I bought a 5A Tripp Lite unit that puts out 120v with 89v-149v in. The
devices are made for people with sloppy power or who suffer brown outs.
The unit also has EMI and RFI filtering. I believe the unit works by
first creating DC which kicks off an oscillator that is boosted to
created new/clean AC.

These units are very inexpensive. About the same price as high end line
conditioners that only filter. I don't understand why they aren't used
more. Seems to me they would be very beneficial and a heck of a lot
better than the filter only units that run in the thousands. They come
in sizes over 20A. (The only downside I see and it's small is that they
generate a magnetic field so they should be kept away from other
electronics and speakers)

"MD" wrote in message
...
I bought a 5A Tripp Lite unit that puts out 120v with 89v-149v in. The
devices are made for people with sloppy power or who suffer brown outs. The
unit also has EMI and RFI filtering. I believe the unit works by first
creating DC which kicks off an oscillator that is boosted to created
new/clean AC.

It doesn't work that way. It has a tapped autotransformer, with circuitry
that automatically switches the taps.

These units are very inexpensive. About the same price as high end line
conditioners that only filter. I don't understand why they aren't used
more. Seems to me they would be very beneficial and a heck of a lot
better than the filter only units that run in the thousands.

Line filters are mostly, although not entirely, a ripoff.

They come
in sizes over 20A. (The only downside I see and it's small is that they
generate a magnetic field so they should be kept away from other
electronics and speakers)

The benefits are nonexistent if the power is decent. Some people do have
dirty power, but the consequences are very audible. There is a technology
known as the wave tracking surge protector, which both filters and protects
in a manner superior to these units: http://www.zerosurge.com/

The reason Zerosurge hasn't taken off with hifi owners is that most
audiophiles seem to have difficulty understanding power filtering and
protection technology.

These units are very inexpensive. About the same price as high end line
conditioners that only filter. I don't understand why they aren't used
more. Seems to me they would be very beneficial and a heck of a lot
better than the filter only units that run in the thousands.


Direct AC-DC convrsion is more efficient and works better. Designed in
the power supply in the first place-if th ebudget allows for a
RF-gasketed casting and feedthroughs. RF practice-because, it is.

soundhaspriority wrote:

"MD" wrote in message
...

I bought a 5A Tripp Lite unit that puts out 120v with 89v-149v in. The
devices are made for people with sloppy power or who suffer brown outs. The
unit also has EMI and RFI filtering. I believe the unit works by first
creating DC which kicks off an oscillator that is boosted to created
new/clean AC.


It doesn't work that way. It has a tapped autotransformer, with circuitry
that automatically switches the taps.

These units are very inexpensive. About the same price as high end line
conditioners that only filter. I don't understand why they aren't used
more. Seems to me they would be very beneficial and a heck of a lot
better than the filter only units that run in the thousands.


Line filters are mostly, although not entirely, a ripoff.

They come

in sizes over 20A. (The only downside I see and it's small is that they
generate a magnetic field so they should be kept away from other
electronics and speakers)


The benefits are nonexistent if the power is decent. Some people do have
dirty power, but the consequences are very audible. There is a technology
known as the wave tracking surge protector, which both filters and protects
in a manner superior to these units: http://www.zerosurge.com/

The reason Zerosurge hasn't taken off with hifi owners is that most
audiophiles seem to have difficulty understanding power filtering and
protection technology.


Thanks. Even with taking taps isn't that better than just having a unit
with filters? (I assume given your answer both are worthless?)

"MD" wrote

I bought a 5A Tripp Lite unit that puts out 120v with
89v-149v in. The devices are made for people with
sloppy power or who suffer brown outs. The unit
also has EMI and RFI filtering. ...These units are very
inexpensive. About the same price as high end line
conditioners that only filter. I don't understand why
they aren't used more.

Power conditioners to fall into four different classes:

1. General filtering
2. Specialized filtering: analog, digital, power amp
3. Specialized filtering with isolated transformers
4. Power regeneration

FYI...

Nigel's Power Line Conditioner Info Sheet
©2000

V 1.15
This document may be copied so long as it is copied in it's entirety,
including copyright, and so long as it is not posted to
rec.audio.high-end

Sections:

I. What IS a Power Line Conditioner?
II. Why do I NEED/WANT one?
III. HTML Links
IV. Specific Products & Technology
V. Cheap Tweaks for the Dangerously Inclined
VI. Closing Comments

I. What IS a Power Line Conditioner?
=====================================
Before there was such a market for high end tweaks and buzz words in high
end audio/video companies like APCC & Tripplite among many others were
already making power conditioners for the computer and electronics industry.
These devices are still made and they are used to provide voltage regulation
for devices like copiers. They used transformers with multiple taps, and as
the input voltage surges or sags the relays or transistors in the power
conditioner would switch among the different transformer taps. I thought
Tice or Audio Power made a similar device, but I seem to be mistaken. Two
good source of non- esoteric power line conditioners are
www.furmasound.com and www.equitech.com. Pretty good looking stuff if
you have common surge/sagging problems.


