EquiTech 1.5RQ Balanced Power Review

[Ingenieur]

Many recording studios using balance transformers manufactured by EquiTech and Torus power. What's the definition of your "so much"? People using Hi-End gears are willing to pay over $10K to get extra 2%(hard to quantify but definitely hearable) improvements.

I know in this forum many people are singing cheap good measurement Chinese DAC, but do they sound better than Hi-End DACs? In most cases, not really.

The question should be does a $10k DAC sound better than a $150 Topping.
The answer is not really,

 

[Ingenieur]

On a separate note, old operating rooms had an isolation transformer (and a line isolation monitor, LIM) to feed balanced AC to the OR equipment. Doing so allowed to protect operators (and patients) from macro-shocks delivered when the metal equipment cases of the 1960-1970’s equipment would become energized (“hot”) from a black wire that had the insulation frayed and in contact with the metal case. Once the AC power was balanced you would not get electrocuted by the 20-30A current by a simple single fault, but only by a double fault scenario (you required both line 1 and 2 wires to be in contact with the skin of the operator), making less likely the macro-shock event.
The presence of a ground wire and grounded equipment would not guarantee protection from macro-shock, converting it into a micro-shock, as a ground fault (plug missing ground pin, ground wire interrupted) would not place the system in a fail-safe mode: everything would run as expected even with a fault grounding.

Current electric code in the US for the OR’s has eliminated the isolation transformer and it has chosen the ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) as the method of choice to prevent macro-shocks. The double insulation and the widespread use of non-conductive plastics for electrical and electronic OR devices has probably also helped to move past the clever choice of isolation transformers. However, GFCI, when activated, do stop the functioning of electrical equipment by opening the AC circuit, and in some cases it is not an acceptable fail-safe mode of protection (think of a large volume infuser for massive trauma blood infusion that stops warming and pumping blood products in a patient who desperately needs resuscitation).

I am puzzled by the prohibition of balanced AC in residential location by the Electrical Code, as it would by definition make the balanced fed equipment way less likely to macro-shock the user.

imo more likely
The N (supposedly a grounded conductor is not) so elevated 60 V.
If not on a GFI no real difference being shocked by 60 or 120 mA, only a bit longer until fibrillation.

Imagine an internal N (or L) fault BEFORE the GFI.
Assume 1.5 Ohm for fault Z
If = 60/1.5 = 40 A
But since the xfmr is 120:60 x 2 the primary I is only 20 A.
It would sit and cook.
Power primary = 120 x 20 = 2400 VA
Power secondary = 60 x 40 = 2400 VA

 

[Deleted member 43441]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the EquiTech 1.5RQ (also called 1.5Q) Balanced Mains Power. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,700.

The 1.5Q is not much to look at but boy, does it weigh a ton at 70 pounds!

View attachment 140956

The sole display either shows the incoming voltage or outgoing.
View attachment 140957

Balanced power takes a 120 volt RMS incoming feed and produces two out of phase 60 volt feeds which gives you the same differential 120 volt. This is said to do all kinds of things from reducing noise to making your music sound better. From the company:

"If you haven’t heard your sound system with a Model Q powering it, you are missing something truly great. You might just find yourself replaying all of your old music again and again as if hearing it for the first time with a new appreciation for detail, clarity and remarkable bass definition that you have never experienced before. Many of our customers have told us that their Model Q was the one component above all others in their system that accounted for the biggest difference in sonic quality. Source components and amplifiers benefit equally from their use. "

Important Note: in US, national electric code (NEC, article 647) disallows use of balanced power in residential use. It is only allowed in commercial installations where they assume proper power distribution and labeling of outlets is used to warn improper use. With the chassis of the equipment now potentially flowing up to 60 volts, risk of electric shock or worse is there.

I know a lot of audiophiles buy products like this, or have the fixed version attached to their service entrance and such. But that doesn't excuse the inherent risks involved.

Equitech 1.5RQ Measurements
Before we look at what a power improvement product does, we need to quantify the incoming power which varies from location to location. To do this, I used a high-voltage differential probe to cleanly sample the AC mains and bring its voltage down to a safe manner to analyze with my Audio Precision.

