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ISOTEK EVO3 Aquarius Power Conditioner Review

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  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 209 93.3%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 6 2.7%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 4 1.8%
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    Votes: 5 2.2%

  • Total voters
    224

TrevC

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Mains quality isn‘t the same everywhere, it’s much worse in heavy industrial areas. In no way doubting AMIR’s competence or measurement technique, would the results be the same in a different location?
If we take the example of a heavy duty water filtration system in an area with a clean water supply it would have little or no effect. Use it in an area where the water is heavily polluted and the outcome would be very different.
He generated a worst case waveform. No difference. The water comparison is just silly.
 
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Suffolkhifinut

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No difference, apart from a tiny ramp waveform. DC as in rectified direct current with all mains borne 'pollution' (LOL) removed. How can you tell? Silence when nothing is playing or a 'scope. Or you can read Amir's reviews and try to understand.
Think I might understand with 53 years either working or lecturing in Electrical/Electronic engineering. When it comes to power supply hum you wouldn’t get any when nothing is playing. A bigger current demand from the power supply will increase the chance or 120Hz/100Hz hum (US/UK.)
 

Purité Audio

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He does live in Suffolk.
Keith
 

Purité Audio

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I specifically remember when electricity first reached Bury St Edmonds, as Veg Varney had just opened the first ATM!
Keith
 

Suffolkhifinut

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I specifically remember when electricity first reached Bury St Edmonds, as Veg Varney had just opened the first ATM!
Keith
Sorry can’t do a long reply at the moment, too busy listening to a turnip, after measuring it of course.
 

Purité Audio

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Just use your ears far more accurate than measurement, apparently.
Keith
 

DonR

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He generated a worst case waveform. No difference. The water comparison is just silly.
It is a poor analogy at best. Most mains supplies have some level of noise and almost all power supplies do an excellent job at rejecting this noise. In a linear supply, the transformer acts as a bandpass filter and the filter caps continue to be effective deep into the audio band to absorb further noise. Most of the noise in a power supply, like mains hum, is generated by the supply itself. Poorly designed supplies will add transformer ringing and diode switching noise into the mix.

If people insist on an analogy, the mains supply is like a giant 60/50Hz ocean swell and the power supply is the ship's stabilizers acting to maintain a steady-state (DC). Any noise appears as small ripples on the surface of the swell with no real power behind them and easily absorbed.
 

Suffolkhifinut

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It is a poor analogy at best. Most mains supplies have some level of noise and almost all power supplies do an excellent job at rejecting this noise. In a linear supply, the transformer acts as a bandpass filter and the filter caps continue to be effective deep into the audio band to absorb further noise. Most of the noise in a power supply, like mains hum, is generated by the supply itself. Poorly designed supplies will add transformer ringing and diode switching noise into the mix.

If people insist on an analogy, the mains supply is like a giant 60/50Hz ocean swell and the power supply is the ship's stabilizers acting to maintain a steady-state (DC). Any noise appears as small ripples on the surface of the swell with no real power behind them and easily absorbed.
Do ships ever keel over in heavy seas? In a calm sea no problem, engineering design is there to provide a practical solution yet all engineering is subject to cost considerations.
As my analogy said why would you pay for a water purifier if your water supply is already pure? Yet water purification installations are in use Worldwide. Don’t know where AMIR lives or how polluted his electrical supply is, his findings are valid for his conditions not everyone elses!
 

DonR

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Do ships ever keel over in heavy seas? In a calm sea no problem, engineering design is there to provide a practical solution yet all engineering is subject to cost considerations.
As my analogy said why would you pay for a water purifier if your water supply is already pure? Yet water purification installations are in use Worldwide. Don’t know where AMIR lives or how polluted his electrical supply is, his findings are valid for his conditions not everyone elses!
I think you are missing the point entirely and that is one reason I hate analogies as they're always off the mark. The "heaviest" seas my analogy is facing is that of the ever-constant swell the PSU was designed for. There is no calm sea here as all homes are fed with AC. The water supply analogy is flawed because all power supplies have to deal with a large 50 or 60Hz feed so in your analogy all water supplies are already heavily polluted. There is no "pure" water. The noise on an AC supply is akin to a small amount of added pollution to the water which should be of no concern to an adequately designed purifier. As I said, I hate analogies.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Don’t know where AMIR lives or how polluted his electrical supply is, his findings are valid for his conditions not everyone elses!
Remember, none of these devices have shown to clean up your AC in audio band in any way that matters. Their filtering is at too high a frequency. So your dirtier AC power gets through them as well as less dirty AC.

