"I see a few posters here recommending plugging your amp directly into the wall socket. Isn’t that risky? How do you protect your equipment from power surges if you forego any kind of surge protection?"
Hi arafiq,
In almost 50 years of audio, I never had any audio equipment damaged by electrical surge, only a TV that was hit through the cable line. YMMV.
Most "surge protectors" use cheap sacrificial MOVs and the rest of the parts are not audio quality either. They act as chokes to the virgin AC flow. Over time, the MOVs, being sacrificial, degrade to the point that they do not function anymore. The "equipment replacement warranty" associated with those products will give you some idea of the statistical life of the MOVs. After that, the surge protector is simply a placebo.
I am NOT saying that several of the best power conditioners do not help improve the sound of a resolving system (they most certainly do IME and it is not subtle), only that "surge protectors" can seriously degrade the sound of a good system. Results vary by system, the product used, etc.
Why not try plugging the PC to your amplifier directly into the wall, play some cuts that you are intimately familiar with, and see if you can detect any difference in the sound? Just don’t let your components get cold (quick changeover) between transfer of the cords.
Let us know what you find.
Best to you arafiq,
Dave
Hi arafiq,
In almost 50 years of audio, I never had any audio equipment damaged by electrical surge, only a TV that was hit through the cable line. YMMV.
Most "surge protectors" use cheap sacrificial MOVs and the rest of the parts are not audio quality either. They act as chokes to the virgin AC flow. Over time, the MOVs, being sacrificial, degrade to the point that they do not function anymore. The "equipment replacement warranty" associated with those products will give you some idea of the statistical life of the MOVs. After that, the surge protector is simply a placebo.
I am NOT saying that several of the best power conditioners do not help improve the sound of a resolving system (they most certainly do IME and it is not subtle), only that "surge protectors" can seriously degrade the sound of a good system. Results vary by system, the product used, etc.
Why not try plugging the PC to your amplifier directly into the wall, play some cuts that you are intimately familiar with, and see if you can detect any difference in the sound? Just don’t let your components get cold (quick changeover) between transfer of the cords.
Let us know what you find.
Best to you arafiq,
Dave