NOTE: Do not attempt to do this on your own unless you fully understand what you are doing. Improver connection to mains using sound cards and such could have catastrophic consequences to you and your equipment. I have take special precautions here and even so, this is dangerous work.

View attachment 140958

As I have shown before, my AC mains is not some ideal perfect sine wave. Yours is likely similar. We see the waveform itself is visibly distorted on top left due to high levels of distortion. FFT spectrum shows the nature of the distortions added to it.

My differential probe divides the incoming voltage by 100 so multiply the voltages by that as you read them and as I have annotated. We have 122 volt RMS or 168 volt peak.

Now let's do the same but route the power through EquiTech 1.5RQ and sample its "digital outlets:"
View attachment 140959

With one minor exception, nothing has changed. Same high distortion of nearly 9% with tons of harmonics and noise in the audible band. There is a reduction of 120 Hz harmonic however but that amplitude ws quite small to start with. Our sine wave is still visibly distorted.

Maybe the improvements are higher frequencies. So let's expand the measurement bandwidth to 1 MHz and see what we get:

View attachment 140962

Nothing. Everything is as bad as without 1.5Q.

Since we never listen to the AC mains (!), let's hook up an amplifier and measure its output. I decided to use my Purifi reference design amplifier for this purpose. Let's pull up its dashboard using straight mains AC power:

View attachment 140960

We see the excellent measurements we have come to love about this amplifier. Now let's route its AC mains through Equitech 1.5Q and see if there is any improvement:

View attachment 140961

I can't see anything. This is at modest power however. Let's perform a full power sweep and see what we get:

View attachment 140963

Ah, performance actually degrades a bit with 1.5RQ! I repeated the measurements with and without it and the results are exactly as you see.

Company talks about better power factor. What is power factor? Ideally your load would consume current at proportional to voltage. That is, the two are in sync. That only happens for a resistive load (e.g. a traditional light bulb). Many electronic devices we have use current out of phase with voltage. Resistive loads produce a power factor of 1.0. Anything else is a reduction and makes it harder for the power company to deliver energy to you. Let's measure the Purifi amp's power factor and efficiency of the 1.5Q:

View attachment 140964

As we see, the power factor by itself is quite poor at 0.38. There are switching power supplies with power factor correction. The hypex one that Purifi is using is not one of them. EquiTech 1.5 improves this to 58%.

On the down side, there are losses due to the transformers in this box. Power consumption goes up to the tune of 31%. So the box gives you one thing, and takes back another.

Note that in US you don't get any benefit from using your power with 1.0 power factor in residential setting. In commercial installations however, you could get charged extra for low power factor.

Conclusions
Unlike many power tweaks, the Equitech 1.5RQ does what it says: it delivers balanced/differential power to your equipment. Beyond that, lots of claims are made that simply are not objective. Our audio equipment doesn't feed AC mains to our speakers/headphones. Power is always converted to DC with lots of filtering before use. For this reason as you see, there is no improvement to be had. And at any rate, this box doesn't even clean up the AC signal in any significant way.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the EquiTech 1.5RQ balanced power. It does what it says it does but you don't need it. And certainly not at this kind of price.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

I don’t get the point of this device, and my brain hurt after reading the first couple of paragraphs lol.

Thanks again for the review.

 

[vzman]

This device definitely will stop some humming devices from humming in a home setting. I find it very effective when multiple devices with three prong plugs are in my stereo system.

It's been repeated that this device fixes ground loops. This is not quite accurate, though it will stop most noise caused by ground loops. Ground loops themselves are formed by various inter-device cabling configurations and those loops can only be "fixed" by re-cabling or isolating or ground lifting.

So how does it stop ground loops from causing audible problems?

In ground loops, two mechanisms (IIRC) induce noise in the signal cabling: different, non-zero ground potentials at various points in a ground loop will drive current through the loop, and less commonly, nearby electric fields can couple AC hum into the inductive physical loop of the ground loop.

