Holographic Open Soundstage and purify the music for only $200. It's awsome in my 12K system....better than my 600 dollar PS Audio conditioner...What is it ....AudioQuest POWER QUEST 2...6 outlets with 3 Linear power outlets and 2 Hi Gain outlets...No Sacrificial surge protection 7 ft ac cable Unlimited Joule protection. The best $200 I ever spent . Forget all those overpriced units. This one is just as good and you can save a bundle. Audio Advisor. Try it for 30 days.
Power Conditioning on the Cheap
This is my first post here after a bit of lurking, so please be gentle. I realize this subject must come up a fair amount and I've read erik_squires blog posts on the subject, but I was hoping to get the community's opinion on the relative merits of a few relatively basic power conditioners. I've narrowed my list down to a few options at a range of (fairly modest) price points. From low to high they are:
Furman PST-8D
ifi Power Station
Furman Elite-15 PF I
Shunyata PS10 w/ Venom Defender
Audioquest Niagara 1200
In a perfect world where I didn't have a limited budget I would probably buy something higher up the line from Shunyata, but since we live in a decidedly imperfect world, these are my options, although I would welcome other suggestions that fit within this price range.
I should also probably mention that while I value subjective reports on the sound quality of various products, generally speaking I give more weight to objective measurements or at least arguments based in sound science. More embarrassingly, I also place a certain amount of value on aesthetics. Aesthetic taste being inherently subjective, (a debatable point, but for the sake of argument lets just assume that it's true) lets just say that when I lust after completely unobtainable equipment it tends to be from companies like Soulution or Pilium rather than Dan D'Agostino or darTZeel.
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@mitch2 Damn good idea but the cost might not be as affordable as you think. Running dedicated power line depends on several factors such as electrical needs, distance and whether or not you need to cut into drywall to run new wiring. If extensive work is needed to run wires in your home, the project could cost as much as a few thousand dollars. |
Last year I went through a search for a small size power conditioner for my computer and digital audio setup. The lower level Furman's were okay, but they only had 3 outlets on the rear (6 plugs). Also, the Furman has a single filter design. I looked at the Audioquest products, but rejected them because of the silver-plated components. I ended up getting a PS Audio Dectet. Review and teardown here: https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=19276 It has 5 outlets (10 plugs) and actually three separate filters for three high current A/C zones. It's more like a large power strip similar to the Audioquest, but does not use silver-plated components (if you are critical about that). And it uses better outlets than the Furman. Can use any high current power cord for A/C input. Retail is now $750, but you can sometimes find these used for less. The PS Audio Dectet worked out great for my scenario. |
I agree, everyone's situation is different. I was fortunate to have commissioned the house construction so I was able to predetermine power distribution and other factors. Having a basement helps with wire routing and upgrades also. Some people can only resort to aftermarket products to improve their power so we all do the best we can. Other than surge protection, it seems many of these products only "clean up" electrical noise if there is a problem to begin with. So many factors can affect that and I am fortunate to live in an area with underground electric lines and to have dedicated lines and really no power noise issues whatsoever. I was not this fortunate at all of my former living arrangements. I currently use an Isoclean 60A3 II Power Conditioner on my front end components and nothing on my amps and preamp - all run from dedicated 20A lines and it works/sounds great. I am not sure how much benefit the Isoclean provides (if any) but it doesn't seem to hurt and it gives me 6 outlets to run my digital gear from. |
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