Power Supplies & Performance

@williewonka 

I'm not sure if the merger was recent, but Core Brands has been the parent company for at least 18 months, which was the time I had "checked" into this and bought my Panamax. I spoke to a Panamax rep (tech support) at that time and he basically told me both brands are good performers but that Furman would be better in the case of voltage regulation. Voltage regulation isn't/wasn't something I was looking for so I went with the less expensive option (Panamax). Both Panamax and Furman have many models from which to choose and that too can govern which product is best for your particular needs.

Also, the owner of a local electronics ma-and-pa repair shop where I bought the Panamax from told me he personally had an MR4300 on an oscilloscope and other measuring devices in order to test Panamax's claims of power filtration and over/under voltage shut down. He advised me it did pass as they advertise. He didn't check the surge protection aspect of the device as he told me that's a one-and-done deal (i.e. the unit sacrifices itself by blowing mosfets and perhaps other components).  I think Furman is the same in that regard. 

Admittedly, I would tend to agree with you that Furman appears to be more professionally oriented as opposed to Panamax which appears to target "the masses". But I recall a comparable (to my MR4300) Furman costing at least twice what I paid ($229) and I just didn't want to go that route. 

Moreover, I am using a dedicated (separate breaker) 20 AMP wall outlet >>> Emotiva CMX-2 >>> Panamax MR4300 >>> all audio and video equipment. The CMX-2 provided a DC filter, and I don't think Panamax or Furman offer that functionality. 

@gdhal - thanks for the update - I'm going to look into the CMX-2 - looks very interesting.

Thanks

@cleeds LOL. Yeah, so it’s helpful for me to remember that circut ≠ outlet. Go ahead and ask me why I’m not an electrician. ;-) That said, what was missing in your post was the explanation as to why.

@williewonka Interesting stuff on cables. But a project for another day.

Seems the consensus is that a power filter/conditioner helps reduce noise, therefore improves sound.  For some reason I had it in my head that there were disadvantages - so I'm glad that's cleared up.  I’ll see about reorganizing the cabling. The problem in my home is trying to figure out which outlet(s) are wired to which circuit(s) so I can keep them separate. It may not be possible due to distance.

Thanks for everyone’s feedback!

@parabolic...

Seems the consensus is that a power filter/conditioner helps reduce noise, therefore improves sound.

They do - assuming that you have noise to begin with.

Some might argue that there is always noise, but it would seem that noise in my Audio system is so low I have not noticed a difference, so there is no conditioner.

My A/V might have a little more noise and so it has a conditioner.

It really depends on the components you have in a system and their quality e.g. the mode affordable consumer products from Best Buy may generate more noise then the higher priced products from A/V specialty stores.

The only thing to do is try removing the conditioner to see if it makes a difference - if not - leave it out

The other thing to remember is that power conditioners tend to have better outlets than power bars, so there is benefit there.

If you wanted to get rid of the conditioner then I would suggest getting a PS Audio Dectet Power Centre. it has basic common mode and differential mode filtering

There are also the following from Furutech...

Unfiltered - http://www.furutech.com/products/power-distributors-filters/unfiltered-distributor/

Filtered - http://www.furutech.com/2013/01/31/1522/

All of the above have outlets that clamp much better than many power conditioners, especially the Furutech products. That is a huge benefit for all devices - not just amps

The disadvantages of power conditioners (generally speaking) ...
1. they can compress the sound of high current-draw devices like amps, which reduces their dynamic abilities
2.The Panamax devices wire each zone in a star configuration, but each outlet in that zone is wired in parallel to the other outlets in that zone, so cross contamination sill occurs between components sharing that zone.

Cheap power bars have all the  outlets wired in parallel, so contamination across devices is very common

Hope that clarifies things a little more

Regards, Steve