Is it worth spending anything at all on mains filters and regenerators?

[the_surf_doc]

Hi all,

First post so go easy on me! I very much value the reviews and views which appear on this forum and so this is why I have posted the question here and not elsewhere.

I have been looking at the various ASR forum reviews of power filters, regenerators and the like and notice that not a single device of this type has received a recommendation. Just over a year ago I spent a not insignificant amount of my hard earned money on an IsoTek Evo3 Aquarius mains conditioner, hoping that it would filter out noise from household electrical utensils that occasionally made it through to my power amps. This was my minimal expectation. But I also hoped that it might calm down the toroidal buzz which I can hear from said power amps (Cyrus Mono 300's, for the record).

The device failed in both tasks and was quickly escorted off the premises.

As an aside, the conditioner was lighter than I had expected and on taking a peek inside I noticed that I had paid for little more than a metal enclosure with some fancy internal wiring. I really couldn't believe it. I won't go as far as calling the device snake oil as I don't want to offend any serpents that may frequent this forum.

So, back to my original question. Are there any mains conditioners or regenerators that are genuinely worthy of inclusion in a hifi system? Or should we just make do with the raw, unfiltered juice that we get from our respective national grids?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Purité Audio]

I would choose properly engineered equipment in the first instance, to answer your question no.
Keith

 

[Doodski]

The device failed in both tasks and was quickly escorted off the premises.

Without going further you have my utmost respect for this! G U L P !

 

[fpitas]

So far from Amir's testing, very few power filters sold for audio seem to filter very well. Probably because a good line filter costs something.

 

[Doodski]

Are there any mains conditioners or regenerators that are genuinely worthy of inclusion in a hifi system? Or should we just make do with the raw, unfiltered juice that we get from our respective national grids?

I run expecting the worst and it has not happened yet. sigh*

 

[Doodski]

My brother took a hit off a 4 stroke welder in the afternoon and it killed his Kenwood receiver at 240W/ch.

 

[fpitas]

My brother took a hit off a 4 stroke welder in the afternoon and it killed his Kenwood receiver at 240W/ch.

That's where a surge protector probably would have helped.

 

[Doodski]

That's where a surge protector probably would have helped.

It was one of those truck trailer'd towed 4 stroke welder units for stick welding. The ground was claimed to be the issue.

 

[fpitas]

It was one of those truck trailer'd towed 4 stroke welder units for stick welding. The ground was claimed to be the issue.

Interesting. I wonder just what it did to the power line.

 

[Doodski]

Interesting. I wonder just what it did to the power line.

So do I. It was grounded through the 2-1/4" pipe along the walking path.

 

[DVDdoug]

But I also hoped that it might calm down the toroidal buzz which I can hear from said power amps (Cyrus Mono 300's, for the record).

DC bias/offset of the AC line can SOMETIMES contribute to mechanical vibration from a transformer. See this thread.

Otherwise a filter can sometimes help with electrical noise on the AC line, depending on the nature of the noise and the type of filter. But, every power supply has SOME filtering because you can't convert AC to DC without filtering. A voltage regulator provides even more filtering and most modern electronics is powered from a regulated power supply.

You can still get ground loop noise, and a power conditioner won't help with that (unless it "illegally" breaks the ground connection).

There are other "bad" spikes & glitches that not be filtered by the power supply and they might be fixed with a good power filter/conditioner.

 

[dedobot]

Try with other amp. Borrow an simple integrated , mainstream one .

 

[Waxx]

A filter can help when you are using a device without filtering (with an old linear non-regulated psu and no RFI/EMI filter on input), but a filter does not have to cost a lot, a raw RFI/EMI filter (without box or connectors) can be bought premade for like 6€: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...ower-filter-230v-10a-with-cables-p-11628.html.

Ad decent in and output connectors and put it in a box and you got all you may need when you electricity supplies are like it should. That should not cost more than 50€, and if you don't need a fancy box, even for a lot less. You can also buy it made in a plug for about 10€, so you can build it in your device if there is space for it: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/powe...ilter-anti-parasites-emi-230v-10a-p-2875.html

But otherwise, and with most modern designs, it's not needed at all, on the condition that your house wirering is made to the international standards, in Europe (EU and probally also UK still) called IEC, an consisto of rules EN50000 to EN69999. In the US there are similar standards i thought.

 

[the_surf_doc]

DC bias/offset of the AC line can SOMETIMES contribute to mechanical vibration from a transformer. See this thread.

...

There are other "bad" spikes & glitches that not be filtered by the power supply and they might be fixed with a good power filter/conditioner.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the 'this thread' link to work.

You mention a good power filter/conditioner. Do you know of any? Ideally I'd like to get a power regenerator like my previous PowerInspired AG1500, which didn't seem to diminish SQ, however I'm now very tentative about purchases as I don't trust the reviews and I don't have a local hifi shop for a 'try and buy'.

 

[Philbo King]

If you experience spikes and dropouts maybe get a sine wave uninterruptable power supply rated for your system.

I don't use one myself, and have not experienced any issues with my recording studio. We do however have a whole-house transient protector to keep our solar power system healthy.

 

[yodog]

My Audioquest Niagara 7000 definitely does something positive for the system as a whole. My opinion is it’s one of the most important things in the system.

 

[aedagnino]

So far from Amir's testing, very few power filters sold for audio seem to filter very well. Probably because a good line filter costs something.

So far from Amir's testing NO power filters sold for audio add anything of value to an audio chain with properly designed equipment. Any filtering they may do is in the MHz region so no use for us. And if you're using poorly designed audio equipment you're better-off spending the same money you'd waste on main filters by buying some that is.

 

[Gruesome]

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the 'this thread' link to work.

You mention a good power filter/conditioner. Do you know of any? Ideally I'd like to get a power regenerator like my previous PowerInspired AG1500, which didn't seem to diminish SQ, however I'm now very tentative about purchases as I don't trust the reviews and I don't have a local hifi shop for a 'try and buy'.

Good that the DC bias remover was mentioned. I think I saved a link after reading up on this topic. Yep: https://sound-au.com/articles/xfmr-dc.htm

Otherwise, as also already said, suppression of noise coming in from the mains is part of a power supply's job. Sure, you could run a big UPS or a Tesla solar battery, and feed your audio exclusively clean AC freshly formed from DC. But then there might still be interactions between your phono amplifier and your high voltage tube output, or plasma speakers, or what have you. ;-)
So, except for the DC remover, which you only need if your neighbourhood has consistently bad AC, this is all nonsense, and the stuff on offer for audio believers is probably not even capable of doing what it claims.

 

[radix]

I think it's useful if (a) you want one switch to power everything off, or (b) power outages/surges and want to protect the equipment. It does not many an audible difference.

 

[kemmler3D]

I won't go as far as calling the device snake oil as I don't want to offend any serpents that may frequent this forum.

Don't worry, ASR is a bit like Ireland after St. Patrick came through.

As others have said, the only desirable power-related units for audio aren't all that expensive, but also don't do what the snake oil boxes claim to do, because that's actually what the PSU does.