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.
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 |
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. |
After getting the cheapest PS audio power regenerator the experience was jaw dropping in 3 seconds. So I have to disagree with Stuart k. It depends on the resolution of your equipment. Serpently filter all your digital and a computer equipment. I have the regenerator on my low level amplifiers that is preempts and such. The high power equipment received isolation transformer with very low inductance. That's about the cheapest way to get around it |
