I will ask a dumb question on power conditioners

There may be differences among some manufacturers using these terms, but generally speaking a power distribution unit provides multiple outlets without any significant filtering for noise reduction. Power conditioners usually have some mechanism for filtering and removing noise from the powerline, and some also provide a degree of isolation between the outlets. Power conditioners can be passive in design using mostly capacitors and inductors to filter and isolate, or active regenerators which create a clean power sinewave from a DC power supply. Some active conditioners also use passive filters to provide individual filtering and isolation between outlets. Each design type has its advantages and proponents as well as some limitations.

Gary,

Maybe I'm wrong, but this is the way I understand it:

- Power Regenerator - takes the AC from the wall, converts it to DC and then creates its own AC.

- Power Conditioner - takes the AC from the wall and conditions it, for example, filters RFI/EMI, etc.

- Power Distribution - an outlet strip.

Chuck

A Power conditioner adds unwanted colorations into the system. Power Distribution normally will not. Good Day.

Garebear, as you can see, your question's not so dumb.

There may be differences among some manufacturers using these terms

Bill_k says it best; power conditioner seems to be a blanket term which includes active and passive units. The active unit is a regenerator cleaning the AC line voltage by converting it to a DC sinewave and then outputting clean AC to the components. Passive uses capacitors and other proprietary electronics to remove dirty line noise and lower the noise floor.

In the Classifieds, the "AC Conditioners" listed are active and passive units, but are largely active units(regenerators).

Garebear, as you can see, your question's not so dumb.

There may be differences among some manufacturers using these terms

Bill_k says it best; power conditioner seems to be a blanket term which includes active and passive units. The active unit is a regenerator cleaning the AC line voltage by converting it to a DC sinewave and then outputting clean AC to the components. Passive uses capacitors and other proprietary electronics to remove dirty line noise and lower the noise floor.

In the Classifieds, the "AC Conditioners" listed are active and passive units, but are largely active units(regenerators).

Power distribution units have multiple outlets usually with some filtering incorporated.
That's my understanding of the different devices.