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power conditioner

I am almost done with putting my system together. I have a Mac 452 amp, Mac 550 cd, Mac MT-10 turntable and a Mac C2500 pre amp. looking to see would be a good power conditioner/surge protector for a reasonable cost. 
The room I am using the equipment in is wired with 15 amp wiring. I read a lot  the Furman and Panamax sounds like they are the same company but the equipment is very different. Any suggestion would be appreciated.
gbprint6559
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
@atmasphere

Always a pleasure to read from you in any thread.

Could you please provide your opinion (succinctly) about balanced power conditioners, with an emphasis on whatever advantage they bring to the table in comparison to non-balanced conditioners?
pokey77
1,269 posts
 
@atmasphere 

Always appreciate your input. So, as Elgar is not available anymore, what brands/models do you know of that work well?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,901 posts
 
Could you please provide your opinion (succinctly) about balanced power conditioners, with an emphasis on whatever advantage they bring to the table in comparison to non-balanced conditioners?
Balanced power is nice if you can pull it off without introducing other problems. It is useful for lowering susceptibility to noise on the line. Often it is done by using an isolation transformer of some sort. If this is the case, the transformer should not be operated past 50% of its continuous rated power (else distortion will be a problem and that will overshadow any advantage brought by balancing the power).


atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,901 posts
 
So, as Elgar is not available anymore, what brands/models do you know of that work well?
The PS Audio Power station uses a regeneration technique that works pretty well as long as the unit is run well below its recommended maximums.

For our amps that has often meant one of them per channel. They may have a bigger model now. If the amp places a heavy draw on the unit on an on-going basis, it is best to go with the next size up. But I would still audition it against the raw wall power.

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Balanced power is nice if you can pull it off without introducing other problems. It is useful for lowering susceptibility to noise on the line. Often it is done by using an isolation transformer of some sort. If this is the case, the transformer should not be operated past 50% of its continuous rated power (else distortion will be a problem and that will overshadow any advantage brought by balancing the power).

Thank you, @atmasphere

I’ll keep your reply handy if you don’t mind. Of late where ever I might happen to post on this forum invariably someone throws out the notion of balanced power (and proposes a $2500+ device that purported delivers it) as though its a cure all for things audio plus the common cold.
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