Power conditioner types

@mijostyn - IMHO I must disagree. They definitely filter dirty current from the power company to varying degrees in addition to providing some protection.

Now....can you hear it? What is that improvement in SQ worth to you? I think it is more important that power cables, but @millerccarbon may disagree with that.

I heard a small improvement in SQ when I put mine in years ago. I mainly got it for protection and to have something better than a power strip.

I believe that the OP has the answer to the original question.  Some conditioners recondition the power.  IOW, they take the AC input voltage and current, convert it to DC, then convert it back to AC with a now fixed voltage and frequency that won't change. it also cleaned up the voltage/current.  They also may have very large capacitors.

others, take the input voltage/current and filter it to remove noise along with surge suppressors. 

for those that think that power conditioners have no value, I say, it depends.

When I hear or read someone who's first words are "I think", I typically walk away.  Doesn't really matter what one thinks.  facts are what matters.  If you take five very good power conditioners and do A/B comparisons versus each other and more importantly against direct wall connections, then listen to the system, you will hear differences.  

Keep the power amps directly connected to the wall outlet and the low level equipment, pre-amp, turn table power supply, CD player/transport, music server, etc. plugged into the power conditioner.  Then listen.  hear any differences?

I have relatively clean power coming from my utility.  But, I still heard definite improvements with each power conditioner I demo'd.  And I also have and use four (yes four) dedicated lines.

My point is to hear for yourself.  Take the equipment home for an in-home demonstration and A/B yourself in your home system.  This is true for any piece you want to buy.  If a dealer won't let you take a demonstration unit home for an in-home demonstration (after taking your credit card information of course), then something is not right.

Many times the noise floor is lowered by removing grunge on the line. Some remove frequency fluctuations from the utility.  This is what turn table speed controllers do.  They take the AC wall signal with the 60 or 50 Hz signal, convert it to DC, then convert it back to AC with a solid fixed frequency. You tune your turn table to that frequency and now you have stable speed regardless of what the utility's frequency is doing.

anyway, check for your self.  A power conditioner may help.

enjoy

I thought I didn’t need a power conditioner for the longest time until I tried a Audioquest Niagara 1200. Three different integrateds and my SACD player all sounded better with it. Even my TV picture improved.

Just because amps have power conditioning built in doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being done correctly. No two makes do it the same way so it stands to reason that a few are doing it correctly and the rest are doing it wrong. Could be for a myriad of reasons but most of the time it’s just cost cutting and making things to a price point.

Trust your ears and not someone with an agenda.

All the best,
Nonoise

Hey @minorl - is there any way to figure out which ones recondition vs. condition? Isn't that done through a transformer versus a capacitor?

@nonoise - none of this stuff is a matter of need.....I never knew I "needed" a phono stage - my integrated amp has an internal switch for high output and low output cartridges with a phono selection, and I thought it sounded great. When I got one, it was a significant improvement - immediately VERY noticeable. 

I never knew I needed "vibration control" - for my turntable....for my speakers....for my phono stage....for my integrated not as noticeable as the phono stage, but once again VERY significant and audible.

No-one needs a power conditioner. A power strip will work. However for convenience, protection, and some SQ improvement (probably no where near along the lines of the 2 areas I just mentioned above) IMHO for any stereo expenditure over $3-4K out of pocket, it should be part of the system.

I know PS Audio (I believe) offered power regenerators.  Very large heavy units.  I tried a unit several years ago, no longer in production and it was nice.  However, my current power conditioner made my system sound better.  I'm sure the current PS Audio units are much better now.

Again, most utilities provide voltage that fluctuates depending on what loads come on and off on the system.  (before anyone argues with me, I am, along with my analog/digital Engineering degrees and background, a state certified Power Engineer working for a local utility).  So, for example, with stable loading, the system provides 120 Volts at 60 cycles per second.  Now turn on large loads/motors, etc.  That voltage will drop for a very short time until the system generation can catch up.  Same is true with frequency.  If large loads suddenly go away, the voltage may increase along with the frequency. 

This happens on the system all day at all hours.   more stable at late hours.  reliable utilities have generation on stand by and rolling to provide this much needed system stability.  So, even if a large generator is tripped off-line due to a fault, the system will remain relatively stable because of the other generation.

If you don't have a speed controller on your turn table, or if it isn't integral with your turn table, if you place a stroboscope on the turn table with a regular incandescent light, you can see if the speed is accurate.  depending on the time of day and system loading, it is not.  Hence the need for a speed controller.

But, there can be lots of noise on the power lines, which will make their way into your audio system.  Most equipment's power supplies have within the power supply filtering that will try to remove noise.  One thing power conditioners will help with is lowering the noise floor significantly.

To see if it is needed, it is simply a matter of getting your hands on some decent power conditioners and doing an A/B comparison.  With power conditioning and without it.  Or compare various conditioners.  

I can't speak for the really expensive heavy duty power conditioners that provide for large amps to be plugged in also.  Most choke the power to the point where amps don't sound good plugged into a conditioner.  However, as I mentioned, there are some that work quite well that allow for power amps to be plugged into them also.  They are really expensive, large and heavy.  But, they do work.

So, I can't say as some said earlier that power conditioners either work or don't .  It depends on what is going on with your system and the voltage from the utility.  is it clean and stable?  if not, then yes, you definitely need a conditioner.  

It is funny.  You think your system is great until you do an A/B in-home test with another piece and all of a sudden the background noise is way less or you hear things you never heard before in your music.  That is the problem.  There is always something better than what you have or something that can help.  

But, listen for your self.

enjoy