This device stops the first mechanism. It reduces, if not zeroes out, the ground potential of each ground connection w.r.t. the main ground for every device that's plugged in. If all grounds are at the same potential, no ground currents will flow around ground loops, so ground loop noise is eliminated without recabling anything.

It does this by balancing the line and neutral wires w.r.t. ground. As usual, these wires connect to devices' power supplies. The noise and voltage differentials that are *created* by power supplies and normally injected back into the power wires are nulled on the ground instead of modulating the ground for that device. If all grounds of the devices in a loop are at the same potential, no ground current will flow through the loop and the signal-carrying cabling won't have hum and noise currents injected into them and carried to the next devices.

Note that noise created by power supplies and injected into the grounding system is not affected in any way when moving from AC to UPS or battery or PV power. And also note that "fixing the system" will not stop power supplies from injecting noise into the ground either unless such fixing includes redesigning and rebuilding the power supplies in "defective" devices.

This solution fails to some extent when the noise created by a power supply is not injected equally back into the line and neutral feeds. But most linear power supplies are pretty symmetric around the DC ground and power transformer center tap so the noise on each supply wire does cancel in the balanced power's ground. I think this applies the the initial stages of SMPS supplies but I'm not certain of that. But this is the main weakness of balanced power in terms of reducing system noise.

Finally, the two power switches in the device are actually circuit breakers that interrupt both line and neutral. If there is a fault that connects the balanced power's ground to the facility ground, with the dangerous 60VAC differential between the two grounds that in part motivates the NEC to forbid this type of secondary power in homes, I believe that one or both of these breakers will trip. I also think the main GFCI would also trip if a large current leaked from the balanced side of the device to the facility ground. I'm hedging these statement because I haven't given the device much thought in many years and don't recall the precise configuration of these protective elements. Even so, I tell visitors who might be putting a dac or something into my system, to make sure to plug it into the equitech and not the wall outlet.

I got my $5K equitech for $300 from an audiophile who trashed the AC outlets on the back by using ridiculousy heavy and stiff aftermarket power cords. After dropping another hundred dollars on good quality duplex outlets, GFCI(s), some other miscellanea, and a few hours rebuilding, I no longer chase the occasional ground loop hum and noise.

 

[Bghead8che]

What is the consensus on Furman products?

Discrete Symmetrical Power Filter, 20 Amp | Furman Power

Clean and condition your AC power while meeting the extreme AC power demands of amplifiers with Power Factor Technology.

furmanpower.com

 

[Geert]

What is the consensus on Furman products?

Without measurements and a clarification of the design, no concensus I guess.

 

[Dayz]

Hi @amirm

I appreciate all your work and reviews. They are second to none. Can you simply state what was the noise floor drop across just the electrical noise floor in the monitors vs. then having this separating from house power? Generally, that is what pro audio is after with "clean power" and getting to hear the widest dynamic range. This company has solutions in play with folks proving out they work, but maybe in particular studio scenario vs. testing scenario is different.

Also - it would be power efficiency and pushing studio control room scenarios at certain volumes and certain frequency ranges efficiently is where the Equitech solutions have shined, again in use case examples of studios+producers implementing a safe productized version of "big transformers"....

Thanks as always -

David

 

[Hammer]

Hi, found this posting/review and read it with great interest because I own an Equitech 7.5Q (I’m in the US and this unit takes 240V and converts it to 120V) and use it with my Bryston amps and have always thought the unit made a positive impact on the overall quality of my system. After reading this, I removed the Equitech from my system and listened to see if there was any difference. And I have to say the system did not sound as good without it. Now, I don’t have any measurements to back this up, but assuming there is a difference, good or bad, or simply personal preference, what could be causing the difference if the conclusion is that these units do not have any impact?

Thanks!

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Hi, found this posting/review and read it with great interest because I own an Equitech 7.5Q (I’m in the US and this unit takes 240V and converts it to 120V) and use it with my Bryston amps and have always thought the unit made a positive impact on the overall quality of my system. After reading this, I removed the Equitech from my system and listened to see if there was any difference. And I have to say the system did not sound as good without it. Now, I don’t have any measurements to back this up, but assuming there is a difference, good or bad, or simply personal preference, what could be causing the difference if the conclusion is that these units do not have any impact?

