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AC Power

I have a relatively nice system, but have done nothing with my AC power, with the exception of upgraded PC’s and a cheap iFi plug in power conditioner. My question is multi fold… do I need to do something, and if so what? Dedicated line (15A or 20?)? Quality power conditioner? Both? Which one first? How do you tell?

My system is a combination of HT & 2 channel & I tend to use both simultaneously as I like to watch sports while listening to music.
My amp is (I think) a relatively low draw… Moon 330A, Rythmik sub, BHK pre, Aurender, Qutest w/Sbooster, R11’s. No high power amps are in my future & never listen above 75db. I do currently plug my amp directly into the wall. All my wall warts are gone. For my HT, add a 75” Sony TV, Marantz 7015 AVR & a Klipsch sub (although at zero volume the AVR & sub should not come into play).

I am considering buying the Furman IT-Reference 15i or 20i first as they are well reviewed & are priced very well on Amazon ($1,400 / $1,900). Before I pull the trigger, should I go dedicated power & at what amperage (my nephew, an EE & audiophile thinks I am drawing no more than 5 amps) as that will dictate the Furman model?

Interesting, my nephew thinks neither are worth the investment. His statement: “Do you have appliances on the circuit now? What kind of interference can they inject?...voltage drops would come from current draws...which trip breakers.
Not steady 60hz a good power supply handles. So it all comes back to was the power supply engineer dropped on his head as a child.”

”Personally I think it’s something audio people do when they have run out of gear to buy.”

Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

128x128signaforce
carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,983 posts
 

Your nephew is clueless about electricity but don’t feel bad, most people are.

The disturbances in your 60 cycle sine wave come from outside the home, mostly from industrial loads. We have non-cyclic loads and supplies now that morph the sine wave. A dedicated line will help keep in-house interference off and more importantly, ensure adequate current is delivered to your amp. but will do nothing about the quality of the power.

The Furman you are looking at does nothing to fix the degraded sine wave. Only a regenerator can do that. PS Audio is the rolls Royce there.

I don’t think you have tube gear but most "conditioners" can’t regulate voltage either. a tube amp thrives with the voltage that it was designed to. Once again, a regenerator will allow you to set the voltage. My voltage is 120.0 +/- .1 V.

Now one last thing. Not all amps and components need clean power. It gets rectified eventually for most purposes and some amps and components work fine with dirty power. So results will vary. But tube amps will always work better with regulated voltage.

Jerry

signaforce's avatar
signaforce OP
286 posts
 

@carlsbad2 Thanks for your thoughts. A regenerator is not in my future if for no other reason than space. 
On a side note, my nephew graduated with honors from a very well respected engineering school and is currently a distinguished engineer. Not sure of your credentials, but provably not a good idea to start your comments calling him clueless IMHO. 

erik_squires
16,468 posts
 

Hi OP:

You are getting good advice. My observations, living in apartments and now a detached home is that most significant voltage fluctuations come from seasonal variations as well as major appliances (HVAC, dryer, etc.). It is _very_ rare to see a home user’s equipment draw enough to cause significant sag, but it does happen with mega heavy Class A amps.  I base this on having a Furman with voltage output and using plug in voltage monitors.  

The dedicated circuit may help reduce noise from other devices on the same circuit, such as for instance PCs, LED light strips, etc.

Based on this my advice is:

  • Get a whole house surge suppressor for basically everything not on a power strip (GFCI outlets, fire alarms, washer and dryer, etc.)
  • Get a Furman with SMP, LiFT and EVS to protect your gear from most voltage issues AND significantly reduce line noise, when present.
  • Optionally get a Furman with AR (voltage regulation). This will keep the voltage within 5 V regardless of your current draw or major appliance usage or season.

Personally I go with regulation over isolation, so this is a unit I really like.

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