Today there are many things called a line conditioner, and they are not all
the same. In general a power line conditioner can be everything from a
power strip with surge protection to larger, beefy boxes that do a variety
of things to the incoming AC power.

A line conditioner may have some features to do the following:

1. Filter the AC signal so you get closer to
an ideal 60 Hz signal.
2. Provide surge protection
3. Provide Under / Over voltage protection
(turns off)
4. Provide Under / Over voltage regulation
(keeps the output voltage constant)
5. Provide power outage protection
(like an Uninterruptable Power Supply)
6. Provide a lower apparent impedance to the source
(like PS Audio, Elgar, etc.)

Different products work differently, and will have different feature mixes.
The heavier, the more you are paying for, so beleive it or not the cost per
pound is a good indicator of how much is going into the product, and a good
guage of how much you should be paying for it. If you just spent $1,300 on
a power strip you can pick up with your pinky, you paid too much. Articles
in Hi Fi News and Record Review (a brit mag) in 1998-99 give some insight
into building your own.

Alas not all filtration is the same. Products which claim to filter RFI/EMI
only start to work at around 100 kHz or higher, which is far above human
audibility. The theoretically ideal power line filter would filter out all
signals below and above 60 Hz.

II. Why do I NEED/WANT one?
============================
II.a: NEEDS
Unless you suffer from chronic over/under voltages at your house then
chances are you don't really need a power conditioner, the system will work
reliably without it.

You may very well find that surge protection is important to you. Check out
the separate "Nigel's Surge Supression Info Sheet".

If you're buying some fancy power line conditioner that is supposed to
include surge protection, ask them if the equipment has been certified to
UL 1449 Second Edition. I have yet to see an audio equipment
"Conditioner" manufacturer that claims surge supression publish any sort
of UL or CSA listing on their web site, so be careful about relying on them
for surge supression. This does not include Monster Cable's strips, they
are primarily a surge supressor, with noise filters added, and are in
fact UL 1449 certified.

II.b: WANTS
Audio/videophiles WANT power conditioners because they feel it will
improve the quality of their listening or viewing experience. How much
of an audible or visible difference a power line conditioner will make in
your world depends on the following:

1. The quality of your incoming AC power.
2. The quality of your components power supplies.
3. The resolution of your system
(Fix your room acoustics first, then
worry about power line issues)
4. The effectiveness & features of the
line conditioner.
5. How much noise the line conditioner itself
actually creates
(a potential problem in a UPS)
6. What frequencies the power conditioner's filtration
is effective at.
7. Your gullibility

An example of exceptional power supply design is found in much of Krell
and Mark Levinson equipment some of which use fully regulated, fully
balanced power supplies. This is a rare thing, but any potential benefit
from a power conditioner may be a mute point with this equipment. Most
amplifiers use unregulated, but highly filtered power supplies, relying on
the incoming AC voltage remaining constant, and large capacitors to
reduce any noise on the line.

II.c: WON'Ts
One thing most line conditioners don't do is fix ground loop problems (i.e.
a loud 60 Hz hum you hear coming from your speakers), in some cases
they can actually make things worse by improving the connection to ground
of your equipment. The ideal way to fix a ground loop problem is to use
signal level isolation transformers between your system and the source of
the problem, which is often the cable TV or a computer connection. Check
out:

www.jensentransformers.com

for a variety of safe solutions. Otherwise, if you want to start a fire or
electrocute yourself or your family, use a 2-3 prong adaptor, a.k.a. a
cheater plug.

There is one exception to this. Power conditioners that provide balanced
outputs may reduce ground loop related hums, as well as provide a good
lowering of the overall noise floor.

Also, power conditioners should not be used to substitute for bad electrical
wiring. In some cases a power conditioner may make things worse,
drawing more current and stressing the existing wiring. You should NEVER
over fuse wiring.

