AC Conditioner Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter TexRoadkill
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TexRoadkill

TexRoadkill

Audio Bum
A Radio Shack nearby is closing and has some good deals on a bunch of crap. One of the things that caught my eye was a SEC 400 Power Conditioner. It is normally $80 and is half price. Nobody there knew anything about it and one guy tried to tell me it was a UPS.

My question is how do I know if this is the type of conditioner that will actually clean up the power. Is there some type of spec I should look for or a test I can try? It is not a regular powerstrip but a small industrial looking rectangular box with 4 plugs.

They also have a UPS for about $150. Are all UPS's true power conditioners? I dont really need battery backup I just want clean power.

The only thing I am getting there for sure is a 12space shock mount SKB for $219.

I appreciate any fast responses because the place is clearing out fast.
 
You generally don't want a UPS to clean up your power- when they are running, they usually produce pretty nasty power. You really want to keep the UPS for your DAW, and not for any analog electronics. We've talked about that here before, but the search function is dead.

I don't know anything about the SEC 400 you describe- but it is probably just something like a hybrid-pi line fiter. It might be useful, but I wouldn't count on it curing any major problems...
 
Oh- it's just a buck/boost autotransformer voltage regulator. No big win, unless you have low/variable voltage on your supply.
 
It might help if it really does the true sine wave output...

:confused:

I dunno myself, and I've heard conflicting reports about the benefits of these things. Without a definitive answer, I'd keep the $40.
 
I was just reading agout this on musicplayers forum.

Most UPS units create a stair step output when running on Battery. Some output the stairstep pattern all the time. But others, such as the OmniSmart from Tripplite and Smart-UPS (700VA and larger) from APC, offer true sinewave output at all times. If you shop around, you will find many quality UPS units that offer true sinewave output. However, those units will cost more than their stairstep counterparts as they offer more than just sinewave output. They also usually offer advanced network monitoring and management, full-time line regulation (a boone for studio work) and often very long battery uptime.

So, if it does turn out that the stairstep AC output of the affordable UPS units is indeed an issue with wordclock, there are many other options out there other than not using a UPS at all.
 
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