Do power line conditioners really improve the sound quality of home audio systems?
| I've been an audio enthusiast for many years, but have never purchased one of these. I'm just not sure about this one. Would like to hear any real world experiences using quality, low to medium priced audio gear. Thanks. |
| 1. It really just depends upon how clean your power is from your outlet. In most cases it does improve the sound + you get the advantage (in many devices) to protect you from power spikes as well. It's a good investment if you have expensive electronic equipment that you want to sound their best and protect from power surges. |
2. Depends on these factors:
So I uses these more for that than anything else. But consider that more and more utilities are cutting back on line maintenance. Any yahoo can move in next to you and cause havoc. I take out the insurance policy. |
| 3. Not really, unless you live in an environment that has a lot of static electricity, lightning storms, and the like. I would always recommend the use of such a device, no matter where you live. |
| 4. Although I've seen many claims to the contrary, I have yet to see any evidence suggesting power conditioners improve sound quality in any objective, measurable way. But there will always be audiophiles who swear to their effectiveness. Personally, unless you have really bad, third world power I don't see how a line conditioner is going to improve your audio. In other words, I believe those claims of audio improvement are nothing more than marketing snake oil. |
| 5. There is no objective proof that it does improve perceptible quality. Most amplifiers, tv sets and good quality electronics filter out any line noise when they step down the voltage. Low end components may benefit however and some state that power conditioning can extend the lifespan of the power supplies in the components. They are in the same category as high end speaker cables, power cords and special markers for the edges of CDs. Most of it is snake oil without any scientific proof and psychoacoustics come into play. Buy a power conditioner for piece of mind that you have a higher quality power bar that can protect better against spikes and over voltages. Even better get one with a battery back up so that you can protect against brown outs. Projectors and some other components hate being turned off suddenly and the power surge after the brown out is normally pretty high. |
| 6. Well, there are a lot of good answers and Information here in your answers. Like always, (unfortunately), you will have to sort things out and try to understand what is true and not so true. My personal experience is that you should have a line conditioner to avoid static electrical or stray electric shock from happening. If you live near a power station this is especially true! Keep in mind you can get surge protectors and then again line conditioners. So what is the difference? The difference is that not all line conditioners are going to specifically keep the surge down as well as thier real job which is to stabilize the current going to and into the electrical/electronic component. That means that if you run a surge protector then a line conditioner you will be safer than sorry. You'll thank me in the long run too! I also have a lot of expensive audio gear. It is well taken care of as I mentioned above! Oh, and yes they can very well clean up the sound of your music and such! That is why studios and radio stations use them! |
| source:www.audioannex.com |