Seeking advice re: complex power conditioning


I have a rather high-end system (Accuphase, Krell, Proceed and Wadia electronics with Revel Ultima 5.1 speaker system and mainly Transparent Audio cabling). I am now trying to “complete” my system by incorporating power conditioning. What I am thinking of doing is introducing balanced power, noise reduction, power supplementation, surge protection and voltage regulation. The specific components I am most seriously thinking about using are the SMART Home Theater GC-120 for balanced power and voltage regulation, the Shunyata Hydra for noise reduction, and the Richard Gray Power Company for power supplementation and surge protection.

I am intending to connect them in a daisy-chain fashion: GC-120 into the wall plug, with the Hydra plugged into the GC-120 and the Richard Grays into the adjacent wall plugs and/or the Hydra, depending on the application (my Krell FBP-200c is plugged into its own circuit via a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet and PS Audio Mini-lab power cord).

What I am seeking is the opinions of others regarding this proposal. Will it work? Am I chosing compatible products, etc?

Thank you.

Jonathan
jmeyersca@aol.com
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Thanks Pls1, good post.

Re your hydraulic pump, the vast majority of the noise/vibration is coming from the pump side, not the motor (my guess would be on the order of 99%). Like I said, you definitely have to mount this system with isolation mounts, or put it in its own shed, but most are not that noisy since they are no noisier than two AC electric motors.

Re efficiency, I was just assuming 95% efficiency for the motor and the generator, which may be a little high, since the smaller ones probably aren't that good. So you may be right, 75-80% may be more accurate. Still way better than the 25% of a class-AB amp like the PS Audio unit.

For Tekunda, sorry if the above wasn't adequate explanation. A motor-generator is two separate pieces, (1) an electric motor, and (2) a generator. They are mounted facing each other on a single platform and hooked together by a straight coupling to transmit the rotation of the motor into the generator, which then creates the new AC waveform from scratch, just like a miniature power plant. They are completely electrically isolated from one another, which is why they give such good performance-- the power company's AC signal ends at the motor, and the generator creates a brand new one. I didn't point this out before, but they are immune to short-term power interruptions as well (up to a few seconds), since they carry a lot of inertial energy in their rotation.
What about using a something like a fuel-generator then?
Wouldn't that work either if you had a 5KW generator?
Yikes, I wouldn't go there unless you live in the middle of nowhere and have a gigantic piece of land to put it on the other side of. Talk about noise, vibration, and stink too!
Most electrical power sources are designed for efficiency NOT; elegance of wave form, low (let alone no noise), and ability to delivery high current at the top of the cycle with no voltage sag. A motor generator combo that meets these specs can be purchased off the shelf. Any DC source such as fuel cells, solar cells, batteries etc. would need an inverter. Most inverters suffer from the shortcomings listed above.

I was seriously looking at solar cells, batteries and inverters last summer based on the California tax credit and concluded that I couldn’t get really clean AC power from a DC source unless I used a DC motor to drive an AC generator. I’m sure that PS Audio units would be cost effective alternatives to DC sources.

I want to thank Karl for reminding everyone of the Motor-Generator combo. I think I’ll look into it. Karl have you checked out any manufacturers?