March 28, 2005

I recently read that most power amplifiers and all fully balanced equipment doesn't need power conditioning or dedicated power cords. Are the recent rave reviews of these power products derived from using them digital equipment preamps only? Q: Do power accessories improve the performance of amps and balanced equipment?

John H.

A: I find the biggest difference comes from the components themselves, not from the accessories you use with them, although you'll sometimes read reviews in which the reviewer makes it sound like a power cord or even something like a cone or footer has the ability to transform a mediocre product into something amazing. I've never found that to be the case and, as such, I've mainly used equipment the way it has been sent: with stock power cords, which are plugged directly into the wall, and the equipment sitting on a sturdy shelf, but nothing special. I guess you can consider me more of a skeptic than a believer.

However, that's not to say that some of the power-conditioning equipment can't make a difference, or even an improvement. I've learned, though, that this is often on a piece-by-piece basis; some pieces of equipment are affected more than others, while some don't respond at all to tweaking.

The results achieved can also be dependent on your own power source. Take, for example, the apartment in which I used to live. Voltage fluctuations were quite common there, and they took their toll on my audio equipment, although, again, some pieces of equipment were affected more than others. Lights would often dim during the building's rush hour, and that would cause my TV picture to squeeze as if the TV were about to shut off and then expand again as the power normalized. I hated when that happened, and that's where something like the ExactPower EP15A came in handy. It is more than a power conditioner -- it's an active device that works to stabilize the voltage and remove distortion on the line. In this case, where the line's voltage wasn't steady, the EP15A was obviously a good thing. On the passive-device side, Marc Mickelson has long raved about Shunyata Research's Hydra line, saying they can do remarkable things to improve sound, although I've never heard a Hydra myself.

In the end, the answer is not quite as straightforward as it first seems. I agree with the remark that not every piece of equipment needs power conditioning or a special power cord; but sometimes power cords and conditioners can make a difference, so they shouldn't be ruled out completely.

...Doug Schneider