Odd one this... we had a cinema room installed a year or so back and since then the AV amp (a bloomin' expensive Arcam unit) and the projector have both gone pop. The amp was a power board problem and the projector was undiagnosed (it got better when it was taken away). Everything's well under warranty but it's a bit annoying and, according to the fitter, really unusual for these problems to occur.
Anyway, they've suggested that it might be power supply in the house. Given the property is hundreds of years old, listed and has been used for a multitude of things over its life, it wouldn't surprised if the wiring was a bit dodgy. Also, I've just bought a secondhand valve guitar amp and that is really noisy (sounds like a fan running on standby) so it could point to the power.
Has anyone here had any success using outboard power conditioners to 'quieten' the signal down a bit and protect some of their expensive kit? Is that even what they're supposed to do? They've suggested a Furman one if that means anything to anyone - although I'll probably need 2 as the projector and rack are in different places...
As part of the approvals and CE marking the test house that conducted the approval testing would have done all sorts of things to try and damage the units. the amplifiers would be fitted with Transorbs to absorb spikes and fast transients, If the units fail it should be a warranty issue.
Two of he best UK made power conditioners are from Isotek and Isol-8. Both on google search.
I have an APC Line-R Voltage Regulator, which I've used on occasion. I most recently used it to clean up the power to a computer which was hosting my GPS project. It showed marginal improvements from a reasonably good starting point. (Not using it at the moment.)
Best wishes,
Bob
Last edited by rfrazier; 21st March 2019 at 17:17.
Originally Posted by adrianw
That's what I would have thought and to date they have covered everything under warranty (5 years on the Arcam). It just seemed very odd that both the amp and projector failed within weeks of each other... Plus is it a real pain getting stuff sent back and fixed if the power is the problem.
The tolerance in the UK 230v, +10% -6% I think, you could get your supply checked or logged,
No harm in trying one. I have one protecting my desktop PC and it is noticeable that the screen goes blank for a fraction of a second if a power hungry item such as a microwave is switched on sending a spike into the circuit.
A UPS will also smooth out the power so you could try one of these. Certainly we have the odd flick of a UPS here (rural office) .
There's a lot of snake oil in the power product market.
I was fortunate enough to be rewiring my house when I bought it so went for a hifi specific solution. I run a seperate mains spur to a single socket, and that goes to a Vertex AQ Taga block.
Having tried lots the ones to go for in my opinion are the Isotek, Nordost Quantum or Vertex AQ for both protection and sound quality.
Your scenario is odd because I'd expect the fuses to trip before damaging your consumer products. The worry would be you'll simply blow the conditioner, so first call is to get a competent sparky in to test the power in your home.
Last edited by pete-r; 27th March 2019 at 16:18.
Power conditioning doesn't really do what you likely think it does. Very few "power conditioners" have any sort of voltage regulation built in. What they really are is an assortment of over-voltage protection devices and filtering components. The very best ones also include under voltage protection, with an auto shutdown circuit.
All of these components are also typically built into the power supply of the consumer electronics devices you plug them into btw. Where power conditioners come in handy is in the case of poorly built equipment, typically that either has inadequate filtering built in or gear that is especially electrically noisy, that interrupts other gear with inadequate filtering.
They are also really helpful if they do have under voltage protection, as that is the type of power problem that causes the most common failures. Unfortunately, this protection doesn't usually kick in until the mains voltage drops to damaging levels already (80% or so).
If you expect you may have a power problem, there are a few inexpensive meters that could point you in the right direction. Here is one that can show voltage, frequency and current. https://baldr.com/products/baldr-eu-...er-managements
Last edited by jcm3; 22nd March 2019 at 08:10.
I would suggest an Isolation Transformer, I expect the power conditioners are probably a Shafner mains filter a couple of X and y caps and a big isolation transformer, and of course a large bill. its basic stuff, I would expect your units to have small isolation transformers fitted in their power supplies for noise and safety already.
One thing I have noticed, my hifi customers do not use switched socket outlets in their demo suites , they say they are very noisy, to change to unswitched is very low cost.
You can insist that your electricity supplier log the supply to check it is in specification.
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