Everything straight to the wall....The previous house we were in I was using a power conditioner as I could hear a difference, telling me the power was not "clean". This house sounds as the other did with PC....So I sold them.

Bud, you're killing me! Two more Cyclops and two more power cords is what I thought I was avoiding by buying Sigma HCs. Are you really going wall>power cord>Cyclops>power cord> amp times 2? Wouldn't I be better off with a Typhon plugged into my MPC-12?

Can't comment on the Typhon, but when I sent my Cyclops off to be upgraded to v2, I was amazed at the grunge I was hearing plugged directly into the wall. When they were returned I was in heaven. Use the Sigmas from the amps to the Cyclops, and find a pair of used Zitron Anacondas from the Cyclips to the wall. I love my stereo now with the full Shunyata setup.

Of course, if you never hear it with Cyclops then you don't know what you are missing. :)

--------------------------------------------
Bud

Lumin S1
Pass XP-20 pre, X600.5 amps
Magico S5 speakers

Shunyata Triton v2/Typhon for source, Cyclops v2 (2) for amps
Shunyata Z Anaconda XLR analog ICs, Z Anaconda speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Revelation Audio Passage Cryo-Silver Reference DB-25 umbilical power cable

Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits.

Yes, I use Isotek Super Titan evo3. It sounds much better than directly from that wall socket.

Hey BigBlue - I'm looking at the Isotek Aquarius at the moment with my system and it seems to make an audible difference. Did you trial the Aquarius before choosing the Sigmas which seems to be a step up? Also interested in whether you are using any of the Isotek Power cables with your conditioner and if so, which ones?

MC452, MC501, and MC205 into a P-10 into dedicated 20A outlet.
The rest of my stuff spread into two P-5's also into dedicated 20A outlets.
Besides the clean power, I have witnessed at least three thunderstorms where All three Power Plants did their protective jobs, and reset uneventfully. Always wonder how much $$ they are saving me in unnecessary repairs/replacement...

Ayre MXR mono amps into High Fidelity Hemisphere power conditioner w/High Fidelity URR power cord.

It depends on the design of the conditioner; My Furutech Daytona 303 has 2 unfiltered outputs for HC power amps, so I have my power amp and sub connected to it, and it sounds great that way. I would have it connected to the wall if it only had filtered outputs.

+1 Another definite vote for an amp direct-connected into an Isotek EVO3 TITAN.

I've owned a lot of different types and brands of power conditioners over the years; Monster, Richard Gray, Shunyata Hydra8s, Tara AD6C, Furman (Elite 15PF, IT-Reference20 and IT-Reference20i), ExactPower EP15A, Purepower 2000, Bybee Stealth v3) and now a combo of the Isotek EVO3 SIGMAS and EVO3 TITAN....

With the Monster, Gray, Shunyata, Tara, Furman and Exactpower, while I did run with my Edge NL series amps into the conditioner for quite a while, once i had a good dedicated 20-amp circuit with good grounding, etc...those amps sounded much better and had much more dynamic range when direct-connected into the wall. With the Purepower it seemed to be a toss-up, so I left them plugged into the conditioner so I could run off battery power when desired and have peace of mind of safety through a brown-out and all the things the PP2000 brought to the table before the unit's batteries started to have issues and I started to have significant issues with PP customer service and integrity.

With the Bybee Stealth v3 and an Edge NL12.1 and later Maker Audio NL14, it was a very close race sonically. Left these amps plugged into the Bybee very happily but their dynamics improved on the "biggest" material (large scale orchestral, pipe organ, etc...) when put direct into the wall.

My latest conditioner config is a dual-config recommended to me by the then US distributor for Isotek (Kevin from Vana Ltd); I have the Isotek EVO3 SIGMAS "tethered" directly into the back of the Isotek EVO3 TITAN and ran my Maker Audio NL14, and now my Esoteric A-02 directly out of the TITAN along with the bespoke HDPLEX power supply for the Legacy Wavelet processor with great results. The added bonus is that all my other equipment, including the 1000w ICE amps in the Legacy Aeris towers are direct connected into the back of the EVO3 SIGMAS. The SIGMAS being tethered directly to the TITAN is fantastic combination, works as one unified power conditioner, same ground reference, etc....best I've ever heard and I'm not looking back. If I could ever afford a couple of their Super Titan or other top-line units, I might upgrade but the TITAN and SIGMAS are here to stay tethered together until that day. The super black backgrounds and overall performance of the system took a big leap when I moved to these Isotek units....

