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.

incorporeus

While I value power conditioners for surge protection and lightning protection including such lightning protection for FM and TV antennas (to which I add lightning arresters where the cable enters the house) I am skeptical of their ability to do anything the amplifier and preamplifier ripple filters do not do better. With a good ripple filter such as a pi network with an indictor the components filter full wave rectified 60 Hz (typically by two diodes, sometimes vacuum tube, and a center-tap transformer winding output). Double that frequency and they are twice as effective because capacative reactance is inversely proportional to frequency and inductive reactance is proportional to frequency. At frequencies higher than auditable, say, 20 kHz, this factor is 500/6 for a reduced fraction of 20,000/120, the fundamental frequency of a Fourier series of full wave rectified 60 Hz. I admit at radio frequencies capacitance between inductor windings begin to occur, but vacuum tubes used in audio are not likely to amplify these frequencies. The 833A which a very few people use for the final stage of their SET has a cutoff frequency of 20 mHz and other audio tubes are likely to be similar because they are not designed for VHF. And if RF passes through the inductor in the power supply ripple filter, it is certain to be shorted out in the output transformer windings of the amplifier. 

Therefore I am not surprised if you hear no change from an expensive power conditioner. Still, I see no harm if they do not add to the price and if they add shorting effect to unusually high voltage spikes. 

Hi incorporeus ...welcome.

I have had terrific results in using an inexpensive, unassuming Panamax M4300-PM line conditioner in an extremely revealing 2 channel system, in a small (everything shows,) dedicated studio.  I did a simple upgrade to a high end Furutech male AC connector plug from the wall to the hard-wired Panamax, benefiting the entire system. 

Bon Chance!  Think Positive, Test Negative    More Peace, Pin

What do you think of the Transparent Powerbank 6, I am resurrecting a vintage Marantz 3300 preamp and phase linear 400 to a pair of Sonus Faber 5s.  

I had a Furman p15  - you can get one used for the best value. Upgraded to a Puritan 136 last year - I don't think it did much more because I am lucky that my power is delivered though underground wires and is clean and the stereo is on a dedicated circuit. The 136 is a cleaner design and the way it connects the cords is better and the power cord that comes with it is really good. You should have one for surge protection. Features are important - number of outlets, etc.

One aspect that dawned on me. Power conditioning on the cheap is like preamping or amping on the cheap… it may be a necessary step to get to where you want to be… but it is leaving sound quality on the table. Very appropriate step on the way to better sound.