Thanks!

Inherent bias of a sighted not controlled test is most likely causing you perceiving a difference.

Audio Blind Testing - You Are Doing It Wrong! (Video)

Just uploaded a video on the basics of performing controlled tests in audio. It was motivated by saving myself text in having to write all of this down when telling someone who to do these tests right. And as a counter to a few online personalities to keep saying they do "blind" tests yet when...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Doogie Howser]

These things work minor miracles in production environments!

 

[fpitas]

Many recording studios using balance transformers manufactured by EquiTech and Torus power. What's the definition of your "so much"? People using Hi-End gears are willing to pay over $10K to get extra 2%(hard to quantify but definitely hearable) improvements.

I know in this forum many people are singing cheap good measurement Chinese DAC, but do they sound better than Hi-End DACs? In most cases, not really.

Recording studios stand to lose thousands of dollars and paying customers on the off chance something on the line gets through and ruins a recording. And please explain what we have missed when we measure cheap DACs here, that they don't sound good.

Also, as people note here, a regular isolation transformer with an interwinding shield is a lot cheaper.

 

[milosz]

Isolating chassis grounds to break ground loops can stop noise from being introduced into recording chains or home entertainment systems. There are cheaper ways to do it that work just as well as this over-priced thing.

 

[Doogie Howser]

Isolating chassis grounds to break ground loops can stop noise from being introduced into recording chains or home entertainment systems. There are cheaper ways to do it that work just as well as this over-priced thing.

It is really only over-priced if you have nothing much to lose. Which is fine. The audio equipment of most people here probably spends much of the week powered off, and it is probably inconsequential in the wider scheme of life if it gets turn on during the week at all. Obviously an equitech doesn't make a lot of financial sense in that situation. Heck, all of the audio equipment might not make a lot of financial sense!

The main reason these things make their way into professional environments is because they protect reputations more than anything. Setting up one microphone to record an interview with one person probably seems pretty straight forward to most technically competent people. If that one person turns out to be a high profile public figure or former world leader, the stakes significantly higher. If the interview ends up being live-to-air rather than prerecorded, the stakes go through the roof. It is no longer a $5000 Equitech. It is a dual UPS system with a fail-over backup generator, and more often than not a studio and recording room that is built into a grounded faraday cage.

The big problem with relying on just wiring configurations to sort out grounding is that few professional setups ever remain statically configured. They always ebb and flow. Gear comes and goes with clients. Setups change based on the specific use case on any given day. As bulletproof or foolproof as possible is usually the aim of the game. Equitech is a bit like a hardware internet firewall in that sense. You don't buy it because you are always getting hacked... you buy it because there might just be that one day when you do, and the dent it would put into your reputation and the related financial loss far exceed the initial investment in the hardware firewall in the first place.

Nobody wants to be Larson Studios...

 

[milosz]

It is really only over-priced if you have nothing much to lose. Which is fine. The audio equipment of most people here probably spends much of the week powered off, and it is probably inconsequential in the wider scheme of life if it gets turn on during the week at all. Obviously an equitech doesn't make a lot of financial sense in that situation. Heck, all of the audio equipment might not make a lot of financial sense!

The main reason these things make their way into professional environments is because they protect reputations more than anything. Setting up one microphone to record an interview with one person probably seems pretty straight forward to most technically competent people. If that one person turns out to be a high profile public figure or former world leader, the stakes significantly higher. If the interview ends up being live-to-air rather than prerecorded, the stakes go through the roof. It is no longer a $5000 Equitech. It is a dual UPS system with a fail-over backup generator, and more often than not a studio and recording room that is built into a grounded faraday cage.

