davelarz
Well-Known Member
I've gotten so much good guidance from AK over the years, I felt it was high time for me to share some of my experience that might help somebody make a decision. I've been wanting to write something about this situation for a while but just haven't found the time. I'm home sick today, though, and gloriously alone in the house... so here goes.
I recently ended up getting a power conditioner after a long period of reading and cogitation and all-too-overwrought analysis. I was highly suspicious of the whole endeavor and not thrilled at the pricetag involved. But my curiosity was a tractor beam. Anyone who is in a similar quandary, here is my story. May it be of some use to someone.
First off, I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned here or in fact any audio brands whatsoever. But for some subsistence flipping of jazz LPs, audio is entirely a money-losing racket for me.
Now... to skip to the end, I ended up buying a Running Springs Audio Elgar, which is the entry level unit from RSA. It goes for $999 new, I got mine off Audiogon for $650 shipped from The Music Room in Colorado, which allows 30 days to return for any reason. This was an important factor in my purchase because I've never owned a power conditioner before and my understanding is that 1. They are very system dependent, and 2. They can actually make your system sound worse. My reading on the web (extensive reading - like most audio junkies I know, I'm more than a little obsessive/compulsive) brought me to the conclusion that there is only one audiophile consensus on power conditioners - try before you buy.
I didn't start on this endeavor with any sense that I had a "power problem." It was simply that after a system reconfiguration I found myself with an outlet problem - namely, I didn't have enough of them in reach of my rig. Recently I've done a lot of upgrading and tweaking and arrived at a system that I'm very happy with, so I'm really trying to get myself into the permanent set-up phase (as much as such a thing is ever possible) because I'm sick of dicking around with everything every other week. With a full-time job and two full-time kids, I don't have a lot of free time and much as I enjoy the dicking around it does occur to me often that I should be doing something else with that time rather than fiddling with the placement of my vibrapods.
Given my not-enough-outlets issue, I clearly needed some sort of power strip/distribution device, and I wasn't about to run all my gear through a Home Depot special, although maybe that would have been fine, but it just isn't how I roll. So I started investigating... and down the hole I went.
There was a pervasive narrative in nearly every power conditioner review I read, and as I said I read a lot of them, on the train to work, eating my lunch at work, laying awake in bed when I should have been sleeping. I'll summarize that narrative thusly: "I went into this review skeptical of power conditioners, I've had bad experiences with them in the past, but this particular power conditioner that I am reviewing right now is unbelievable, jaw dropping, holy shit, buying review sample how did I live without this..."
My approach to the audiophile affliction is to try as much as possible to simultaneously maintain a position of aggressive distrust and Buddhistic openness to possibility. There is clearly a lot of snake oil out there and balderdash lurks round every corner (I'm looking at you Shun Mook!). That said, over and over again my disbelief has been replaced with wonder. IC's, vibration control, power cables. At one time I felt convinced that these things couldn't possibly have a large impact on my listening experience. I now feel decidedly otherwise.
In my research on power conditioning I discovered that the PS Audio regeneration products - Power Plant Premier, P3, P5, etc. - have a passionate following, but also a decent contingent of detractors (I won't be attempting to explain how any of these products work btw because I don't know and I don't aim to know). The Shunyata scene is even more divided with a plentiful and vocal "con" camp, and my own bygone auditioning experience with Shunyata power cables was not positive so I ruled them out early. There are a lot of smaller, boutique companies that people rave about - Audio Magic, Exact Power, the Circles, Blue and Silver (I have a few Silver Circle Vesuvius power cords and think they are fantastic, best PC's I own, so I feel very positively about this company). The Blue Circle Thingee FX2 with X0e (oh the names of these things) gets a lot of rave reviews as big bang for your buck at $499 for 6 outlets. I really thought about that one but I must say... it's ugly. Check it out if you've never seen it. I believe it does what people say it does but the idea of spending 500 clams on such a thing is tough to swallow. In my system it would be hard to hide.
Passive versus active is a big question in the power conditioning universe, and then there's the whole regeneration business. The regen units are basically large amps and I wasn't into the idea of buying what is essentially another component, most of them really big pieces of kit. Also they can fail, based on my web reading, not that anything can't, but it seems like this is more often an issue with regeneration devices which makes sense to me.
Ultimately I settled on the RSA Elgar because everything I read about the RSA units was positive and one came up used at a good price from a seller that accepts returns for any reason. It's a passive unit, and based on my reading there is a (mild) consensus out there that passive conditioners do the least amount of harm, least likely to rob the music of dynamics, etc. This is something you read about a lot with power conditioning - people audition them and feel like the life has gone out of the music. To understate the case considerably, I was not up for this. The possibility scared me off the whole enterprise for a while.
But like I said - on forums I trust, the RSA units were universally recommended. RSA and Core Power Technologies (I seriously considered an Equi=Core 1200 but couldn't find one under a grand) were the only companies about which I couldn't find a single negative comment or review on the web. The only somewhat negative comment about RSA was on an Audio Circle thread (I think it was Audio Circle) where someone said his impression was that audiophile enthusiasm for RSA had cooled since the company was purchased by API around 2011. That comment was met by a chorus of enthusiastic audiophiles arguing to the contrary.
The Elgar is about breadbox sized (see the pic of it below next to my PrimaLuna amp) and very easy to set up. 15a PC in, 15a PC's out, non-current-limiting, six outlets in all. I ran my whole analog system into it - phono pre, pre and power amp (all tube units - Allnic H1201, ARC LS26, PL Dialogue Premium) and my turntable (VPI Classic 1). The Elgar sits on three carbon cones which don't attach to the base, so it's a little annoying to get it balanced at first but whatever. I put it on a 1.5" slab of maple butcher block which is standard practice for me with just about anything these days.
