Who has dumped the power conditioner?

Al, I am considering a couple of power isolation transformer based products. One takes non balanced in and outputs balanced power, or so I believe. That's the equi=tech. The other is a Torus power isolation unit and since I don't have balanced AC in the house and won't be adding in via dedicated lines, I won't get the balanced in version, just the non balanced in.

Would you say that the equi=tech would not really be impacted by the balanced power issues you mentioned because it is not actually connected to 240V balanced in power?

Bryan

Hi Bryan,

No, the reference I linked to, and the comments I made, related to the unpredictability of the benefits (and possible lack of benefits) of converting normal unbalanced 120V AC to balanced 120V AC. So those issues will apply to the Equitech that you are considering.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al, I had a look at the paper and it looks to me that the author believes that balanced AC power will only reduce hum under a specific and rare condition -- in a system with three chassis that have the same capacitance. But most of the article content regarding "balanced vrs unbalanced" pertains to interconnects and signal, not power. I don't really see much here that is related to balanced power causing inconsistencies in results in different systems. Unless I just missed it.

Hi Bryan,

You didn't miss reading what I was referring to, but my interpretation of it was different. He is saying that what will only occur under a rare combination of circumstances is COMPLETE cancellation of ac-related inter-chassis currents (which can cause high frequency buzz and grunge, and backgrounds which are less "black," in addition to causing low frequency hum). However, SOME improvement may still occur in many cases, to a degree that will vary depending on the relationships between the stray capacitances that are present in each of the interconnected components.

So what I was saying was that since the relationships between those stray capacitances will be essentially random, the degree of reduction of hum, buzz, and grunge provided by a balanced power arrangement will be unpredictable.

Regards,
-- Al

Just installed an MIT Z Super 20 Duplex Outlet to feed my Krell integrated and Sony SACD player. This is a no brainer upgrade for better sound...dynamic contrasts increased, dimensionality enhanced, instrument voicing became more realistic, high frequencies became more textured but with less grain. One of the most dramatic increases in enjoyment for the money:O)