The big problem with relying on just wiring configurations to sort out grounding is that few professional setups ever remain statically configured. They always ebb and flow. Gear comes and goes with clients. Setups change based on the specific use case on any given day. As bulletproof or foolproof as possible is usually the aim of the game. Equitech is a bit like a hardware internet firewall in that sense. You don't buy it because you are always getting hacked... you buy it because there might just be that one day when you do, and the dent it would put into your reputation and the related financial loss far exceed the initial investment in the hardware firewall in the first place.

Nobody wants to be Larson Studios...

You can isolate chassis by using garden variety isolation transformers which cost less than $200 each. Five of them will cost far less than this overpriced unit and be absolutely just as effective. Price does not equal quality or technical capability. Throwing money at problems doesn't increase the likelihood that they will be solved.

Yes, faraday cages cost money and can offer protection against RFI- what does that have to do with this Equitech? It can't screen RFI from entering signal paths. It's only a solution that can break ground loops, and there are far less costly ways to do that.

 

[amirm]

These things work minor miracles in production environments!

Minor miracle it is. Let's look at the company testimonials on this front:

"On “Genius + Soul = Jazz” Mr. Charles located a master that was in wonderful condition and on playback it was like the control room walls had disappeared. "

That is a real miracle, not just minor.

"During our 20-day trial day period, we installed this in our 16-track Studio C (where we currently have a 24-input Alesis X2 console and two Alesis ADAT digital multitrack recorders) and noticed a significant decrease in the overall noise on the stereo bus and a definite increase in the clarity and quality of the audio produced in the studio. "

Another major miracle.

"The Equitech ET5R at Heitor’s project studio is amazing. We’re up to the mix stage of the record, and everything is working perfectly. If you ever need an endorsement for an ad, or a referral for others considering Equi=Tech, feel free to call."

Damned by faint praise so let's call this one minor miracle.

All of these claims which I assume is the best they can find is folklore. No proper measurements of noise before and after. And proper troubleshoot before and after.

Yes, pros have adopted but their deployment is on the same footing as consumer use. Come back when you have real, objective proof points of performance.

 

[milosz]

In order to show that there is any objective reality to claims that there was "a significant decrease in the overall noise on the stereo bus" we need to see some measurements; then I'd like to compare those measurements to measurements of the improvement in S/N ratio afforded by a $200 ordinary isolation transformer.

Now, in order to see if there REALLY was "a definite increase in the clarity and quality of the audio produced in the studio" we'd need to demonstrate that there is OBJECTIVE REALITY behind this statement. This would require well-designed blind listening tests that can eliminate the possibility that listeners only THINK they heard an improvement in the sound, instead of there ACTUALLY being an improvement in sound that can be demonstrated statistically.

There seems to be a huge ignorance of epistemology among members of the audio community.

 

[Doogie Howser]

But how can you possibly say that when the simplicity of the original test directly implies that most people here must be gullible and ignorant? The only way the original test in this thread has value is if you swallowed every word the company said in their marketing spiel. PSI Audio say their A-25s are the most accurate speakers ever made. Do you believe them? I don't. I would have thought most people here would be pretty naturally sceptical of audio product marketing... that is why they are here. There is a fine line between informing people, and treating them with the same contempt and assumptions of ignorance and gullibility as the very manufacturers you claim to be fighting against. It is a bit ridiculous really.

Absolutely the worth of these things is in the transformer. Such a wide variety of gear, computers, vintage stuff comes through professional facilities that you can't guarantee there is no chassis leakage problems kicking around on any given day. The Equitech is a good solution to a specific problem. It isn't going to address hiss in a system. It isn't going to fix AC filament noise in valve based design. And of course, it absolutely isn't the only solution available. I can get a professionally made version certified to local standards for about $1300 here. The Equitech is astronomically priced locally, given the additional costs of shipping a big ugly toroidal half way around the planet. What other people here have access to in terms of custom or off the shelf alternatives, I have no idea.

