I've got the Summertime Blues. Power conditioner necessary?


With the AC and dehumidifiers running non stop, at times my modest system sounds like Schitt (I wish).
Any recommendations for power conditioners or other help that won't break the bank?

udog

Showing 4 responses by melbguyone

The issue you often get in Apartment buildings in particular, and houses with a lot of white goods and electronics is they mostly share the same line back to the distributor box. So when you’re running all your white goods, have the oven on or maybe dishwasher, computer etc that generates a lot of distortion/hash on the line which can muddy the sound of your system. It’s also possible that high draw components like your a/c and drier are pulling down the line voltage. However you can easily check that if you have a multimeter & know what your’e doing.

In my case, I bought an apartment off the plan, so I didn’t have the chance to install dedicated 20a lines to the wpo’s behind where my audio racks sit. And retro-fitting them would have been a messy & expensive job due to the layout of my apartment, so my solution was to buy a Gigawatt PC-3 SE Evo conditioner which provides 3 independent branches, incl: a non-current limiting high current branch for power amps, over-voltage protection, leveling of input and output voltage, robust surge protection, storage banks to improve impulse response & an accurate volt meter which measures input voltage in ’true RMS’. That solution works well for me & shows me the input voltage in real time. But not cheap at circa $6k! Sure you can buy cheaper conditioners, or pre-loved. Personally I would only consider either Gigawatt or Synergistic Research, though Running Springs Audio make some good products also.

The cheapest and most well worn path is installing dedicated 20a lines to your system’s wpo’s using some higher quality 10 guage insulated wire back to ideally a dedicated subpanel with it’s own ground. So basically an isolated circuit from the rest of the house, only using better quality wire and uprating the amperage to 20 amps which is optimal for audio. However you would need to ensure your 10 guage wire, wpo’s and connectors on your pc’s are rated at 20a (most audiophile wpo’s & connectors are). You can also incorporate surge and over-voltage protection with a device such as this - https://www.clipsal.com/surge-protection#.W0YKtrgRVPY This PS Audio article might assist you - https://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-install-a-dedicated-ac-line/
cleeds1,455 posts07-12-2018 12:05am If you’re in the US, this is a violation of the NEC and it would be potentially dangerous anywhere. NEC requires all house grounds to be bonded together at the main service panel.
I guess the first point to make is I live in Australia, and our electical code is different to the US. Secondly, I was not inferring to run a seperate ground or ignore the US electrical code. I meant that the installed sub-panel would have it’s own ground, being the legally compliant and available ground in the house. Thirdly, I was only providing general advice from an audiophile’s perspective. I did not claim i’m an expert or licensed electrician, hence why I posted a link to a PS Audio article on the topic in my post. I trust that addresses all your concerns.