Should Amps be plugged into a power conditioner?


Greetings,

After reading about the amplifier hum, it was mentioned that some knowledgeable people say NOT to plug an amp into a power conditioner. Plug it directly into a wall outlet. Thankfully, I do not have a hum issue, but am curious as to what others say about where to plug your amp into. 

Thank you!

lovehifi22

Power conditioners need to be rated so they will deliver enough power to the amplifier. They are usually rated in Watts. In any case, they need to deliver enough power for the dynamic peaks an amp will draw as well as the constant power needed. That being said, I have used a cheaper solution in a Tripplite power conditioner that regulates to 115v if the incoming line power is 85v to 145v. It also has Radio frequency filters. I currently use a Furman power strip ahead of the condioner.   I have used this product for decades with no sound degridation. I replace the condtioner afer 10 years. Anyone saying power conditioning is not helpful does not know how dirty power coming into your home is. Appliances kick in momentarily dipping the voltage. High and low frequency noise is distributed though the grid. This noise wears on power supply components. An oscilloscope will reveal all of the dirty signals propagating in the power. My last amp was 45yrs old before it was retired.

I use a ZeroSurge on my Pass XA60 mono blocks.  ASR demonstrated that signal in was no different from signal out. I take this to mean no harm, just safe power.  I like safe power.

"As with all the other power tweaks, filters and cables, no fidelity improvement is to be had with 2R15W. It doesn't "clean" the AC in any way that I can measure. And as a result, real-life testing with an amplifier shows the same performance with and without. On the other hand, it is a major sigh of relief that despite pulling some 700+ watts out of the box, it had essentially no impact on the amplifier performance. 

Where this leaves us is that if you like its flavor of surge protection, you can proceed to use it for that purpose and not worry about power loss.

I can't recommend the ZeroSurge 2R15W as a fidelity improvement device. As a surge protector, going by what they say it does, it seems like a better bet than many cheap solutions.

I think one of the most beneficial aspects of a Power conditioner is that it protects the hardware. I can highly recommend what I have used. A relatively cheap Tripp Lite Power conditioner. After a thunderstorm I see the low  voltage light turned on the device or the high voltage light turned on depending on the situation.  It is compensating for the incorrect voltage which is a good thing.  Also, I would expect noise on the line under those conditions. With either light indicating a problem with the line, and the device compensating, I have not heard any sonic degradation. Thank you.

I plug my amps into Monster power conditioners that help with power outages, which is commonplace where I live. No hum. And thankfully I’ve never had gear affected by power surges. 

Shunyata Denali 6000S-V2 all Shunyata Apha V2 power cords, amp is a Aestheix Mimas, no issues with dynamics.