power conditioners

Phosphene

Phosphene

Horse Diaper
I've done a fair amount of research and I've come up with still needing a cheapish (under $200) power "conditioner" in a new rack basically for organization sake. I'm looking at the Monster Power Pro 3500 vs whatever Furman has in that range. Am I better off just getting the cheapest option, since they don't really do jack? Or should I spend a little more on the Monster (or whatever else in the $200 range)? Does the Monster actually have something that the cheapest Furman does not? Massive Master said he has and likes the Monster, and that says something to me.
 
i dallied with this for awhile, I think opening up the hood tells the tale on these things.

beware because some have nothing but 25cent MOV's across the plug...while others have the circuitry to actually do more....and for the same price.

its kind of messed up as there's no laws on this stuff, seems anyone can post bullshit on their box.
 
anyone think the Monster (or anything in the 200-300 range), is worth the extra $100 from the $80 bargan bottom furmans or whatever? is it a waste of an extra $100?
 
I use Furman and Tripplite "conditioners".

Just remember that these are really nothing more than glorified power strips with some filtering and spike protection. They don't really condition the power. That's why I don't go crazy spending money on them.

However, I do also own a Furman AR-15 Series II voltage regulator and an Equi=tech balanced power unit. These do actually do something to regulate and condition power. They are also *much* more expensive.

Anything in the $200-300 range is just a power strip, so my opinion is to get a good but not extravagant "conditioner".
 
SonicAlbert said:
However, I do also own a Furman AR-15 Series II voltage regulator and an Equi=tech balanced power unit. These do actually do something to regulate and condition power. They are also *much* more expensive.".
Click to expand...

How do you like the balanced power? What made you switch? I am considering going that route to hopefully clean up few minor issues, as well as lower my noise floor a bit.
 
The difference is subtle. And I've had it for so long now, I'm not I can even remember life without it!

I think balanced power makes it easier to add gear to the studio without worrying so much about tracking down hums. I really don't spend any time at all on that. The audio is very clean without really putting much effort into it.
 
You run your Tripplite units after your Equi=tech, correct, Albert (Alby?)? I was looking at the Equi=tech website the other day since there is a dealer not too far from me. Their site says not to use voltage regulation equipment after the Equi=tech unit. I'm assuming that the Tripplite units, such as the one you use as well as my LCR 2400, don't do this and are ok to use after the Equi=tech...you would agree this is the case?

Just out of curiosity, which unit do you use?
 
I guess the answer to my question is: "buy the cheapest furman/other you can to use as an organizer of sorts because any money you will spend above that is wasted, until you reach the "real" conditioners at around $600"?
 
clean power is just like healthy food to a human, i suppose.
hi grade fuel for the car engine....

spikes kill equipment, maybe not immediately but each time they spike its breaking down the insulator...spikes can be a extremely hi voltage for a nano second...zap.

the interesting thing the dead unit may not die for several months after the zap.

we deal with this crap at work a lot, as our building is on the end of the power line (getting the crappiest service and signals).

so I'd get something cheap that has the filtering and EMF/RFI and the spurge spike...look for Joules rating...but a lot of the statements are complete bullshit.

I sold a used Furman multi strip, with a little lite for $25 and thats about what it was worth. I have a Tripplite now, rack mount.

I found a guy that bought a pallet of power conditioners at an auction. And these can be had cheap, little 6 outlet boxes. His workers said I could probably have one for free....must have been 25 of them on the pallet.

A lot of factories closing, especially the semiconductor industry "chip" induistry, like Texas Instruments, who have piles of this kind of gear.
Korea buys a lot of the auctioned parts, as Asia is picking up most of the "outsourced" factory work....off topic.

there's a lot of used equipment vendors that buy and sell this junk as the plants are gutted.
 

Attachments

  • ONE AC.JPG
    ONE AC.JPG
    34.9 KB · Views: 229
The Furman voltage regulator is first in line, followed by the Equi=tech, which is then followed by the power distributors like the Furman PL-Plus and Tripplite ISOBAR IBR-12 (also search for it under IBAR12).

I also have a few rack power distributors made by MBT that have a front panel switch for every outlet on the back. I use those in racks where I have gear that doesn't have a power switch, and it allows me to switch them on and off individually. You can see it here:

http://www.wwbw.com/MBT-Power-Center-i20991.music

I don't think the MBT has any kind of filtering or spike protection other than a fuse. But in my case, I already have that through the Furman AR-15.

