Basic surge protection with some noise filtering without strangling the amplifier?


I’m looking to get a basic multi-outlet surge protector that has some basic noise filtering and that has at least a few outlets for high-voltage equipment (amp in my case) that will not kill the sound of the amp.

Do those of you with practical experience and/or technical know-how think that that the Furman Elite -15 PF i fits this description?  (From its own write-up, it does.) Are there other devices in roughly the same price range (<$1k), that I should consider?

The amps in question are a JRDG 625 V2 and a CODA CSib.

For one data point of comparison, I tried plugging the 625 V2 into a Torus RM-20 and while the sound floor did seem improved (from already very quiet to even blacker), the sound quality immediately suffered a lack of vitality and dynamism. So, the amp is not connected that way any more.  The other upstream components (pre-amp, Roon Nucleus One, streamer & DAC) do seem to like the Torus though. 

kirkwallace

@kirkwallace  - I own the Elite PF-15i and I've several times noticed it when it was absent that my stereo did not sound as transparent or clean.  When I was in San Francisco I enhanced it by adding an AR unit after I measured 130V at the wall. 

The power factor correction and trigger outlets were really useful for me at the time.  Also, one extremely useful feature shared among the series mode protection units like ZeroSurge and Furman with SMP, is the undervoltage/moderate over voltage shut off.  I've been sitting in the living room minding my own business when the lights start to flicker, and my Furmans immediately shut completely off.  Turns out a vehicle had been too friendly with a power pole.  Sometimes I've come home to find the EVS alert on another unit telling me the power was cut off for safety.  Between that and the times my UPS start chirping I know for a fact I get more power issues here than just predictable weather. 

Thank you @erik_squires ! Super helpful. I’ve ordered the -20 PFi (the Rowling is nominally a 20A device) and should have it by Saturday. As others have noted, ultimately the test is how it sounds in my system, and it’s an easy return if —unlikely i hope — it doesn’t perform here as well as it does for you (and as it is designed to).

The engineer that designed the furman left and went to audioquest. The furman it 20i  has large capicitors to handle the transients on my big monoblock amps. I think 80 amps in reserve. The big audioquests have the same capicitor like magic box with amps for transients as well. My power browns out at least once a wk. I can't risk plugging the amp into the wall. I don't think I have lost any sound quality through that brand of power conditioner, however I have not had a dead amp yet.enjoy the science and the music.

BTW, while I do think protection from brownouts is important (EVS in Furman lingo) it's particularly bad for switching power supplies.  A brownout can cause a transistor intended to be high efficiency/binary to turn linear and low efficiency, burning it out.  

I installed a whole house surge protector that clamps down fast and can take whatever happens to be flowing when the shut down happens, even a lightning strike.