exactpower ep 15A

Nsgarch: Thanks....I was surprised to hear the bit on balanced power and residential applications from MAP too as companies like BPT, Equitech and Furman all still make great units in this category. BTW, MAP referenced the NEC Article 647.3 on the subject when I talked to them via phone.

I have an EP15A for power regeneration for my front-end equipment and am quite impressed. I was sorry to hear that they discontinued the EP, SP and UltraPure I offerings...

Thanks for the advice...good luck with your conversation with Bob S. at MAP.

Nsgarch: I have been following along on these threads for awhile now and am getting a great education (thank you very much), and it is clearly focusing me onto a balanced power solution - at least for the front end. But, I do have a couple of questions:

1 - Are you aware of any significant differences/benefits to Equitech v BPT v Furman?

2 - Would powering both analogue (eg - pre) and digital (eg CD) devices into, say a 2QR be problematic from the perspective noise generated by the CD?

3 - My amps and subs are near the speakers while the front end equipment is about 10-15 feet away - would you use another balance power unit for these, too?

I have the ability to rewire the entire room with dedicated circuits, which is part of the plan. I had also planned on the EP15A until I just read that support for the unit is no longer...

Thanks.

I'm tentatively getting together with Bob at the end of July, so I'll have a better idea what he's thinking then.

Poonbean, balanced power has application primarily with low power devices (not usually amplifiers, in other words) that handle small signals (like preamps, mic and phono preamps, video equipment, etc.) They work great with equipment that already has balanced circuit topology or dual-mono topology (like a lot of the BAT stuff for instance.) It provides quiet, noise-free power without filters and chokes (as in 'power conditioners') by dividing (balancing) two 60 volt power cycles of opposite polarity around a ground. This causes the noise to be the same on both of the cycles but of opposite polarity, and guess what happens when it comes together? The two "noises" self-destruct!

The thing to remember is that there are certain power utility uglies that balanced power can't fix. The worst is voltage fluctuations -- a particular problem for tube gear, trying to maintain bias in the power tubes and constant heater(filament) current. And digital RFI can still get into the power outlets, unless the receptacles have capacitors across them. So that's when you need regeneration.

To answer your questions:

1.) No, but I haven't really delved into their individual peculiarities. Equitech was the first to get BP UL certified for residential use.
2.) Not if some of the outlets are "digitally filtered" which they usually are.
3.) I have my system arranged that way, with a balanced power unit near the front end and a regenerator for the sub/stats/amp. You could just use two balanced power units, one at each position; each plugged into dedicated circuits, and forget the regenerator, but before doing that, check your power outlets at different times of the day/night to see if you're getting fairly constant 120VAC.
Tethering a balanced power unit off of a regenerator is not a good idea as it can cause in-rush current problems for the regenerator.

Nsgarch - You confirmed, pretty much, the design I had in mind. Thank you. However, I had thought about putting a regenerator upstream of the balanced power unit (still deciding between a 2qr equitech or BPT 3.5 sg plus - largely because I do not know how to evaluate the differences between the two, or if I should bother trying). So, if that is not a good idea, what other solutions are there to deal with the voltage fluctuations? Also, I assume the RG 1200 is good way to go on the regenerator side, are there other options you would consider? Oh - one other thought, the subs have built in digital amps (1000W) - would they benefit more from balanced or regenerated power?

Since I will be wiring from new dedicted ciruits - any thoughts on Romex, other than 10gauge? I could go with a two wire (hot, neutral) and twisting it and running a separate star ground, and then there is the 3 wire croy'd stuff...
Cheers.

PB, I'll try and take a minute to look into the two balanced models you mentioned and post any pros/cons I might discover. If I forget, feel free to email me and remind me ;-)

As for your other quandries ;-) here's my approach:

1.) Put in those dedicated circuits - biggest bang for the buck in audio! Here are the finer points:
a.) Two separate 15A circuits near your sources; not for extra capacity but to keep analog and digital separate.
b.) One 20A near the amps/speakers in the center of the end wall OR (just as an alternative, but especially if you are running monoblock amps) two 15A circuits, one on ea side of the room.
c.) Believe it or not, Romex is better than twisted wires in a conduit because the latter creates inductance, and RFI is better taken care of at/by the equipment itself.
d.) If your receptacles will be more than 20' from your breaker panel, go up one wire size from code to make up for voltage drop over longer distances. I.E. 10AWG versus 12AWG.
e.) Make sure the breakers for all your ded. cts. are on the same side of the neutral buss in the breaker panel box to insure they are all in phase.
f.) Use Hubbell hospital grade receptacles (with the green dot) because they have clamping connectors for the wire, as opposed to screw terminals (NEVER use 'push-in' connectors!)

2.) Voltage fluctuations: Once you've installed your ded. cts. you need to check the wall voltage at different times of the day (and night/evening.) It should not vary more than 5% over all (117 - 123 VAC) If it's higher or lower by more than just a volt or two (115 - 125 VAC), more than just once in a great while, and just for a few seconds, then you'll need voltage regulation, especially if you have tube gear. There are many inexpensive ways to do this. The least expensive being a voltage regulator(s) (duh! ;-) of the proper capacity. But, if it's a serious problem (like it's just too high or too low too much of the time,) I would FIRST talk to your utility company - they might need to replace a pole transformer!

3.) Subs with digital, or ICE, or Class D amps, should go right into the dedicated circuits' wall outlets. They create more noise than they are affected by it, and you don't want them dumping digital hash and in-rush current surges into your carefully balanced or regenerated power, from which they won't benefit anyway. They CAN benefit from big 10AWG power cords however ;-)

4.) If lightening and/or huge power surges are a problem in your area, the ONLY intelligent practice is unplugging your entire system. Seriously! Lightening can jump right across open circuit breakers and still fry your system -- so unplugging is the ONLY way except for: big isolation transformers. They will electrically separate your stuff from the grid (lightening) smooth out power surges, and eliminate a lot of noise. If I still had a house of my own, I'd combine dedicated circuits with isolation transformers, and be done with it!

Neil
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