I have a AC Regenerator. Get dedicated line too?

Ah, Stanwal – Here we are again with the classic argument between reasonable logic and actual experience. We've probably all heard the famous audiophile mantra: "If it measures good and sounds bad, it's bad. If it measures bad and sounds good, you're measuring the wrong thing."

I've also read (and I'm not sure I buy in to this theory) that human psychoacoustics can have us hearing what we expect to hear... kind of an aural placebo effect. I have sat in a room full of audiophile society members for a demo of Synergistic Research's Tibetan Prayer Bowl room treatment. Ted Denny was there and when he put a tiny metal bowl behind the couch in the back of the room, to me and most of the participants, it sounded better! Either we were all hypnotized, or it really works. My question is, does it matter? If I hang a rare and expensive dead muskrat from my ceiling and suddenly my system's previously sucked-out midrange blooms with life and it makes me smile, who cares if anyone else believes me!

I realize that this question will never be answered for me unless I do this myself... I am waiting for a quote from my electrician for a 20amp dedicated line with 10 gauge wire. I'll probably order a Maestro wall outlet to give this experiment the best chance of revealing the truth. As long as the cost is reasonable, I'm going for it. I'll chime in once I have it installed and report my impressions. I'll even A/B it against the dead muskrat (which has proven to have really low WAF).

HifiHvn,

What were you referring to when you wrote that they misprinted the Pure Power owner's manual?

BTW, I bought my first audiophile gear at Hi Fi Haven, which was a high-end audio dealer in my college neighborhood in NJ. This was not a part of town you'd expect an audio store, on it's left was a strip club and on its right was Greasy Tony's Cheesesteaks, which was open all night and staffed with the shadiest motley crew imaginable. Ah, you gotta love college in NJ in 1980. Most of my friends frequented the two latter businesses, I think I was the only one who added HiFi Haven as a point of interest.

Alonski, that would be in reference to the comment made stating they regenerate the power, not make it perfect. And it appears that some believe a regenerators output would be influenced by its input. Also, an upgraded power cord should be used before the regenerator. If the product is designed right, it wouldn't have any influence on it. The information from Pure Power states "so there is no opportunity for outside influences to introduce unwanted waveform distortions." That alone tells me their product is doing the job right. If another manufacturer says something like a power cord should be used before it, it must have a design problem IMO. If it changes with just a power cord (small influence) before it, how is it supposed to keep the noise from the dirty power (major influence) from getting through, and giving you true new pure power? So one company's manual does not work for all in this case. I would believe the info provided by Pure Power. I would not go by what the other company says you need for their product. Pure Power should know how their product works also. They designed it.

A commonly stated rationale for upgraded power cords, which IMO is plausible, is the fact that the shielding they provide can prevent rfi (radio frequency interference) that may be generated by the power supply of an amplifier from escaping and coupling onto sensitive points elsewhere in the system, with unpredictable effects.

It should be kept in mind that a regenerator is essentially a power amplifier, having its own power supply, which amplifies the output of an internal 60Hz oscillator. Therefore that same rationale that applies to amplifier power cords would seem applicable to regenerator power cords.

It should be kept in mind, though, that any benefits from rfi containment will be unpredictable and highly system dependent. It should also be kept in mind that high quality shielding does not necessarily cost a great deal.

And of course this consideration implies nothing with respect to the desirability of a dedicated line for a regenerator.

Regards,
-- Al

In regards to the PPP, it is not a pure regenerator, but more of a power conditioner. The PPP, from what I understand, tracks the input voltage and makes adjustments to it as needed. There is no regeneration, just conditioning. So in this example, yes a power cord would make a difference.

In a true regenerator, such as the P-500 from PS Audio, the input voltage is converted to DC then back to AC. In this case, a power cord shouldn't make a difference. That being said, the P-500 operates like an amplifier and we generally upgrade amplifier cords with excellent results.