Power conditioner and high end power cord

danvignau

A dedicated 30 amp circuit (10 guage wiring) costs less than expensive cords and works better than running these wires from a 15 or 20 amp circuit. With this 30 amp circuit, power conditioners are moot.

It isn’t exactly clear what’s being recommended here, but I disagree with it in any event.

First, it isn’t clear what’s meant by a "30 amp circuit." If we’re talking about the U.S., many local electrical codes - including that in my town - would require a 30A receptacle for that circuit. That would then necessitate putting new connectors on the ends of any equipment that would be plugged into that circuit, because a 30A receptacle isn’t compatible with a 15A or 20A plug. That’s a lot of work for something of little potential benefit.

A better solution would be to use 10 gauge wiring, but use a 20A breaker and 20A receptacle, resulting in a "de-rated" circuit. That would comply with both NEC and local code. I’ve done this with my system with great success. ( Some receptacles will not accept 10 gauge wire, but you can use a pigtail if that’s the case.)

However, using such dedicated, de-rated lines is no assurance that the power will be any cleaner than it is at the service panel itself. Under those conditions, there’s no question that a power conditioner can be of great benefit and - for the naysayers in our midst - it’s the sort of thing that can be shown with measurements.

I have a very similar system. Mac C46 pre, Mac mc501 mono blocks , JL audio C1 (really nice device) and a pair of JL audio E112 subs. I have 4 dedicated 20 amp circuits in my audio room and I have a noisy power source (I am on the Philadelphia pa power grid). I can tell you without any reservation that proper use of power conditioning and power cords makes a very big difference. I use a shunyata conditioner for pre-amp, Cr1 crossover and a Bryston DAC with very good results. High current amps are another matter. I plug them directly into wall outlets with shunyata Defenders in spare sockets. I have also been swapping power cords in and out of my system and have found amps most effected. High current cords are necessary to allow the amps to “breath”. The subs have seem not to be as sensitive to power souce and cable. This maybe due to the nature of the built in amps.

good luck

No one mentioned shunyata products, I have heard they are the best and beyond anything on earth.

A good power cord has measurable effects on the equipment to which its connected. This can result in more power (less voltage drop across the cord), lower distortion and lower output impedance if a power amp is using the power cord. So it should be no surprise that its effects can be heard.

I have found that most power conditioners are a disappointment. But not all- the best I've seen so far was not even offered to high end audio (its industrial/commercial), made by Elgar. Otherwise we recommend that our amps be plugged directly into the wall.

The Elgar conditioners outperform every other conditioner we've seen (Furman, PS Audio, etc.). It employs a massive isolation transformer with a feedback winding. A low distortion oscillator is synced to the AC line frequency and the output of the oscillator is compared to that of the conditioner. A feedback signal is thus generated and applied to the feedback winding. In this way the conditioner can keep the output sine wave very pure with a THD of less than 0.5% and it can also regulate line voltage without limiting current within its capacity. The two most common models do either 1000VA or 28 Amps continuous(!). The are also older as Elgar got out of the market a long time ago, but for the most part they can be refurbished.

For power products Manufacturers each have there own techniques and build quality. My experience is that no one company has the absolute answer to every issue. I use Shunyata, MIT , Furman and Pangea power cords from Audio Advisers. I am an engineer (embedded systems) looking for solutions to my power issues. At the end of the day it is the best sound at a reasonable expenditure that matters.