Continued below...
I recently ended up getting a power conditioner after a long period of reading and cogitation and all-too-overwrought analysis. I was highly suspicious of the whole endeavor and not thrilled at the pricetag involved. But my curiosity was a tractor beam. Anyone who is in a similar quandary, here is my story. May it be of some use to someone.
First off, I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned here or in fact any audio brands whatsoever. But for some subsistence flipping of jazz LPs, audio is entirely a money-losing racket for me.
Now... to skip to the end, I ended up buying a Running Springs Audio Elgar, which is the entry level unit from RSA. It goes for $999 new, I got mine off Audiogon for $650 shipped from The Music Room in Colorado, which allows 30 days to return for any reason. This was an important factor in my purchase because I've never owned a power conditioner before and my understanding is that 1. They are very system dependent, and 2. They can actually make your system sound worse. My reading on the web (extensive reading - like most audio junkies I know, I'm more than a little obsessive/compulsive) brought me to the conclusion that there is only one audiophile consensus on power conditioners - try before you buy.
I didn't start on this endeavor with any sense that I had a "power problem." It was simply that after a system reconfiguration I found myself with an outlet problem - namely, I didn't have enough of them in reach of my rig. Recently I've done a lot of upgrading and tweaking and arrived at a system that I'm very happy with, so I'm really trying to get myself into the permanent set-up phase (as much as such a thing is ever possible) because I'm sick of dicking around with everything every other week. With a full-time job and two full-time kids, I don't have a lot of free time and much as I enjoy the dicking around it does occur to me often that I should be doing something else with that time rather than fiddling with the placement of my vibrapods.
Given my not-enough-outlets issue, I clearly needed some sort of power strip/distribution device, and I wasn't about to run all my gear through a Home Depot special, although maybe that would have been fine, but it just isn't how I roll. So I started investigating... and down the hole I went.
There was a pervasive narrative in nearly every power conditioner review I read, and as I said I read a lot of them, on the train to work, eating my lunch at work, laying awake in bed when I should have been sleeping. I'll summarize that narrative thusly: "I went into this review skeptical of power conditioners, I've had bad experiences with them in the past, but this particular power conditioner that I am reviewing right now is unbelievable, jaw dropping, holy shit, buying review sample how did I live without this..."
My approach to the audiophile affliction is to try as much as possible to simultaneously maintain a position of aggressive distrust and Buddhistic openness to possibility. There is clearly a lot of snake oil out there and balderdash lurks round every corner (I'm looking at you Shun Mook!). That said, over and over again my disbelief has been replaced with wonder. IC's, vibration control, power cables. At one time I felt convinced that these things couldn't possibly have a large impact on my listening experience. I now feel decidedly otherwise.
In my research on power conditioning I discovered that the PS Audio regeneration products - Power Plant Premier, P3, P5, etc. - have a passionate following, but also a decent contingent of detractors (I won't be attempting to explain how any of these products work btw because I don't know and I don't aim to know). The Shunyata scene is even more divided with a plentiful and vocal "con" camp, and my own bygone auditioning experience with Shunyata power cables was not positive so I ruled them out early. There are a lot of smaller, boutique companies that people rave about - Audio Magic, Exact Power, the Circles, Blue and Silver (I have a few Silver Circle Vesuvius power cords and think they are fantastic, best PC's I own, so I feel very positively about this company). The Blue Circle Thingee FX2 with X0e (oh the names of these things) gets a lot of rave reviews as big bang for your buck at $499 for 6 outlets. I really thought about that one but I must say... it's ugly. Check it out if you've never seen it. I believe it does what people say it does but the idea of spending 500 clams on such a thing is tough to swallow. In my system it would be hard to hide.
Passive versus active is a big question in the power conditioning universe, and then there's the whole regeneration business. The regen units are basically large amps and I wasn't into the idea of buying what is essentially another component, most of them really big pieces of kit. Also they can fail, based on my web reading, not that anything can't, but it seems like this is more often an issue with regeneration devices which makes sense to me.
Ultimately I settled on the RSA Elgar because everything I read about the RSA units was positive and one came up used at a good price from a seller that accepts returns for any reason. It's a passive unit, and based on my reading there is a (mild) consensus out there that passive conditioners do the least amount of harm, least likely to rob the music of dynamics, etc. This is something you read about a lot with power conditioning - people audition them and feel like the life has gone out of the music. To understate the case considerably, I was not up for this. The possibility scared me off the whole enterprise for a while.
But like I said - on forums I trust, the RSA units were universally recommended. RSA and Core Power Technologies (I seriously considered an Equi=Core 1200 but couldn't find one under a grand) were the only companies about which I couldn't find a single negative comment or review on the web. The only somewhat negative comment about RSA was on an Audio Circle thread (I think it was Audio Circle) where someone said his impression was that audiophile enthusiasm for RSA had cooled since the company was purchased by API around 2011. That comment was met by a chorus of enthusiastic audiophiles arguing to the contrary.
The Elgar is about breadbox sized (see the pic of it below next to my PrimaLuna amp) and very easy to set up. 15a PC in, 15a PC's out, non-current-limiting, six outlets in all. I ran my whole analog system into it - phono pre, pre and power amp (all tube units - Allnic H1201, ARC LS26, PL Dialogue Premium) and my turntable (VPI Classic 1). The Elgar sits on three carbon cones which don't attach to the base, so it's a little annoying to get it balanced at first but whatever. I put it on a 1.5" slab of maple butcher block which is standard practice for me with just about anything these days.
Continued below...
Last edited: