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Exact Power EP-15A Operational Question

I am new to the EP line of regulators, so am not sure if what I am observing is or is not "normal" for these units.

With no or very small load, the units (I have two, an older vintage one with a sculpted faceplate and a newest one with a flatter one) drift up a bit to 121 or 122 volts. My house voltage tends to run on the high side. Once loaded both units go to 120 volts. During the times of highest input voltage (123-124 volts), the older unit may go up to 121 volts under load, which is still within their specs. The older unit is typically loaded to ~4 amps rms with two large tube amps. Under this load it runs a bit warm but certainly not hot.

This sounds very benign, but I would like to find out if other EP owners have seen the same beh
dimitry
samhar
1,048 posts
 
I have two EP-15A's one runs at 120V, the other at 122V. I've used one for each amp in the past when I had low and shifting power levels. Each amp idled at 500W and went to ???? when playing. Your two amps only draw 440W combined, the specs say each unit can handle 1650W. Both units run warm, I was surprised at how warm, but I've had no problems.
larryken
537 posts
 
mine locks in at 120 and doesn't fluctuate...doesn't sound like you have any problem at all....
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
I'd say don't worry about the meters, this is unimportant...in fact, I recommend to just switch them off so you can forget about it and focus on the music. (If you ever actually invoke the protection circuitry the display turns on automatically anyway.)

But if you haven't already, I would consider experimenting with either using the EP-15A only for your front-end gear, and/or using one for each power amp plus a portion of the front-end gear, as opposed to one for both power amps and the other for the front-end gear -- never mind what the nominal power ratings and claimed capacities involved may state.

Based on my experience using higher-powered monoblocks with my single EP-15A (within its nominal limits, paired with near full-range 3-way speakers of medium size and average efficiency, at up to near-lifelike volumes in a mid-sized room), I think you must be very careful to ensure that the Exact Power's benefits (which still do pertain) don't begin to be outweighed by the potential disadvantages of a less full-bodied, dynamic, colorful and dimensional presentation.

In other words, although it still cleans up the sound, it can also tend to flatten and thin it out in this kind of situation, so you need to do comparisons vs. wall power (and/or some other kind of passive line conditioner with the amps instead) as a double-check. Either method could be a close call or a tradeoff rather than an unequivocal improvement, depending -- a judgement call you have to make based on listening to a variety of material.
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