AudioQuest PowerQuest 3 Power Conditioner & Surge Protector Review

[amirm]

ou have ruffled the feathers of Mr. Rubinson‘a coworker:

Love the implication that he has visited every recording studio!

 

[GXAlan]

Love the implication that he has visited every recording studio!
View attachment 72775

Many studios use a Yamaha NS-10M, so maybe we need to just listen to those?

I have seen a line conditioner make an overclocked PC stable, some 20+ years ago. I think those switching power supplies were in the 30 kHz range and PC ATX power supplies were not that sophisticated at the time. Maybe recording studios used it for computer stability 20 years ago also and just never opted to replace or remove them.

Mr. Fremer seems to love Shunyata. That has fancy graphs, but the question is if any of it can be measured from the amplifier or line outs of a component.
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/shunyata_visit_interview.htm

 

[Labjr]

Michael Fremer seems to think that everything sounds better on vinyl even if it was made from a digital master.

 

[GGroch]

I wonder how many people have bought this and imagined amazing improvement to their sound quality hehe

Of the sixteen ratings on Amazon....all but 3 mentioned a major noticeable difference in sound and/or picture quality. No one said they heard/saw no difference, but three reviewers did not mention picture or sound changes. Of the thirteen reviews that heard/saw a difference, a vast majority were quite positive...but no one said the changes were subtle. It was surprising to me how many insisted that "burn in" was necessary for the conditioner to reveal its greatest subjective benefits.

So....if you believe a power conditioner will impact sound or picture quality, then it will.

 

[Labjr]

"Burn in" or "Burn out"?

 

[Bear123]

Of the sixteen ratings on Amazon....all but 3 mentioned a major noticeable difference in sound and/or picture quality. No one said they heard/saw no difference, but three reviewers did not mention picture or sound changes. Of the thirteen reviews that heard/saw a difference, a vast majority were quite positive...but no one said the changes were subtle. It was surprising to me how many insisted that "burn in" was necessary for the condition to reveal its greatest subjective benefits.

So....if you believe a power conditioner will impact sound or picture quality, then it will.

It's amazing how powerful of an impact our imagination has on what we hear.

 

[RayDunzl]

Michael Fremer seems to think that everything sounds better on vinyl even if it was made from a digital master.

Opinion:

A stylus dragged through a groove may provide a certain "immediacy"...

Maybe similar to a live mic feed.

I have a borrowed turntable and some old albums to play with, so I might revisit this idea one day soon.

 

[anmpr1]

Mr. Analog writes: "Generalizing from one power strip to the galaxy of devices... etc." This sort of misguided argument is something you encounter occasionally. The idea of inductive inference and its limitations. For example, one holding this view might argue that if each dog anyone has encountered up till now can't talk, that gives no one any right to presume that ALL dogs can't talk.

I didn't know Fremer was that concerned with scientific methodology and the limits of induction, but his post shows I was wrong. Of course, being the strict methodologist he is, he certainly understands that it is up to those making the unsubstantiated claims to support their arguments first. So to this I would say, "Show us the talking dog Mikey. If you can do that then people might start to take you seriously."

 

[GXAlan]

To add some grease to the fire, the UL clamping voltage is only 500V for the PowerQuest 3.

Cheap $15 surge protectors might be 700V but my basic $30 surge protectors are 500V and Tripp Lite ISOBAR's are 330V. The Belkin PF60 is 330V and at least has some trigger capability.
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2014/02/measurements-belkin-pureav-pf60-power.html

 

[ShiZo]

I have an apc h15 for the voltage regulation and protection, there's no problem with that I would assume.

 

[Thunder240]

A while back I ran my power amp (Odyssey Stratos) plugged into a Panamax line conditioner. There was a low level hum coming from the ampnitself (not the speakers), and it bothered the shit out of me. I called the manufacturer, Klaus Bunge, who asked me what happens when I remove the Panamax and run it straight from the wall? I tried it ... no hum! He then told me “line conditioners tend to do that”.

So, problem solved, except that I lived in Virginia at the time, we had a lot of lightning, and I definitely took at least one nearby strike which caused a surge and destroyed my air conditioning unit. I lived in fear of another, and I definitely wanted surge protection.

Here are the questions. What could explain a class AB amp such as my Stratos producing a hum when plugged into a line conditioner, but not when plugged into a wall? And given the cause whatever it is, is there a way to get decent surge protection for my amp and other audio gear without causing negative effects?

 

[Mashuri]

In my previous home, whenever an electric motor was turned on (like a blender or vacuum), I would get major static / distortion through my speakers. The line noise was horrific. An APC H15 cured the problem.

 

[Tks]

You have ruffled the feathers of Mr. Rubinson‘s coworker:

Gene had me dying about how Fremer's wife isn't hearing any lifting veils and all that lol. Dude got bodied.

 

[Dialectic]

In my previous home, whenever an electric motor was turned on (like a blender or vacuum), I would get major static / distortion through my speakers. The line noise was horrific. An APC H15 cured the problem.

Whatever audio electronics you were using in your previous home had inadequate power supplies.

 

[Sonny1]

Gene had me dying about how Fremer's wife isn't hearing any lifting veils and all that lol. Dude got bodied.

Wow! Hats off to Gene for speaking the truth. ASR is a breath of fresh air. By far, the best audio site I have encountered. It’s also great to see real experts on this site chining in from time to time. ASR is good and keeps getting better.

 

[Dialectic]

You have ruffled the feathers of Mr. Rubinson‘s coworker:
View attachment 72774

I for one hope that Michael Fremer feels so slighted by what he sees on ASR that he quits reviewing, as Michael Lavorgna appeared to do after the Totaldac tests.

From his position as a self-appointed authority in the audio hobby, Fremer makes audio enthusiasts appear to be a bunch of loons (and yes, some of them are).

I saw him, along with his fellow luminaries Peter Breuninger and Alan Taffel, at the one big audio show I've attended. Fremer was running around with a GoPro on his head, Breuninger was kissing every manufacturer's ass, and Alan Taffel interrupted a sublime Mozart recording in the Sony ES room to ask that the latest Lady Gaga album be played instead.

I will never attend another audio show.

 

[Mashuri]

Whatever audio electronics you were using in your previous home had inadequate power supplies.

Denon AVR X4000, Emotiva XMC-1, Emotiva XPA3, Rythmik FV15HP and Polk LSi-9's. You tell me.

 

[Dialectic]

Denon AVR X4000, Emotiva XMC-1, Emotiva XPA3, Rythmik FV15HP and Polk LSi-9's. You tell me.

A relative of mine had a late '90s beefy Sony ES receiver that would pass through power line noise. I would guess it was the Denon receiver, but tough to know for sure.

You should be able to plug a properly designed and functional audio device into the wall and not hear from your loudspeakers whether a vacuum or dishwasher is turned on.

 

[Tks]

Alan Taffel interrupted a sublime Mozart recording in the Sony ES room to ask that the latest Lady Gaga album be played instead.

Lol what the heck?

 

[Mashuri]

A relative of mine had a late '90s beefy Sony ES receiver that would pass through power line noise. I would guess it was the Denon receiver, but tough to know for sure.

You should be able to plug a properly designed and functional audio device into the wall and not hear from your loudspeakers whether a vacuum or dishwasher is turned on.

What was weird is even the XMC-1 gave me that noise. The Rythmik and XPA3 definitely had proper power supplies and remained plugged into the wall. Perhaps the RCA connections were affected but they were very well shielded. I've encountered strange electric gremlins in the IT field (static electricity crashing computers, for example) so who the hell knows what was the final cause of my problem. Once I hooked up the APC I stopped troubleshooting.