Explain Power Conditioning to me?

[Tawlks]

I've had some voltage problems before, and I've heard only great things about Furman products, can someone explain to me the functions of power conditioners to me and what they do, how they work etc.

Thankyou.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

They protect your shit!!

 

[CaseyCor]

Ever use hair conditioner?

It's like that, but for your gear.

 

[jmgman69]

Ever use hair conditioner?

It's like that, but for your gear.

That's funny shit man,I was just gonna post that

 

[CaseyCor]

Ever use hair conditioner?

It's like that, but for your gear.

That's funny shit man,I was just gonna post that

Bahaha

 

[JakeAC5253]

Runs your house power (lots of rampant peaks and voltage peaks/drops) through a few levels of filtering to keep it at a more acceptable range for operating sensitive audio equipment that lots of times, sounds different/better when powered correctly. It's more like running your outlet power through a compressor, clean boost and noise gate... but that sounds nerdy.

Some high end models use the power from the wall to generate an artificial sine wave resulting in 100% clean power rather than a filtered stripped version of your dirty wall power. These tend to be very expensive.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Basically there are two types, both of which are usually combined into one unit.

1. Line noise reduction
2. Voltage over/under surge protection

 

[mboogman]

Unless you get a voltage regulator, (mucho bucks) most "power conditioners" really only protect you from voltage spikes, some better than others. Remember that you get what you pay for. There's a reason why companies like SurgeX exist and can sell power conditioners for $500, and reasons why some Furman products only cost about $50. Most run of the mill power conditioners do eliminate some RF interference, and Electro-magnetic Interference, but only to a point.

$.02

 

[Tawlks]

Ooh.. so.. do these 1u rackmounted devices by Furman just protect my gear from spikes? Or do they regulate it and make it sound better as well?

 

[JakeAC5253]

Ooh.. so.. do these 1u rackmounted devices by Furman just protect my gear from spikes? Or do they regulate it and make it sound better as well?

Any filtering is good filtering. The problem is that most conditioners under a certain price point don't do much more than what a simple power strip from Wal-Store does... Makes your rig look more professional though, and if you are in business for clients then that could be worth more than money Of course in the same breath you DO owe it to your clients to have the best equipment.

 

[deadweight]

I dont know if its this power saver thing that we have installed in our house's panel but my amp was destroying tubes almost weekly. So I bought a furman power conditioner (lower end) about $160 which has a incoming voltage readout. The voltage that runs into my amp ranges from 115 to 140 volts within short periods of time but my tubes havent fucked up once since i bought it, therefore making it pretty much the most important piece of equipment in my rig.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

This is the newer version of what's in my 20 space rack.

Here's one on ebay, new for $260

https://cgi.ebay.com/FURMAN-PL-PRO-C-PLP ... 27b3161cb9

http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... id=PL-PROC

 

[nevusofota]

This is next on my list because it also regulates.
I blew some preamp tubes due to bad power at an outside show on an army base a few weeks ago. I was using an old Rack Rider by Furman (cheap) and still had issues with bad power.
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... id=AR-1215

 

[Ventura]

All the above, and basically, providing the unit is doing what it's supposed to and it's not just a breaker-equipped POS, a conditioner:
- takes the outlet power and through transformers within the unit, maintains it at 120V or 110V or whatever voltage is required.
- takes the current and does the same thing, whether it be 2A or whatever is being provided, it doesn't allow for fluctuations to pass through to the gear on the other end.
- filters out hums, noises and ground hiss.
- comes replete with breakers in the event you're demanding too much from your 'one' power source, typically shuts down in a sequential pattern as to avoid ON/OFF shock to the gear.
- spikes are typically less damaging than 'brown outs' and brown outs happen a lot more than spikes. A brown out is a sustained period of time where either or both the voltage and the current being delivered from the source are well under spec. When a load is required to have so much current, this lack of current can actually cause more damage than a spike.

V.

 

[Bishop5150]

I'm currently using a Monster power strip thing I got from Guitar Center and I know I need something better. I'm thinking of getting one of these. http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... d=P-1800PF They also have a rack version of it also. http://www.furmansound.com/product.php? ... d=P-1800AR Anybody use either of these? I've heard pretty good things about them. Seems from their description that they would cover all our guitar needs.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Someone once told me that if you aren't going to go with the high end Furman products that you should look into Juice Goose. Never tried it, but it seems a reasonable enough assumption.

 

[titanamps]

how much you spend on the power supply should depend on how much you gig and how much your rig cost you.

for instance, if you have $15K worth of gear in a rack, you'd be a moron to put a regular power conditioner in there because one good surge could kill it all.

however, if you have $500 in gear, it'd be pretty stupid to spend another $500 on a voltage regulator.

a power conditioner sorta filters crap out, but it won't do much about the voltages your gear sees. a voltage regulator will maintain a constant voltage out as long as the voltage in is within a given range.

if you have a tube amp, it's important to have consistent voltage to it because the B+ in the amp will vary by a lot more than the wall voltage. if the B+ is 500VDC one night and 400VDC the next, you'll hear it.

my $.02

 

[Spaceboy]

I'm open to suggestions on budget power conditioners. Cheapest possible, but I don't want to spend a hundred bucks or more on something no better than a surge protector. I'm not going to be protecting a high-price rig, just an amp, pedalboard, and some minor rack gear. I get the best sound from a cheap rig for my current band, but it still needs protection.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I'm open to suggestions on budget power conditioners. Cheapest possible, but I don't want to spend a hundred bucks or more on something no better than a surge protector. I'm not going to be protecting a high-price rig, just an amp, pedalboard, and some minor rack gear. I get the best sound from a cheap rig for my current band, but it still needs protection.

Try a Juice Goose 8.0L. That's the one I would get, and it's not too pricey.

 

[petejt]

Which is a good quality but affordable voltage regulator for Australia? (240 volts)

I really need one for the house I just moved into, but so far I can't find anything that suits.