AudioQuest PowerQuest 3 Video Review (AC Filter/Surge Protector)

[amirm]

This is a video review of a test I have already done on the AudioQuest PowerQuest 3 AC Filter and Surge Protector: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wer-conditioner-surge-protector-review.14580/

As a bonus, I also briefly cover the topic of surge protection devices and best way of deploying them. And a teaser about future testing of AC mains.

 

[StevenEleven]

This is a video review of a test I have already done on the AudioQuest PowerQuest 3 AC Filter and Surge Protector: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wer-conditioner-surge-protector-review.14580/

As a bonus, I also briefly cover the topic of surge protection devices and best way of deploying them. And a teaser about future testing of AC mains.

Really enjoyed that! 20 min. is about the perfect length. Since I am not educated in electricity I always learn something new and interesting in these types of videos.

A super-condensed video about the basics of electricity would be great for me, though I guess that might be getting too basic for most folks. I think I could go 60 minutes on that one. I have tried to learn about it on my own but I always feel like I just didn't quite get it. Volts, watts, amperes, ohms, inductance, capacitance, resistance, I get it in bits and pieces but I have a hard time synthesizing it. My brain always wants to picture it working like water and at some point that analogy breaks down really badly. Just a thought.

 

[amirm]

super-condensed video about the basics of electricity would be great for me, though I guess that might be getting too basic for most folks. I think I could go 60 minutes on that one. I have tried to learn about it on my own but I always feel like I just didn't quite get it. Volts, watts, amperes, ohms, inductance, capacitance, resistance, I get it in bits and pieces but I have a hard time synthesizing it. My brain always wants to picture it working like water and at some point that analogy breaks down really badly. Just a thought.

It is a good suggestion. I just have to figure out a way to make it a good story to tell that is engaging. Otherwise, just giving folks textbook definitions will be boring and not what I try to do in my channel. Let me think about it.

 

[diddley]

Great debunk again, there goes a whole industry of surge protectors lmao

 

[Tks]

So, I can just toss this thing in the garbage?

Been running a Plasma for over 10 years through this (dad says, the filtration "cleans" up the signal integrity and is what has allowed the plasma TV not to die as quickly as others). He says he doesn't know the degradation rate of each of the components themselves, by suffering from less cleaner electricity, at least in theory, the "cleaner" a sine wave is - the less thermal micro-stress on components there is. (he was an electrician before the advent of digital and all the cool advances we have now with components, so think something like the 70's is when he was finished). Kinda seems plausible given that his TV isn't suffering any defects, and I know people who's plasma started to deteriorate in far less than 10+ years.


Idk the thing is kinda cool looking, but I have no idea what it actually does aside from light up colors when it's on.

EDIT: Btw, the AudioQuest surge protector filters stuff above 30kHz, useless for audio, or is it? Like if you run a NOS DAC for example, would this filter all the junk garbage above that? Or from those ass DAC filters that attenuate well, but then start rising up as you go into the ultrasonic frequencies?

 

[Swtoby]

Thank you for the informative video. There is one thing I'm unclear on: if a surge unit can possibly blow up and a whole house option is not available, is it better to use just a power strip with no protection or one that does?

 

[Helicopter]

My sources are AM radio and VCR. Won't the filter help during storms?

Another Fraudioquestionable debunking video. Very entertaining and informative. Thanks!

 

[IVX]

AC filters are cheap and ineffective stuff, AC regenerators are in another league

 

[JustJones]

Good video I use a panamax mainly for the extra outlets and hopefully any small spikes. I had a whole house put in the panel box when I had it switched out. I never thought it would help the sound just hoped it would show the insurance I made an effort just in case.

 

[Swtoby]

This video has made me wonder if surge protection devices are snake oil to some degree also. The consensus is nothing will survive a direct lightening strike. Whole house, surge protectors or a combo, you're screwed in that event. But I have read such strikes are rare. That leaves the other surge events. I understand audio gear has built in surge protection just as it does filtering for power line anomalies as Amir has demonstrated. Then I consider my clock radio. That thing has been plugged into the wall thru lightening storms, snow and ice storms and power outages. It keeps working no problem. Ultimately, is surge protection even necessary if simple precautions are taken like unplugging things when on vacation? But day to day are these things also a waste of money?

 

[Lambda]

dad says, the filtration "cleans" up the signal integrity and is what has allowed the plasma TV not to die as quickly as others).

Nice, now you have a working 10+ Years old plasma TV in 2021.
You could have bought a news 4K tv for less money then this devices costs.
(and it is probely not helping at all)

 

[Tks]

Nice, now you have a working 10+ Years old plasma TV in 2021.
You could have bought a news 4K tv for less money then this devices costs.
(and it is probely not helping at all)

Hehe, I don't watch it, I'd have trashed it ages ago, but he has some delusion about how nothing after plasma can match it. I got my own of course, I was just curious to know if that thing actually did anything at all in reality.

 

[Somafunk]

I have to hold my hand up and admit I use two Tacima 6 way surge protected extension cords in my room, in my defence they are cheap at £40 and are built very well compared to a bog standard £10 extension. I’m under no illusions regarding the “improvement“ in sound quality though, that’s a foo-step too far.

Tacima 6 way extension

 

[617]

AC filters are cheap and ineffective stuff, AC regenerators are in another league

I've always been a fan of battery powered phono preamps, at least in theory.

 

[Doodski]

I have to hold my hand up and admit I use two Tacima 6 way surge protected extension cords in my room, in my defence they are cheap at £40 and are built very well compared to a bog standard £10 extension. I’m under no illusions regarding the “improvement“ in sound quality though, that’s a foo-step too far.

Tacima 6 way extension

I admit I've bought a large filtering/protective power bar but it was mostly for the reason that it had lotsa power connections and had ample space for walwarts too.

 

[Lambda]

Something Like thins might actually help.
The transformer "naturally" filters some HF and in case of a catastrophic over voltage it saturates the fuse can blow and MOV actually has chance because of the output impedance of the transformer.

But you would need to make sure the output side also has "Clean" low impedance Earth/ground

 

[Fred H]

Anybody ever try out a ZeroSurge? I use them to protect from spikes on the power line that would reset a prepro that I no longer have. They are not cheap, starting at $210, but are marketed without any audio hype -- just protection. I put one on a burglar alarm in rural VT that had been blown up three times by nearby lightning strikes, it's still there 15 years later protecting the same alarm unit. Their site says: "removes EMI/RFI noise disturbances from the power line without wear or degradation to the components", so maybe it would do what the AudioQuest promised to do.

 

[amirm]

Anybody ever try out a ZeroSurge?

I have not but they claim to have been the first company to have patented this method of non-destructive surge protection. They have transformers and such in them so not cheap to build.

 

[amirm]

So, I can just toss this thing in the garbage?

I have one of those Monsters at our other house. Bought it because it has a voltage and current meter which I found handy. It is quite a beefy device with a lot of bits in it but as far as I recall, it is not UL certified.

 

[BDWoody]

Know much about SurgeX? I got one of these at Goodwill.
This is the SX2120.