2. misc-audio
  3. 181091-118590

Plug Amp directly to Mains or use a Power Conditioner?

There have been discussions about whether to plug an amp directly to the mains or via a power conditioner. I live in a house that's 60 plus years old, with two phase (non-grounded) wiring in most of the house. The neighborhood I live in is also quite old with an ancient power grid. I have been plugging my amp directly to the mains, but think, due to the bad power distribution, I should plug it into the new power conditioner I have on order. I also bought some mildly upgraded power cords for both the amp and conditioner. 

I respect that some may suggest re-wiring the house or using a whole house conditioner. Probably great ideas, but I am more of a serious hobbyist than a true audiophile. Meaning that I am not going to invest thousands for electrical current remediation. 

I have my large-ish TV's plugged into decent Panamax or Furman line conditioners and saw noticeable improvements. I am thinking that my audio output may also benefit.

Suggestions anyone? 

 

motown-l
riley804
1,224 posts
 

@motown-l 

 

I left off some details about my question. I have read in various publications that an amp has internal voltage regulation that could be adversely effected by external power conditioning.

did they mention what amps by chance ?

what amp are you using ?

 

 

tweak1
3,531 posts
 

When I bought my now 70 YO house, some 26+ years ago I had a 20 amp dedicated line run from my elec panel directly to the 4 plug outlet for my system. I ran it outside, digging a several foot deep trench

@carlsbad I had a PSA Premier Power Plant plugged into my dedicated line. It really did NOT improve the sound. Lots of PLCs in between, I have a Core Power 1800, which DOES

immatthewj
1,036 posts
 

There was a post to this thread that was deleted and it hd a link to something sort of like "the dangers lurking behind your walls" or something like that) & it was about old &/or bad wiring. This got me to thinking, as like the OP of this thread, I own a house built in the ’60s and when I bought it it did have the old style fuse box and there is one circuit with a few outlets WITHOUT the 3rd wire (ground). Is there a good chance there is some knob & spool going on here, and would I be able to see that by pulling one of those outlets and would I be able to identify it from what wire I could see from the removed outlet?

 

OOPS!  On edit:  wrong thread.  But I'll leave the question up anyway.

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