Power "Conditioner"

[cello john]

I'm looking for a fairly low-end way to have a multi-strip, surge protector, and if possible for not too much money power conditioner for my modest home set up.
Saw this at Samash and wondered if it is worth the pretty negligible price...

Stageworks SLP-102 Power Conditioner

Plus, a rack light would be pretty nifty...

Remember...modest set-up...not too much money.

If it's really worthless, any suggestions for under 150$ or so?


http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?itemid=26556

[Bill L]

I just bought a Furman at GC for about $60.00 It was the low end with no meters or lights, but it did have 8 outlets. I'm thinking of getting another one soon.

Bill L

[TexRoadkill]

Those things aren't really power conditioners. They are just rack mounted power strips with surge protection. A true power conditioner will give you RFI filtering and actually improve your signal to noise ratio.

Topaz makes good conditioners as well as a few others. Expect to pay about $150+ for 1000watts of conditioning. There was a big thread in the Studio Building forum started by Mixmker about power conditioners.

[hrn]

Will these clean the electricity from the effects of lightning armatures and such? I know this is important in a studio.

Hans

[Jblount]

The furman you bought at GC is a glorified power outlet strip. If you want real conditioning, it will cost you.

[eeldip]

surplus. go surplus. auctions. going out of business. labs and computer tech companies.

here in the bay area all sorts of tech businesses go out of business and there are power conditioners that cost the original owner hundreds of bucks, that go for $20 if you bother to show up at an auction and haul the thing out.

by the way, you will know that you have bought a power conditioner when you pick it up and it weighs a billion pounds.

[SonicAlbert]

The Stageworks and Furman power "conditioners" mentioned are not power conditioners, but simply rack mountable power strips with a few extra features. Neither will condition your power.

Like the previous poster said, a true power conditioner will be *very* heavy, due to the transformer inside. A real power conditioner takes the potentially irregular waveform of the incoming electricity and makes it look just like it should.

[hrn]

Do you think I need one or more to drive a studio with a Dayner 32 ch mixer and about 10 outboards and computer stuff with 24 in /24+ out, active speakers.......?

Shortly, can such a unit provide all the studio with clean power, including Marshall/Ampeg amps while recording?

I would love that!!

Hans,
www.hagen.nu

[TexRoadkill]

Originally posted by hrn
Do you think I need one or more to drive a studio with a Dayner 32 ch mixer and about 10 outboards and computer stuff with 24 in /24+ out, active speakers.......?

Shortly, can such a unit provide all the studio with clean power, including Marshall/Ampeg amps while recording?

I would love that!!

Hans,
www.hagen.nu

What unit? They are all rated in watts so add up the total draw of your gear and that is what you need. Most studios should draw less than 1000W unless you have several tube power amps running.

I've been running a radar 24, ghost console, hafler TA1600, a vox ac30 and a mesa boogie all off of a 1500watt conditioner.

[SonicAlbert]

Right, add up the power usage of all your gear and that will tell you what size of power conditioner to get. Be sure to get a bigger one than what you need though, as you will no doubt be adding gear and will want a margin for error anyway. Amps, computers. and computer monitors eat up a lot of power. Most rack gear uses very little power. I used to own a midi processor that used 1/2 watt! A rack of outboard gear can use no more than a 100 watt light bulb.