Using a shore power isolation transformer at home?

http://www.contractorsav.com/article/2006/11/07/ac-power

I point out this article with the caveat of who it's written by, what they sell, and when it was written. It's sincere but an obvious bias in the tone.

In the regulation section, the last type is also known as "tap switching" and they have limits too. Also doesn't mention reaction speed and the resulting stepped sine wave.

Regenerators have gotten more efficient with SMPS but they're still expensive.

Tried a ferro-resonant 1000W Sola MCR that I got off Ebay for $20 (3% regulation along with substantial noise reduction) for the TV and they are noisy. Sola HD has an interesting online FAQ section that's informational.

Not entirely clear why you think you need regulation. Within specs required. Seen a lot worse.

Transformer vibration can be from any number of reasons, from a loose bolt to DC offset (caused internally to your house or external) or a defective transformer. Would like to narrow down the problem before throwing too much money at it. Maybe take it to a technician. Try a PS Audio Humbuster I think they have a trial period ;)

BTW, an isolation transformer will not pass DC to the component transformer but that also means that the problem MIGHT just get relocated.

There are other methods of regulation but "servo" just means some kind of feedback and not sure what that means here. A household thermostat can be called a servo.

And not all tap switching implies a stepped sine wave, if it's done at half cycle.

Sorry, I forgot to tell what Monsters AVS 2000. Here is a photo: http://www.bukutronics.com/?p=54. Besides those "high voltage suppressor" and "radio frequency suppressor" (see here) which I will surely bypass before I use a unit, this is nothing but a variable transformer (variac) with a motor that rotates its pickup contact, trying to keep sharp 120V.

The Monster bastards charge for a new unit 4-5 times more than what it is worth; besides, they almost surely limit the current by their "suppressors". However, to buy such a unit for under $500 (btw, the variac is 3 kW rated) and to slightly mod it into something less limiting starts making sense, at least to me. Of course, this type of a device does not give an instantaneous voltage correction if something serious happens to the AC line (that is why I want a non-limiting surge suppressor from PS Audio after the variac), but what I have most of the time in my place is a "slow floating" somewhere between 118..225, which is driving me nuts! To give you an example: those fluctuations are wide enough to cause the filaments on my 45's to go all the way from the allowed minimum of 2.45 to the allowed maximum of 2.55. Wouldn't you find that annoying?

What you are saying about transformer vibration is right, let me tell you what I have narrowed it down to. Two important things: first, it happens relatively rarely, and usually at nights. Second, similar thing start happening to other electrical devices - at least, to the ones connected to the same AC line from the panel. What I have not done, unfortunately, was to check whether other AC lines from our panel suffer from this also - probably, will do it as soon as this humming happens again (btw, the hum is rare but very obvious, nothing to blind-test here). To conclude, what I know for sure is that the transformer vibration is caused by something that occasionally comes from the AC; what I do not know yet is whether the cause is inside our house or something outside.

Seriously, mechanical? How Victorian. A modern classic. Hope you like cleaning and replacing brushes. Do you have to grease it or just refill the whale oil?

Oil change every 10,000 kWh, as usual :)