Residential Voltage -- Amp Content

Panhead5

Well-known member
I have all my gear in my basement Jam room and decided to fire everything up last night.I play most days but last night every single amp sounded like fizzy brittle shit. Nothing sounded good at all . I originally thought it was my ears but I thought about it this morning and wondered if the line voltage to my house was off or too high / low etc. Not sure ! So I call my amp guru buddy and he says that will absolutely make the amps sound crappy especially if the voltage is high . I thought the electric company might have put a variac on my house !! He mentioned he saw something about Dave Friedman addressing this issue .

Anybody experienced this or have a solution ?? I got thinking that I a have a power conditioner on my rack unit but all my amps are plugged into wall outlets.
 
You can buy a digital voltmeter for around $10. This will let you confirm what voltage your wall outlets are putting out.

If it's consistently high, you can consider using a variac on your amps to bring it down to ~115V. Friedman has commented on line voltage regulators (e.g. Furman AR1215) messing with tone, so I'd avoid those.
 
Get a good UPS that holds the output to a steady voltage. Not a cheap one that jumps to various output voltage levels.
 
AmpRx Brown Box might address this. Been meaning to pick one up but they ain't cheap for something so simple.
 
I control my voltage through Wall Outlet>Variac>Furman P1800AR… I can plug 8 amps into the Furman and control the voltage the amps see with the variac. My native line voltages vary as much as 120-127V without controlling them. Now, I can dial-in the voltage to an optimal 117V… or, whatever I want to fine tune it to. It’s not a cheap solution, but, it really works!
 
Yes, I went through this a few years ago. I was told the electric co. can give me voltage anywhere from 112v to 128 volts legally.

I have have a constant reading of about 126v, so I variac down to 120v into my Furman power strip.

I was told (by Furman tech) that if I want to document the voltage many times a day for many days, I could maybe get the electric co, to do something about it. Like putting a step down resister on the pole.
 
Sound treat your room. It can be done for as cheap $1 a sqft and you don't needn100% coverage. It's basically the high frequency standing waves, which can be affected by power, humidity placement, etc.. For about $200 you can get a much more pleasing and consistent in room listening experience
 
I’d recommend putting everything on a UPS with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation). I have 2 of them, one for my amps and pedals and another for my computer and rack gear (AxeFx, H9, type effects). I’m not sure the current prices, but I bought these years ago for about $120 each. These are your standard consumer grade ups’s that keep a constant voltage and protect your gear from spikes and surges.

I plug my power conditioners into the UPS and then my gear into the rack power conditioner.

Here’s a quick search for UPS with AVR:
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=Ups&SrchInDesc=AVR
 
Thanks for the replies. I wish I had done more research when this happened but I really didn't think about it but things really sounded BAD .
 
I have from 120v up to 128v in my music room. Bought a Variac, and now I keep it in the 117v to 120v range. The Juice Goose goes into the Variac, and the amps and pedal power go into the Juice Goose. Works for me.

I do like the idea of the UPS though.
 
I’d recommend putting everything on a UPS with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation). I have 2 of them, one for my amps and pedals and another for my computer and rack gear (AxeFx, H9, type effects). I’m not sure the current prices, but I bought these years ago for about $120 each. These are your standard consumer grade ups’s that keep a constant voltage and protect your gear from spikes and surges.

I plug my power conditioners into the UPS and then my gear into the rack power conditioner.

Here’s a quick search for UPS with AVR:
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=Ups&SrchInDesc=AVR
I'm on that link. How do I know which one to get for a small home studio?
 
By my experience voltage does nothing to tone, if i change voltage in the variac the volume of the amp changes but the tone is the same.

I don't think i'd go as far as to say it does *nothing*, but if there is any difference it is super fucking subtle in my opinion (at least with the amps I own anyway).

Then again I never rebias my amps to the voltage I set with my variac; maybe that'd make a bigger difference
 
I don't think i'd go as far as to say it does *nothing*, but if there is any difference it is super fucking subtle in my opinion (at least with the amps I own anyway).

Then again I never rebias my amps to the voltage I set with my variac; maybe that'd make a bigger difference
Maybe because of the master volume. Maybe it's all pre amp he is hearing.
 
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