Amplifier is now off the Power Conditioner


Yesterday, I replaced the wall outlet that my audio system uses to eliminate the switch on the bottom plug. Until now my tube amplifier had been plugged into the amplifier plug on my power conditioner, but now it is connected to the second plug via a basic surge protector.

I have b read that power conditioners are restrictive for amplifiers, but my first impression tonight was "wow". I doubt the wall outlet made the difference and it is possible that it was a good audio night (sometimes things just sound better for no known reason) so I will have to remain open minded for now.

It seemed that things are more clear, almost edgy, and the bass tightened up.
mceljo
Any amp of decent power that sounds better plugged into a power conditioner should be sold ASAP.

That may be a slight bit of hyperbole, but ask any reputable amplifier designer if you should plug their product into a conditioner. The answer will be universally - NO! (In fact, one reputable designer already responded to this thread, so you don't have to take my word for it.)

Virtually everyone I've come across in this hobby who has tried it themselves comes to the same conclusion as the original poster in this thread.

There are some that do less harm than others, and there are some parallel devices like RPGC you could get away with using, but you're going to waste money gaining almost nothing.

Funny story...I had an argument on this topic with the designer of a power conditioner. We lived in the same town and I invited him to bring his $3.6k conditioner over, and we would test it. He was in the local audiophile group and they made a whole meeting around it. Others brought different power conditioners to try and guess what...

My system never sounded worse...In fact, one of them was choking my amps so bad that it was nearly unlistenable. Funniest thing is that they never stayed around long enough to hear my system with the amps plugged straight into the wall. They just packed up their 30-50lb conditioners and left. I'm sure some of them didn't want to admit being wrong, so they blamed my system for the poor audio instead of it being due to every single power conditioner.

Nevertheless, I knew what my system sounded like without conditioners on the amps, and the A/B testing on numerous conditioners gave me great confirmation of what every amp manufacturer says.
My experience is tube power amp benefits with active power regenerator like PS Audio powerplants. Tube amp tends to draw roughly the same current during use, so quick draw of high current is not needed as AB mode solid state amp in dynamic blast.

I have used two P10's for my 200w Sonic Frontier mono blocks for two years with good result. The sound is much better with the powerplants. Once, there was some problems with one powerplant and it had to be sent back for repair. I didn't want to turn on the amps without powerplant, the sound was flat and mean.
We need to distinguish between conditioners and regenerators here. The first simply filters the AC. The second regenerates it in a cleaner state and provides a store of energy for quick bursts of power so it shouldn't strangle the sound.

My amps have huge power supplies (I know, I built them). The output stage of each mono has >340 joules of energy storage! In a Class A amp! I find the sound to be cleaner and more consistent with the regenerators in place.
After increasing my utilities supply amperage and having a contractor install a sub panel with uninterrupted dedicated circuits the improvement was substantial. All for less than $1k.

Lowest impedance path all the way back to the mains generating source is the best thing for unregulated poweramps power supplies.

If you have the knowledge or experience you can do this yourself, if not please get an electrician to do it.
The best way to power amplifiers, is to have a dedicated mains circuit for your amps, and a good heavy duty contact mains fuse for it, I prefer the old fashion ceramic push in with fuse wire instead of circuit breakers as they have very beefy brass contact wipers, where circut breaker do not, as they have a switch wiper inside them, as well as the weaker push in contacts.
And get your electrician to tighten all contacts (active neutral & earth) while he's at it before and after the meter box.

I even got the electricity suppliers to come out to clean and tighten the barge board contact to the house and where it connects the the mains line as well, as these get green and compressed and get loose with age. and should be cleaned and re-tightened as well.
The difference was quite stunning, especially in the bass.

No mains conditioner/regenerator can make up for these high resistance problems above.

Cheers George