Due to the poor power grid in my area I always have my amp plugged into a Furman Elite 15 or PS Audio PP-10. The PP-10 allows me to monitor the incoming line voltage and the amount of current and percentage of power used at any instant. I prefer the sound when using eather of these devices compared to my dedicated line alone. A surprising fact I discovered when using the PP-10 is how little current is used, it consumes less than 3 amps at the loudest volume I listen at.

I was running my amps directly into the wall but that has changed with the addition of the Denali to my set-up. Now I would't run them without it.

Still-One, same here. My amps sound better plugged into the Denali than into the wall. The Denali is an impressive piece.

I agree. I am still up in the air as to which power cable I will run from the wall to the Denali. The Alpha HC is still breaking in but I have been alternating a bit with one of my Transparent units to see which I prefer.

Jim, it would be great to know which differences you noticed between the two power cords during your listening sessions.

What Transparent model are you testing?

Bertrand

Everything is hooked to my Bryston BIT 15. :yes:

When I connect the Denali using Transparent it is a 1m Reference Powerlink. My amps and pre-amp are connected using the Powerlink MM2x. I haven't tried the latest Reference XL or Opus power cords.

I'm a novice when it comes to this topic. I've got a Rotel RB-1090 plugged into an RLC-1040. I've never had the screen go above 50% of its available power. So why would plugging directly into the wall possibly be better? Honest question, not trying to sound rude or anything. Oh and will a power conditioner/regulator protect from surges/lightning and such when it's powered off?

--

Bowers & Wilkins 683S1 Speakers
Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp
Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 Solid Tech feet of silence isolation feet)
Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner
Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4
Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects
Primacoustic Room Treatments

^I had a B&W ASW800 sub plugged into a RLC-1040 and lightening struck nearby. The board fried on my sub and sent in for repair at B&W group. APC, maker of the RLC-1040 paid for repair and sent me a new APC S-20 to replace the RLC-1040.

I've started unplugging my 1040 when I'm not using the stereo, just to be safe.

So what are the benefits of plugging ones amp directly into the wall outlet?

I have my mc452 plugged into my P5 regenerator.

My Krell is plugged into my Shunyata Denali

My MC2301s are plugged into a PSAudio P10 and the P10 into a dedicated 20 Amp line.

My MC542 is plugged into my Transparent Powerisolator MM2 on a dedicated 20A circuit. I've tried to go without it but it just doesn't sound as good.

I use a pair of Tice Power Blocks/Titans on each of my two amplifiers, with each Tice pair on its own dedicated derated 20A circuit. Lotsa clean power! Amplifiers include Bryston 4B, ARC D300 and Conrad Johnson Premier 1B.

yes on all 601s and 452 amps

Yes to the Running Springs Audio Elgar.

I did use a Tice powerblock unit in my previous house and old system!
 

However since moving and having a dedicated room I changed things around. I now have my five Theta monoblocks plugged into dedicated 20A outlets. The outlets were installed just for my amplifiers and JL Audio subwoofers only. I do have all of my front end gear on a Transparent Power Isolator MM2 on a separate outlet system.

Yes I have my Pass Labs 250.5 plugged in to a p10

Refining earlier post to make it more clear, the short answer is 'yes';

Esoteric A-02 Stereo Amp directly into an Isotek EVO3 TITAN

HDPlex Linear, Regulated DC supply into the 2nd outlet on the TITAN

Isotek EVO3 SIGMAS tethered (via Neutrik Powercon) to the TITAN

TITAN+SIGMAS than act as one unified power conditioner....

Legacy AERIS 1000-watt ICE amps in each speaker directly into the SIGMAS

With IsoTek, I definitely recommend amps into a power conditioner.