III. HTML Links
================
Here is a variety of links to people selling things that go between your
equipment and the incoming AC line.

www.apcc.com
www.audiopower.com
www.accuphase.com
www.belkin.com
www.bestpower.com
www.brickwall.com
www.elgar.com
www.equitech.com
www.furmasound.com
www.monstercable.com
www.psaudio.com
www.surgex.com
www.ticeaudio.com
www.tripplite.com
www.vansevers.com

You should also check the links from www.stereophile.com which seem to
be pretty exhaustive, and mention many more manufacturer links to audio
related power line products than I do here. Be warned however that while
the list at Stereophile may be more comprehensive than mine, it's less
discriminating, and includes some products I feel provide particularly poor
return on investment.

IV. Products & Technology
==========================
Some products merit special attention in my book, for a variety of reasons.

Monster Cable
=============
Despite having the WORST web site in all of audio regarding technology,
with gross technical and gramatical errors, several people have sent me
e-mails defending their power strips, claiming they made improvements in
picture or video quality. Heck if I know, but you might want to, they're
not too
expensive.

Panamax
=======
Panamax gets special because they do have complete A/V surge protection
solutions their parts quality does not usually merit what they charge, like
$99 for a standard surge strip, and I've read of reliability and warranty
problems online, so you should check the archives at www.deja.com. In
my opinion APCC, Triplite and Belkin all give you more surge
protection/dollar than Panamax.

The Panamax DBS+ I have (got a deal on it) has failed to protect my two
satelite receivers from wind related static discharge , so I'm not too happy
with them these dayas.

Brickwall & Zerosurge
=====================
Working on a completely different principle of surge protection than MOV
based surge protectors are the models from Brick Wall and ZeroSurge.
They are basically single pole low pass filters ( a good thing ) for your
power lines. The claimed response is -3db at 3 kHz. This effectively limits
the maximum Volts/Second. When a surge hits, it becomes a 2nd and
3rd order low pass filter. Surgex also OEM's these devices, or licenses
the technology.

This low start point for their noise filtration puts them into both my Line
Conditioner sheet as well as my Surge Protection sheet.

Audo Power & Tice
=================
Moving closer to the ideal of a power line conditioner are the ones that use
isolation transformers. These have a much better capacity to remove audible
power line noise than mere surge strips. Audio Power & Tice have a variety
of products you should take a listen to, if you can get past Tice's voodoo
web pages (i.e. their Q&A section). Note that not all these products use
isolation transformers, so check to be sure what you're getting.

Richard Gray's Power Company
============================
Tremendous hype on their web site is parroted almost word for word by
dealers and customers. Their web site and "Grey Paper" fails to make any
truly technical statements about what the product does and IMHO they offer
poor return on investment, considering the parts that actually go into them,
and that they sell for around $700. I would encourage people to either
spend another $300 for a PS Audio unit, or spend less for something from
Furmasound or Equitech, or even getting a power conditioner (not a UPS)
from APC or Tripp Lite instead of buying a product from this company.

PS Audio
========
New are the Power Plant models from PS Audio. PS Audio has taken the
high road, and said electrical bill be damned! We'll get clean power no
matter the cost. The Power Plant models are basically power amplifiers that
re-create the 115 Volt AC signal at their output. They are perhaps the most
ambitious designs I've seen so far and again have some good ideas behind
them. Their prices seem very reasonable, considering how much goes into
one and the current offerings of power conditioners in the market, and they
certainly should be able to meet their twin goals of:

Greatly reducing apparent power line impedance

- AND -

Greatly reducing power line noise and distortion

The technology used may very well be the best at doing those two
things in combination.

Since the Power Plants are essentially class AB amplifiers they
are no better than 50% efficient, so expect it to add additional
heat and electrical current draw to your electric circuit, which
is something to pay attention to if you're close to being
overloading it already. On the other hand, using a linear (AB)
amplifier stage removes the likelihood of more digital noise
being introduced into the 60 Hz waveform it generates.

If the PS Audio units don't have enough current capacity, consider the
products from Elgar, sweeet....way expensive! If you have money to
burn, perhaps you should consider an Elgar as a pre-conditioner, and
use a PS Audio unit for your source components only.

Other equipment manufacturers should also take note that unlike many
sites PS Audio's web site was delightfully free of bovine scatalogical
samples.

Chang Lightspeed
================
Chang Lightspeed need comments on because of their on-line advertising
which demonizes coils & transformers. They're right about small, poorly
designed coils actually increasing the power line impedance, however what
they fail to note is that by going coilless their conditioners may very well
not be
able to remove any power line noise within the audible spectrum. This noise
is the most important to audiophiles are concerned with as it has the best
chance of being propagated through the power supplies of the equipment
and finally to our ears. Perhaps this is why their on-line advertising
mentions RFI/EMI noise reduction so much, and makes no mention of audio
frequency noise reduction. Coil impedance can be overcome by using bigger
and better inductors.