The speaker measurements in the place are terrific because they allow people to make informed decisions. The testing criteria has a lot of context that aids in that. There is absolutely no reason why this thread and the original tests couldn't go deeper. Context is important. Pros and cons are important. Test a $200 transformer. Get to the bottom of where and why stuff like this might be beneficial so that people can make their own informed decisions. Designing a test purely to dispel a disingenuous marketing spiel is really just as disingenuous in the wider scheme of things. It throws the baby out with the bathwater, even if that baby is something as simple as empowering a person to order an Equitech from a local dealer with a return policy to troubleshoot some noise issues in their system before sending it back the next day.

If you set the bar at an assumption of people being gullible and ignorant, they are going to remain gullible and ignorant.

 

[milosz]

2.5 amp isolation transformer; faraday shield, surge suppressor, etc. $95 from Amazon => https://www.amazon.com/AV250-Isolat...07TJHXSD5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Need a bigger one? Here's a 1000 KVA unit for $395 https://www.amazon.com/Generic-IS1000-TRIPP-LITE-ISOLATION-TRANSFORMER/dp/B00IDV4GZI

Heck of a lot less money than the boutique items.

 

[fpitas]

But how can you possibly say that when the simplicity of the original test directly implies that most people here must be gullible and ignorant? The only way the original test in this thread has value is if you swallowed every word the company said in their marketing spiel. PSI Audio say their A-25s are the most accurate speakers ever made. Do you believe them? I don't. I would have thought most people here would be pretty naturally sceptical of audio product marketing... that is why they are here. There is a fine line between informing people, and treating them with the same contempt and assumptions of ignorance and gullibility as the very manufacturers you claim to be fighting against. It is a bit ridiculous really.

Absolutely the worth of these things is in the transformer. Such a wide variety of gear, computers, vintage stuff comes through professional facilities that you can't guarantee there is no chassis leakage problems kicking around on any given day. The Equitech is a good solution to a specific problem. It isn't going to address hiss in a system. It isn't going to fix AC filament noise in valve based design. And of course, it absolutely isn't the only solution available. I can get a professionally made version certified to local standards for about $1300 here. The Equitech is astronomically priced locally, given the additional costs of shipping a big ugly toroidal half way around the planet. What other people here have access to in terms of custom or off the shelf alternatives, I have no idea.

The speaker measurements in the place are terrific because they allow people to make informed decisions. The testing criteria has a lot of context that aids in that. There is absolutely no reason why this thread and the original tests couldn't go deeper. Context is important. Pros and cons are important. Test a $200 transformer. Get to the bottom of where and why stuff like this might be beneficial so that people can make their own informed decisions. Designing a test purely to dispel a disingenuous marketing spiel is really just as disingenuous in the wider scheme of things. It throws the baby out with the bathwater, even if that baby is something as simple as empowering a person to order an Equitech from a local dealer with a return policy to troubleshoot some noise issues in their system before sending it back the next day.

If you set the bar at an assumption of people being gullible and ignorant, they are going to remain gullible and ignorant.

I hate to break this to you: a lot of people are ignorant and gullible. That's illustrated by the profusion of expensive snake oil products. Professionals are maybe a bit less so, but that's hit or miss. Not all of them have engineering or technical backgrounds.

 

[Doogie Howser]

2.5 amp isolation transformer; faraday shield, surge suppressor, etc. $95 from Amazon => https://www.amazon.com/AV250-Isolat...07TJHXSD5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Need a bigger one? Here's a 1000 KVA unit for $395 https://www.amazon.com/Generic-IS1000-TRIPP-LITE-ISOLATION-TRANSFORMER/dp/B00IDV4GZI

Heck of a lot less money than the boutique items.

But again, you're assuming people are incapable of doing their own research. The majority of the world doesn't use 120v mains. The tripp-lite IS1000HGDV model is the one that offers 230v... but it also isn't cheap to get internationally. Digikey sells them for over $1500AUD before shipping to Australia. That is about $975USD. The 1.8kVA model is over $2300AUD, or $1500USD before shipping. Peach Audio, a local boutique manufacturer who uses locally made Tortech transformers will build you a 2kVA unit for just over $2000AUD, or around $1300USD.

They do a 1kVA version too, but I have no idea what it costs. Realistically both local boutique models will be a bunch cheaper than importing any equivalent Tripp-lite.