So phosphene, I do think you want the EMI filtering and spike protection you get in a good power strip. So it's worth having. I just wanted to be clear that that is different than actually conditioning the power.

I like the Tripplite's, that's all I've been buying for years now. It'll cost you around a $100 new, but I really don't think the Monster or other "name" brands have anything over on it.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I use Furman and Tripplite "conditioners".

Just remember that these are really nothing more than glorified power strips with some filtering and spike protection. They don't really condition the power. That's why I don't go crazy spending money on them.

However, I do also own a Furman AR-15 Series II voltage regulator and an Equi=tech balanced power unit. These do actually do something to regulate and condition power. They are also *much* more expensive.

Anything in the $200-300 range is just a power strip, so my opinion is to get a good but not extravagant "conditioner".
Click to expand...

I was looking and, er, I see the Equitech is around $3400? yikes.
 
Mine was not nearly that expensive, but I bought it a while ago. They make a number of models, all rated for different power output.

Make sure you are looking at a 15 amp unit (unless you need a 20 amp), and that the power rating is not more than what you need. They make some pretty big stuff, but I doubt you need that.

You probably should be looking at one of their "Son of Q" series.

http://www.equitech.com/products/rack/sonofqpro.html

These are the later version of what I have. The outlet layout on the back panel look identical. The "Son of Q" 1.5, rated at 1-15 amps, is I think the model that replaced the mine. The street price is $1,500, so it will sell probably around $1,200-1,400 depending on the dealer. That's around what I paid, with a little inflation.
 
I have found the Furman PL-8 to be sort of the sweet spot. It isn't terribly expensive yet it does clean up nasties. I use them for both live and studio and it has saved my butt on numerous occasions taking out near by radio stations, buzzes, and other weirdness.
 
I have a PowerVar three stage torroidal transformer power conditioner that feeds two Triplight units which feed, among other things, two Furman PL-8s. Bought off e-bay for @$140 a couple years ago. I have a straight line from the electrical panel to the outlet for all of this. Seems to work well - it's mostly the stuff you don't notice - like hum that makes this worthwhile.
 
Ok, I guess I'll list my situation here, as see what you come up with. I need to power a ME-1NV, 737sp, RNC, Rosetta, Sytek, Distressor, Headphone amp, roland 1880, and an amp or two (Boogie Mark II), and of course 2 powered monitors and keys sometimes.

Why would someone need a 20amp over a 15? Just for HUGE studios?

I discovered this weekend that the room I record in is NOT grounded (crap!), but I am going to try to remedy this soon. Right now, I have a Furman PLPlus-DM and about 4 hospital grade strips (with "protection").

As you see, my setup isn't that big, so I assume I need the 15amp variety of voltage regulator.

So I understand pretty well what the voltage regulator does. It keeps the voltage at a stable amount (and filters spikes/noise/etc?). Right?

The Son of Qs. Which one do you think I would need, the 1000/1500/2000? Is there a way I can figure that out easily?

One last thing, I just want to see if I understand what a balanced power unit does. Does it just make the regulated power quiet? It does provide some overload protection too? Does it do any filtering as well?

thank you in advance for answering my many questions!
 
I just have a moment right now, so I'll respond to one of your questions.

As far as knowing what size unit to get, you need to add up your power requirements. On the back of your gear, usually right next to the serial number, is a number that tells you the power draw of the unit. Most gear draws less power than a light bulb, but some suck up power pretty heavily.

So what you need to do is take a "power inventory". Add up the watts used by any gear you will have attached to the power distrubtor/balanced power/voltage regulator unit. Once you've added it all up, that will tell you whether you need to buy a 10, 15, or 20 amp unit. Most likely 15 will be more than enough, which is the way you want it.

Your amps and your computer will be the biggest power hogs. The rest will be minimal.
 
Shoot, the FAQ on the Equi=tech page is really helping me understand some stuff. This is good.

Question: Which one should I get first, the voltage regulator, or the balanced power unit?

Question: If you have those two, then that is all the protection you need, so you dont really HAVE to have surge protection in your strips that plug into the balanced power unit.
 
Last edited:
I'd say the voltage regulator comes first.

I don't think you'd need further spike protection after that, but most strips come with it, so you'd almost have to search for units that don't have it. There's nothing wrong with an extra layer of protection anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top