Does anyone know how much these puppies weigh? I bet you they're lighter
and are less expensive to manufacture than comparative products from
manufacturers who DO use coils in their designs.

Uninterruptable Power Supplies
==============================
A UPS is a must for anyone doing serious computer work, but it's benefits
for audiophiles will vary. If you're going to try a UPS to improve the
sound / picture quality then avoid the standby kind, which have a 2-4 ms
lag before they turn on. Get one labeled "line interactive."

Because UPS's are designed for computers they usually pay little attention
to how much grunge is coming out when they generate the output waveform,
which could in turn easily make your system sound worse, not better. The
solution is to make sure the output of your UPS is a sine wave, with the
lowest possible distortion and noise. So, avoid "stepped aproximation" and
look for "pure sinewave" output.

Lastly, most UPS have a relatively loose voltage regulation. For example,
as the input voltage varies from 90 to 145 volts the UPS will output from
105 to 125 volts. It's a smaller variation than what's coming in, and it's
certainly better than any passive conditioners like Audio Power or Tice but
it's certainly not the best technology could do if money were no object.

Radio Shack
===========
Yes, RS can be an audiophiles best friend, especially when he/she is
looking for a $20 voltage meter. If you think you have a chronic voltage
problem at your home or listening room outlets go get a meter and find
out. If it's bad enough, perhaps you should start with a phone call to your
electrical company and/or electrician before getting a voltage conditioner.


V. Cheap Tweaks for the Dangerously Inclined
=============================================
One potential improvement audiophiles can make, fairly easily if they are
electronically and dangerously inclined, is to increase the power supply
filter capacitance. You can do this both by replacing the current storage
capacitors to higher values of capacitance (and equal or better voltages)
and also by adding storage capacitance across the maximum + and - voltage
rails of the device (make sure the capacitor's voltage rating is greater
than the difference between the + and - rails, of course). While we're
going there, consider also replacing the filter caps with less inductive
versions if possible such as caps from Sanyo or Panasonic (I think, sorry,
it's been a while since I was opening data books so check this out yourself)
as well as adding polypropelyne or polystyrene capacitors of equal or
greater voltage rating in parallel with any upgrades you do.

Be careful with how much capacitance you add, adding capacitance
increases the turn on (inrush) current and may over-stress the bridge
rectifier. Of course, the fix for this is to add a bigger rectifier so you
can get more power! (Grunt grunt!) And if you fry your transforer too,
well that can be fixed as well!

This little tweak alone can greatly increase the S/N ratio of many mass
market electronic devices far more than other tweaks, such as new power
cables. If you already have a very good power supply it won't matter much
as if you didn't (i.e. it will make a bigger difference for mass market Sony
or Yamaha than Krell or Mark Levinson).

I won't go into any more detail than this, if you have to ask chances are
you shouldn't be in there anyway. Oh, yeah, and as always, if you're an
idiot and hurt yourself or your equipment don't call me, have your mama
call me so I can tell her what a dufus you are.

VI. Closing Comments
=====================
I don't mean to exclude anyone, so if I missed you or a product you feel
deserves special mention send an e-mail to nigel_tufnel@my- deja.com
and I'll add it onto this growing and improving list.

As always, thoughtful, informative discussions are encouraged,
corrections are gladly accepted, and flames may be sent to
. It's your ears, eyes and wallet you're trying to
please. Advice from anyone is a good way to start but it's your hard
earned dollar so you should always be the final judge of a products
worth.

Happy Listening,

Nigel

soundhaspriority wrote:
The reason Zerosurge hasn't taken off with hifi owners is that most
audiophiles seem to have difficulty understanding power filtering and
protection technology.

Numerous reasons. #1 is that anything provided by a series mode
filter (Zerosurge, et al) should already be inside electronics. Other
reasons promoting Zerosurge are mostly myths. Zerosurge does nothing
for voltage variations. Voltage variations that are well beyond what
occurs on AC mains is made irrelevant, again, by that appliance design.
Electronic power supplies - especially in high end electronics -
should make everything in that Zerosurge device irrelevant.

IOW electronics should work just fine even when AC main voltage drops
so low as to put incandescant bulbs at only 40% intensity. How often
does that happen in your house? And still, Zerosurge does not even
claim to address that problem.

Zerosurge would address problems that should not exist anyway or that
are addressed only in high tech recording studios. Zerosurge, for
example, can be a solution to badly designed electronics. An expensive
solution for unusual solutions. A solution for a unique and niche
market.