Also as noted multiple times, in one test I created wildly distorted AC and that had no impact on audio either.

Finally if the problem is proportional to AC noise then I should have found some tiny indication of it but did not.
 

Suffolkhifinut

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I think you are missing the point entirely and that is one reason I hate analogies as they're always off the mark. The "heaviest" seas my analogy is facing is that of the ever-constant swell the PSU was designed for. There is no calm sea here as all homes are fed with AC. The water supply analogy is flawed because all power supplies have to deal with a large 50 or 60Hz feed so in your analogy all water supplies are already heavily polluted. There is no "pure" water. The noise on an AC supply is akin to a small amount of added pollution to the water which should be of no concern to an adequately designed purifier. As I said, I hate analogies.
You hate anologies yet at the first opportunity give one. Chord Electronics switch mode power supplies has an output frequency of 80kHz so the smoothing circuit had an easier task, ripple at 160kHZ. The connected amplifier never comes across such a low frequency ripple. The peaks are closer together and the current has much less time to fall under load conditions.
 

DonR

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You hate anologies yet at the first opportunity give one. Chord Electronics switch mode power supplies has an output frequency of 80kHz so the smoothing circuit had an easier task, ripple at 160kHZ. The connected amplifier never comes across such a low frequency ripple. The peaks are closer together and the current has much less time to fall under load conditions.
I only used an analogy because you brought one forward that I considered poor and off the mark. Switch-mode supplies have introduced issues including higher levels of EMI and RFI but are generally less susceptible to power line noise due to their design. Most SMPSs have common-mode chokes on their inputs and the same noise suppression capabilities of the linear supply can be found in an SMPS. Both have filter caps and transformers. Chord Electronics power supplies are just power supplies. There is no magic pixie dust.
 

Suffolkhifinut

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I only used an analogy because you brought one forward that I considered poor and off the mark. Switch-mode supplies have introduced issues including higher levels of EMI and RFI but are generally less susceptible to power line noise due to their design. Most SMPSs have common-mode chokes on their inputs and the same noise suppression capabilities of the linear supply can be found in an SMPS. Both have filter caps and transformers. Chord Electronics power supplies are just power supplies. There is no magic pixie dust.
Never said they were ‘magic pixie dust.’ We we’re discussing the problems pertaining to traditional power supplies, just pointed out one of the reasons why many manufacturers have gone over to switch mode power supplies.
 

DonR

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Never said they were ‘magic pixie dust.’ We we’re discussing the problems pertaining to traditional power supplies, just pointed out one of the reasons why many manufacturers have gone over to switch mode power supplies.
They are lighter and smaller and that is the biggest reason. They have serious drawbacks for sensitive electronics but are fine for most audio.
 

Suffolkhifinut

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Just use your ears far more accurate than measurement, apparently.
Keith
Do you have a listening room? Presume you do? When customers arrive do you just show them the kit and supplement it with the manufacturers measurements. It seems in your world listening isn’t important.
One more point the Benchmark DAC you sell has a worse set of measurement data when compared to an IFI DAC selling for a fraction of the price. If measurements are the be all and end all maybe you should tell them.
 
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Purité Audio

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Yup, I turn everything on usually customers wish to instantly switch/compare and then I leave them to it, the customers i have already know that the measurements are state of the art.
Really IFI are usually just that ‘iffy’.
Keith
 

Suffolkhifinut

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Yup, I turn everything on usually customers wish to instantly switch/compare and then I leave them to it, the customers i have already know that the measurements are state of the art.
Really IFI are usually just that ‘iffy’.
Keith
But it measures better, maybe you should just sell Topping kit.
Do you try to discourage them from listening when obviously you think it’s a waste of time?
Explain to them they must be Objective and stop being blind to logic.
Do you force them to wear blindfolds if they insist on listening?
LOL
Ron
 
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