks rather high for battery backups.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/5315601-post2.html

I believe it.

[Wmcmanus]

I'm a fan of the old TICE power conditioners, and not just because I share the name. They can be found on ebay relatively reasonable.

 

Me too.  I use one Tice Power Block 3 in my headphones setup (you've seen the pics with 3 racks of gear), and another identical Tice unit for my main speaker rig.  Audiogon is another place to look for them.  

[nopants]

I bought a toroid 1.7kva isolation transformer, I think they source from SumR that hum is ridiculous

has anyone potted or gooped transformers themselves? I'm thinking that might be cheap way to salvage this purchase

Edited November 25, 2014 by nopants

[nikongod]

A few people have DIY-potted transformers. 

Voodoochile started a thread about on Head-fi it back when he was building his (insanely awesome) MAD-EAR clone.

 

I did it with the SEX amp you sold me, although mostly for aesthetic reasons. 

 

Edit:

Corrected the spelling of Voodoochile

Edited November 25, 2014 by nikongod

[luvdunhill]

Do you have a significant DC component to your line voltage?

[Salt Peanuts]

A few people have DIY-potted transformers.

Voodoochile started a thread about on Head-fi it back when he was building his (insanely awesome) MAD-EAR clone.

That thing was beautiful.

 

Found a photo of it.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Salt Peanuts

[Hopstretch]

Oof! That is sex on a stick.

[guzziguy]

Agreed, it's very nice.

[nopants]

Haven't had a chance to measure DC at the outlet, my meter is on loan

 

I did grab an ISOPUCK for the office. I noticed that when I use it metal surfaces feel "electrified" if that makes sense- running my finger over the surface produces a tingling sensation and the perception of 60Hz hum. Will test on the BHSE later, but this wasn't the case with the other isolation transformer

[nopants]

In my quest to deal with this I bought an outlet tester, apparently the entire house reads as "open ground". Anyone have experience with this? If it's an easy fix I don't mind messing around but it's not my place so if there's real expense involved I have to deal with it differently.

[Grand Enigma]

Older homes did not have grounds as there was no need for them at the time. The wiring for the homes only had two conductors. The only way to fix it would be to re-wire your house... Which becomes a rabbit hole.

That said, if you have three prong outlets and they are reading an open ground, that is definitely against code.