Line conditioners-any significant improvement in quality? (1 Viewer)

[Mariusz Filonowicz]

I'm considering purchasing of line conditioner. I currently own Monster Cable surge protector and in my understanding it only protects the equipment against power surges, but it does not improve picture or sound. Manufacturers of expensive line conditioners like Monster Cable or Panamax claim that their products improve home theater performance. I own Denon 4802 receiver, Denon 2800 DVD player, Sony 65XBR10W HDTV, Echostar 6000 high definition satellite receiver and Diva 6.1 speakers. I'd like to know if spending close to $400 on line conditioner is going to improve performance of my equipment significantly, or is it marketing trick or maybe the improvements are visible only on high-end equipment and differences are only very subtle, visible only to real audiophiles?

 

[Gerard Martin]

Do a search for line conditioners you
will find some say they do some say they
don,t IMO if they did your power has to
be dirty to begin with otherwise the
only benefit is to the manufacturer.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Typical "filters" like what Monster, Panamax, and Adcom sell, can actually add distortion to your AC:
http://www.psaudio.com/articles/power_conditioners.asp
Check out Secret's for a bunch of really good reviews and info on AC boxes:
Link Removed
Based on the above, I went with a balanced power unit. IMO, best bang for the buck you can get for "clean" your AC.

 

[Bob Christensen]

If you have particularly "dirty" mains, or if you live in an apartment, this may be a good investment. But for $400 you could also have an electrician come and run you a dedicated HT main and install quality cable and fixtures, along with a good, solid ground. This, IMHO, would probably make a more noticeable difference in sound quality than a condition, as long as you have no glaring problems to cure. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[jason celaya]

it made a huge difference in my system. However, it may have been due to really dirty power.

 

[David Judah]

All of the ones in the Secret's test are good ones, I'm sure, but the least expensive of them is $995.

In the price range you mentioned, you could get a Monster HTS 3600. It is has improved filtering capability over older models and will reduce the noise in your line significantly. It also has surge protection up to around 2800 joules.

DJ

 

[Salvador]

how do you test for dirty power?? and what are the tell tale signs of dirty power?

 

[Dennis B]

Another good one in that price range is Furman's PM-PRO for $360 or other models of the PL/PM line. These are professional gear.
Check them out at www.furmansound.com.

 

[Brian OK]

I would highly recommend the Jon Risch Power Source line conditioner/surge protector which I recently installed in my HT.
The unit runs $225, or so, for the basic model, and $265. for the silver plated Pass&Seymour 5242 ACME outlets model.
Both come with 2 duplex outlets ... ie 4 receptacles total.
This is the finest conditioner I have used to date ... and I have used the Isobar-4, Monster HTS 2000, and VanSEvers 83. Cleans the HF grunge and line hash emitted by digital gear like no other. By this, one would have to spend considerably more to meet the performance of the Risch. I sourced it from www.diycable.com
And it did wonders to my RPTV --faint snow and gauze is gone. I use the Risch/ACME with Straight Jacket power cord with silver plated connectors. Truly impressive conditioner that reaches up into the HF range and does some serious cleansing.
BOK

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Check out Link Removed . Balanced power for the low, low price of $600 (the BP-2).
I would beware any unit that includes "filtration" as I mentioned above.
I have 2 Acurus A200x3 amps. I directly compared an Adcom ACE 615 (a typical "filter"), an RGPC 400s (an inductor wired in parallel), and an Equi-Tech 2Q (balanced power).
No hum with the Equitech. I could hear the hum next to the amps with the Richard Gray unit. With the Adcom, I could hear the hum across the room.
The Equi-Tech also eliminated a buzzing problem I had with a dimmable halogen light on the same circuit as my HT. (The lamp is plugged into the wall; all my HT was plugged into 1 of the 3 AC boxes). Neither the Adcom or RGPC could eliminate that interference.