The sub seems to be the real question mark here and probably either should be left out or get its own dedicated (more basic) conditioner. Other than that your original back of the envelope of 2.5 kVA was very accurate!
Power Re Generator capacity questions
I am looking into purchasing a power re generator for my surround setup. I have heard many reviews of its benefit in a system. I do not understand the size of the unit I would need, wattage wise, to handle the system and not get over loaded from too much being put into it. I suppose the biggest question is does the WPC of each amp translate into the total number needed for that particular component? For instance, I have three large load components included in my system. I have a 2 channel and a separate 3 channel amp - each one rated 200 WPC into 8 ohms as well as a 512 watt into 8 ohms powered sub. The combination of those 3 components would appear to mean that I need a re generator that handles approx. 1500 watts for just those 3 pieces alone. I would then have a universal player, plasma tv, set top box, tube pre amp and a small surround processor to add in after that. Am I understanding this correctly? Do I need to look for a unit that handles 2500 watts or so to cover all of my gear or are these wattage numbers from my gear the wrong numbers to calculate in the first place? Any help would truly be appreciated.
Showing 6 responses by folkfreak
Please please check your amplifier specs before going any further. Your power amplifiers will draw much more current than their watt output rating. As a for example I looked up the specs on an Arcam P49 2 channel 200 W amp. This is an efficient class G design and is rated at 1 KW peak power consumption, the three channel version has the same rating. Less efficient designs may even draw substantial power while not in use. My VTL monoblocks for example draw 300W even on standby. FWIW I think regenerators are terrible with power amps and there are much better power conditioning solutions out there from manufacturers such as Synergistic Research and Shunyata that are both better for power amps and cheaper than the P10. By all means consider a P5 for your source components if you let us know what particular items you have we can look up the power draw and let you know what you really need |
OK -- here’s your answer, hope this helps Item Standby Peak Source Adcom 5500 2 channel amp 199 855 GFA-5500 Service Manual per HiFiEngine Adcom 5503 3 channel amp 199 855 GFA-5503 Service Manual per HiFiEngine Reimer 1000 W sub (Class G) 24 1,000 Could not find, estimate only, standby draw is from a similar model Audio Ref Pre2 5 45 http://www.audiorefinement.com/handbook/Pre-2DSP-PL-II.pdf, note standby is an estimate (guess!) OPPO BDP 93 Universal player 1 35 http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP93/BDP-93%20English%20Manual%20v2.2.pdf Panasonic TC-P65VT30 Monitor 0 516 ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/tc-p55vt30_en_om.pdf Modwright LS 36.5 Tube Pre ? 176 Estimate based on fuse rating 1.6A, manual sourced at http://www.modwright.com/cms/resources/ls-36.5-owners-manual-final.pdf does not provide power consumption Motorola QIP7232 2 Settop box ? 25 Estimate from https://forums.verizon.com/t5/Fios-TV-Technical-Assistance/Verizon-FIOS-Cablebox-Power-consumption/t... Total 428 3,507 Total ex sub 404 2,507 |
If you want to use a regenerator then I'd stick with the Power Wedge for your sub. The P10 only outputs 1500W of power so is not sufficient for all the rest of your equipment which needs 2500W at peak. Especially with a HT system I worry that peak could happen all around (think big monster footfalls) so overloading the regenerator could be an issue. If I was you I'd buy the cheapest regenerator you can find and plug in all your sources and perhaps the TV in As I said already in my experience regenerators kills power amps they suck all the life out. Try conditioners from Running Springs Audio, Shunyata or Synergistic Research instead -- these devices are not current limited like a regenerator and will work well with power amps. I have used SR and RSA products in the past and both work really well |
First up not sure why you expect any of these devices to provide a "dramatic auditory difference". Yes power conditioning matters and in a very highly resolving (often high $$$) system these small differences are very important. I’m not sure your system is quite this level (no disrespect), but they should do no harm and if purchased used you can always resell at minimal loss to you. As far as regeneration is concerned there is nothing really special, a regenerator is in effect just a big dedicated power amp, and just as power amps are sensitive to power in so are regenerators (cord swapping on your PowerPlant will be quite impactful). Other manufacturers use other approaches to smooth out the issues with the power from the wall and in my experience the solutions from RSA and RS (which I use) worked much better than the PowerPlants. Caveat I owned a First Generation power plant (in fact three of them at one time) and while they worked they ran hot as hell and were quite unreliable. I’m sure the current P10 is much more reliable and efficient However if I was in your shoes I would jump at the Dmitri, I see one at a good price with an HZ power cord -- this is exactly the model I used to use for all my source components. Unfortunately I cannot speak to its use on Power Amps, at the time I used a Sound Applications RLS-1 for my power amps which I liked, these are pretty rare however but they really get out of the way of big amps which is what you need I currently use two SR PowerCell 10UEF, one for front end and the other for the amps. I see a bunch of 10SE MkII available and just one should work for you, I only use two because my setup has sources and amps separated (see my System listing). The one possible downside of SR is that SR components like to work with other SR components, so simply buying one piece of kit may not be the best step for you, if you want to get in on the SR bug (as you can see I have) then a PowerCell could be a good first step. Please also note that my power is preconditioned by a Torus in wall power conditioner as well -- so that’s $20K of power conditioning in just these three devices. I’ve no experience with Shunyata but others rate them, just have never heard. And no I’ve never done a conditioner "shoot out" -- my experience with conditioners is get a good one and then optimize the hell out of it in the context of your system (i.e. fuses, power cords, wall outlets etc). A well optimized (tweaked) system using good to average components will tend to outperform the best components poorly set up, and of course the optimized system will show the impact of your component upgrades as you make them. Anyway don’t worry about it too much, my main concern is that you not buy a component that will not work for you |