Why do I need power management if I have a great power cord?


Isn't it kind of unnecessary to additionally add a power conditioner if I have an expensive audio file grade Power cord connected to a component?

So you buy a Power conditioner from a hi-fi store and they say oh, you need a really good power cord to go with that and then another one to go from conditioner to the component. Do you need it all and why? Seems the last couple of feet before the component should be more than enough.

jumia

I just installed a dedicated circuit for my system.  I installed 10 awg solid copper.  Although 10 awg supports up to 30amp, I used a 20amp breaker.  More than I need.  I also installed a 240V circuit.  I needed it since I bought a European amp that only uses 240V.  But I'm glad to have it for any future amps as doubling the voltage cuts the current in half for the same power.  This makes your amp feel like it is just sitting next to the power plant with a huge cord.  I too highly recommend running your amp at 240volts instead of 120 if possible.

To install 240V circuit the marginal cost increase compared to the 120V circuit is not much.  An extra breaker (perhaps $10) and 3 conductor vs 2 conductor wire, and then a slightly more expensive outlet.  the main cost of the circuit is all the labor and work inside the wall and cutting wallboard and replacing it.  All of that doesn't change when you install the 240V circuit with your 120V circuit.

Doubling the diameter of a wire increases cross sectional area, and approximate power carrying capability, 4 times, not 2.

The power delivered to the speaker is almost irrelevant to the power the amp needs, especially for class A.  Not sure why that discussion broke out.  My class A 35 WPC amp, that I run at about 1 wpc 99% of the time, uses 400 wpc, either at idle or at max volume.

I reference people back to page one to the post I made with a quote from the AR user manual where Audio Research requires a 20 amp, 12 awg circuit for a 75 wpc class AB tube amp.  I know many of you don't believe it can be true unless you hear it from an OEM so it is there in black and white.  I copied and pasted it.

Jerry

I have yet to hear a conditioner that didnt take away as much as it gave. Far better to start with dedicated lines properly done and then experiment.

U think you are right...

By definition electronic engineering is about trade-off craftmanship...

In some case a conditioner is postive addition in some other case negative... And with the same gear it can also change in time if we change other factors in mechanical, electrical and acoustical working dimensions...

I have yet to hear a conditioner that didnt take away as much as it gave. Far better to start with dedicated lines properly done and then experiment.

@rtorchia

Your system? It would be good if put photos of your system on line under your user ID. Your experience? What components and power components have you tested?

Other contributors to this forum also seem to assume that the capacitor banks are there to help the amplifier deliver transients to the speakers outside the range of their normal current demands. 

  1. Capacitors are the are the only source of power to the speaker. It is not the power cable coming in. It is the capacitors via the tube or FET or whatever output valve that draws from the well which is the capacitor.
  2. There are no transcients outside of the normal current demands. All are inside “normality”… if the amp is not clipping.
  3. A speaker is not a shorted amp… that is what he did there.
    1. If fact shorting an amp will often fry an amp,