Exact Power EP-15A Operational Question

I have two EP-15A's one runs at 120V, the other at 122V. I've used one for each amp in the past when I had low and shifting power levels. Each amp idled at 500W and went to ???? when playing. Your two amps only draw 440W combined, the specs say each unit can handle 1650W. Both units run warm, I was surprised at how warm, but I've had no problems.

mine locks in at 120 and doesn't fluctuate...doesn't sound like you have any problem at all....

I'd say don't worry about the meters, this is unimportant...in fact, I recommend to just switch them off so you can forget about it and focus on the music. (If you ever actually invoke the protection circuitry the display turns on automatically anyway.)

But if you haven't already, I would consider experimenting with either using the EP-15A only for your front-end gear, and/or using one for each power amp plus a portion of the front-end gear, as opposed to one for both power amps and the other for the front-end gear -- never mind what the nominal power ratings and claimed capacities involved may state.

Based on my experience using higher-powered monoblocks with my single EP-15A (within its nominal limits, paired with near full-range 3-way speakers of medium size and average efficiency, at up to near-lifelike volumes in a mid-sized room), I think you must be very careful to ensure that the Exact Power's benefits (which still do pertain) don't begin to be outweighed by the potential disadvantages of a less full-bodied, dynamic, colorful and dimensional presentation.

In other words, although it still cleans up the sound, it can also tend to flatten and thin it out in this kind of situation, so you need to do comparisons vs. wall power (and/or some other kind of passive line conditioner with the amps instead) as a double-check. Either method could be a close call or a tradeoff rather than an unequivocal improvement, depending -- a judgement call you have to make based on listening to a variety of material.

Thanks, I am going to hook an amp per side to see if I like that configuration better. Perhaps the best solution is to have three units - one each for the amps/subs per side and a third for front end components. If I see a new silver one coming up on Agon, I would be tempted!

Hi Dimitry, though I've never used my EP with a sub (because I don't own a sub), having a pretty good idea of the strengths and relative weaknesses of the EP in a high-powered application, if I were you I'd definitely want to experiment with plugging the sub or subs straight into the wall to lessen the demand on the EP, possibly benefitting the other components attached as well as the sub(s).

(Even putting the other components aside -- and admitting my lack of experience in this particular area -- I have to wonder if the EP can really benefit a sub at all. A subwoofer, after all, functions as a steep low-pass filter by definition, with a a turnover frequency that's likely to fall below even the first harmonic of the AC powerline.)

In my system, I've kind of arrived at this rough rule of thumb: If the power transformer in an attached component is physically bigger than the one in the EP, never mind the ostensible wattage ratings, don't take anything for granted -- experiment! As I posted on another EP thread recently, having tried plugging my high-powered monoblocks into my EP and into the wall (via an Equi=Tech 2Q), I find myself wishing there was a way to feed the amps' input and driver stages from the EP, and the output stages from the wall (but since these amps, like most, have but a single main power supply shared by all three stages, this would of course be impossible without a great deal of custom modification).

In my case, the subs are actually not big power hogs - these are class D amps type units and used "passively" to fill in the very low frequencies below what the Quads can do - at moderate listening levels - I think they take something like 60W per side or less most of the time. The amps though are Canary CA-339s, so they are spec'd at 360W rms by the manufacturer and register 2 amps steady on the EP and the previous conditioner I used.

The more I think about it the more three units make sense! There is at least some information about EPs not being particularly long lived, so I am reluctant to invest more money into this non-supported technology, but I kind of like the sound and the look of the units.