I wouldn't rely on a power conditioner/regulator to be your first line of defense when it comes to surges. Get a decent surge protector installed at your main power panel. There's a few threads here on AA talking about doing just that. It's cheap insurance and in my opinion a must have.

http://www.audioaficionado.org/gener...lightning.html

The Ditek DTK-120/240HD2 and Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA are both good choices.

http://www.eaton.cz/ecm/groups/publi...cc004001en.pdf

Everything plugged into an Equi=Tech 5RQ (5kVA, 240 volt/30 amp) balanced power unit which outputs 2 x 20 amp 120 volt circuits and 1 x 10 amp 120 volt circuit.

My almost 9 year old MC2301's feed from their own dedicated 20 amp breakers. They love being fed direct AC (and to the point:yes:)

Best sir,

Bob

My 601s are plugged into a Shunyata Denali conditioner which is plugged into a 20 amp dedicated circuit.

With Isotek power conditioners I have found that all my gear, amp include sounds even better plugged into the conditioners. For the amp I utilize and Isotek EVO3 TITAN.

Hmmmm, this doesn't sound quite right. How can you get two 120V 20A circuits + one 120V 10A circuit from one 240V 30A circuit? They can't possibly be truly independent circuits, correct?

How do you get multiple 120 volt circuits from your single 240 panel ?

The Equi=Tech ties into the 240 panel and then uses a balanced power isolation transformer to generate the individual 120 volt circuits from the single 240 feed.

amps * volts = watts

240 volts * 30 amps = 7,200 watts (maximum input into the isolation transformer)

120 volts * 20 amps * 2 = 4,800 watts (maximum outputs 1 & 2)
120 volts * 10 amps = 1,200 watts (maximum output 3)

(4,800 + 1,200 watts) = 6,000 watts < 7,200 watts (Note: 3 * 120 volts * 20 amps = 7,200 watts, but Equi=Tech probably designed in a safety margin)

I would assume the 3 circuits derived from the 240 volt / 30 amp feed comes from the multiple secondary windings in the specific isolation transformer being used.

See Equi=Tech's spec page for more details.

http://www.equitech.com/products/rack/modelqpro.html

See also: Multiple winding transformers:

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/...nsformers.html

I would assume the transformer being used would be something similar to the one pictured below, but with 1 primary input winding and 3 secondary output windings (as well as balanced power +/- 60 volts/120 volt differential on the secondary wirings).
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/...er/trans59.gif

Someone that knows more about transformers (especially 240 volt transformers) can correct me if my assumptions are incorrect.

Also: There is a 240volt/30amp breaker in the service panel and separate 120 volt 10 and 20 amp breakers in the Equi=Tech. From the calculations above, the breakers in the Equi=Tech would appear to trip before the breaker in the service panel.

Here is what a balanced output transformer would look like (the 240 volt versions would also incorporate 2:1 step-down windings):
http://www.equitech.com/images/ws2.gif

Cleeds, I found this sheet about another vendor's combination step-down/isolation transformer. It confirms my assumptions above. It takes a single 240 volt input and outputs 5 * 20 amp 120 volt balanced power circuits (+/- 60 volts, 120 volt differential). It is twice the size of my Equi=Tech unit.


https://www.gearslutz.com/board/atta...0.17.00-pm.jpg

Here is a review of one of Equi=Tech's service panel units similar in size to the above competitor.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/equitech/1.html

FWIW: Equi=Tech was instrumental in amending the National Electric Code (NEC) to include "Technical Power" in 1996 and 1999. That seems to be a substantial contribution to clean power technology.

http://www.equitech.com/support/support.html

My amp (dual mono) has two Shunyata Sigma HC power cords direct to the wall. The Sigmas perform a conditioning function by themselves while avoiding any current choking that sometimes occurs with line conditioner components.

Do you connect your amp to your power conditioner?
 

My 601's are plugged into a P10 Power Plant which in turn is plugged into a Furutech GTX-D Rhodium receptacle on a 20-amp dedicated circuit.