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Power Conditioning on the Cheap

This is my first post here after a bit of lurking, so please be gentle.  I realize this subject must come up a fair amount and I've read erik_squires blog posts on the subject, but I was hoping to get the community's opinion on the relative merits of a few relatively basic power conditioners.  I've narrowed my list down to a few options at a range of (fairly modest) price points.  From low to high they are:

Furman PST-8D

ifi Power Station

Furman Elite-15 PF I

Shunyata PS10 w/ Venom Defender

Audioquest Niagara 1200

In a perfect world where I didn't have a limited budget I would probably buy something higher up the line from Shunyata, but since we live in a decidedly imperfect world, these are my options, although I would welcome other suggestions that fit within this price range.

I should also probably mention that while I value subjective reports on the sound quality of various products, generally speaking I give more weight to objective measurements or at least arguments based in sound science.  More embarrassingly, I also place a certain amount of value on aesthetics.  Aesthetic taste being inherently subjective, (a debatable point, but for the sake of argument lets just assume that it's true) lets just say that when I lust after completely unobtainable equipment it tends to be from companies like Soulution or Pilium rather than Dan D'Agostino or darTZeel.

incorporeus
erik_squires
15,714 posts
 

Forgot two details about the Furman Elite 15i:

  • Detachable IEC power cable
  • Hospital grade outlets

 

dinov's avatar
dinov
790 posts
 

I use shunyata defenders throughout my house and the small Audioquest Niagara 1000 on one of my spare systems. All of them I’ve picked up used here on Audiogon and eBay. All work great and I saved a lot of money. 

toetapaudio
474 posts
 

Puritan PSM156 or 136 at a lower price point. 156 is more robust. Can be mounted vertically with special feet. The Puritan mains cable supplied is also very good.

8th-note
347 posts
 

If you want something basic that is nice looking and will act as a surge protector there are used Monster Power Conditioners (i.e. 5100 Signature) that are available on eBay. I run three of these (one in a different system) plus a vintage Tice Power Block III Signature from the 90's. As far as I can hear, the Monster units don't change the sound (neither does the Tice) but they make a convenient spot to plug in my components and they protect my gear. One cool feature is that they have a large LED display that shows the voltage in real time. You can see your voltage change throughout the day and especially if your system is loading it down.

Regarding hospital grade outlets, I had the opportunity to talk with Caelin Gabriel (Shunyata) at AXPONA a few years ago. I asked him about outlets and he said not to use "hospital grade" outlets because they have stainless contacts that are designed to resist corrosion from the cleaning chemicals in a hospital. They are not designed for optimum power transfer. He recommended Hubble outlets and said that they are just about as good as Shunyata's own outlet for less money. I replaced my outlets (I've got two dedicated 20 amp circuits for my system) with Hubbles but I couldn't hear a difference. But like Amir said, it makes me feel better.

The last point I'll make is that you may be a prime candidate for having an electrician come out and examine your electrical system. It sounds like your house is pretty old and it must have been rewired at some point, maybe decades ago. Besides issues like corroded or poorly installed grounding, old electrical systems were designed before the proliferation of electrical gadgets. If you decide to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit to your listening room and then you buy an electric car you could bump into the limits of your service.

markiew
36 posts
 

Yet another vote for the Puritan 156.  I had an Audioquest Niagara 3000, and the 156 is better

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