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The Power Line Conditioner Thread


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http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/esp_essence_reference_distributor_followup.htm

 

This seems to be different from other brands of power blocks that are called "conditioners" and yet, the reviewer compares this distributor to other conditioners.

 

A dealer of a range of power conditioner calls the Essence Reference a glorified power strip :)

 

Are they the same thing (just different branding?)

 

 

 

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If power conditioners are useless, I dunno what the in-line filter in my DAC is for and why regulation requires lots of PSUs to have EMI/RFI filters at the input.

 

What you have in the link is a distributor, which, IS a glorified power strip. But, it is at most as glorified as power cables, and actually IMO more useful since bad switches/connectors/LED/fuses/grounding (ground loop, hoo yay) are proven to screw the power even outside of the audio realm.

 

A power conditioner is much bigger.  ;D

And much more expensive.  :P

 

What conditioners do is to clean up whatever crappy power in the house, like the fluorescent lamp. I've heard my amp whining a bit due to the lamp, so I'm a believer. :)

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The thing is, good quality components may come with a conditioner in-built already.. so it might not make a difference.

 

Like my power-amp, they actually have a warning: Our amplifiers have built in power conditioners and surge protection - over voltage, under voltage, surge and spike protection, as well as lightning arrestors. Every component is designed to allow for maximized performance of the amp. If an external power conditioner is used, it could limit the peak current capabilities of the amp. This can cause clipping which can harm speakers, or cause internal damage to the amplifier itself.

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So a good power distributor is important. A good power cable is important.

 

But power conditioners may or may not be a good thing depending on the components?

 

Anyone had any experience with the Essence Reference? The reviewer claims the distributor makes the regular power cords sound almost as good as the good cables :P A good thing if the claim is to be believed

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The thing is, good quality components may come with a conditioner in-built already.. so it might not make a difference.

 

Like my power-amp, they actually have a warning: Our amplifiers have built in power conditioners and surge protection - over voltage, under voltage, surge and spike protection, as well as lightning arrestors. Every component is designed to allow for maximized performance of the amp. If an external power conditioner is used, it could limit the peak current capabilities of the amp. This can cause clipping which can harm speakers, or cause internal damage to the amplifier itself.

 

A manufacturer must be pretty incompetent to make a power conditioner (PC) that reduces the current or voltage to that extent. PCs essentially consist of a choke and small caps to filter out the very hi frequency noises. Only a choke with way too high mH can cause the line voltage to drop too much. Usually it's just a few volts AC. Anyway, our AC voltage here is 240V+ and it can do with a drop of 10V as 230V suits most amps better.

 

I have three diy PCs connected in series for my HT system and there's no problem running 400W monoblocks plus anotter 1000W amp for 7.1, TV, sub etc.

 

Why three? Becoz three sound better than one  ;D

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What conditioners do is to clean up whatever crappy power in the house, like the fluorescent lamp. I've heard my amp whining a bit due to the lamp, so I'm a believer. :)

 

 

But there's also a chance that conditioners will 'overclean' you end up losing dynamic range?

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thats true. power distributors just passes thru. but power conditioners have a filter circuit which eliminates the higher freq hums(some might say takes away the raw original power) therefore losing "something"...(bass,details,sonic... u name it)

 

this is a picture i took from the Xindak XF-500, i have gone thru the circuitry components and specs wise it is theroically correct. bigger blocks will have to use higher ratings for it to be efficient. this is for 4 power points.

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so the XF-500 filters the current 3 times?  Got 3 coils..

 

nope. the XF-500 uses 2 separate lines. 1 for pre-amp devices and 1 for digital devices. (2plugs each section)

the one with the bigger coil is for pre-amp. the other 2 smaller ones are in line for better efficient filtering for digital devices.

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thats true. power distributors just passes thru. but power conditioners have a filter circuit which eliminates the higher freq hums(some might say takes away the raw original power) therefore losing "something"...(bass,details,sonic... u name it)

 

Power conditioners are designed to take away only the very hi freq emi/rfi noises (mHz range) and leave the AC 50 Hz power intact. Hums are low frequency and are not covered.

 

Amp dynamics, bass etc depend a lot on the design of the amp's power supply. By having large capacitors to store the DC power, amps have large reservoirs of power for instant use.

 

this is a picture i took from the Xindak XF-500, i have gone thru the circuitry components and specs wise it is theroically correct. bigger blocks will have to use higher ratings for it to be efficient. this is for 4 power points.

 

Curious, what's the XF-500 going for?

 

 

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if anyone is keen i have a brand new set of black XF-1000 still in the box going for S$170. selling at cost because a friend bought the wrong one from hong kong for me. i do not know the local price for this item. so please advise

 

that is considered cheap. local sets XF-1000 going at $240 i think...

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It was like a chiros moment for brudder hobbes... he thought about it, a window opened, and now he has to grab it....   ;D

 

Unfortunately, I'm not the lucky sod who secured it  :'( :'( :'(

 

On the upside, had a nice chat with Jack, whom I spoke to previously about his old Roksan CDP. Nice talking to you again bro!

 

BTW there's one on sale at echoloft S$150 for meterd one and a year old..... 

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Guest francis woo

Believe me, IMO the G&W T1000 conditioner is a much better buy in terms of performance and pricing......... :D

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I owned a xf1000 before and when I sold it abt a year later after I purchased it, it went for under $80. All the white power sockets cracked and some bits broke off...talk abt quality. :P It was subsequently replaced with a furutech e-tp80 which I still own for use with my ht set, and the difference was night and day between the two.

 

It is through that experience that I never touched anything from Xindak again.

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