I have a pretty simple set-up, but the person at my local audio store is recommending I get a audio-grade power supply, he recommended I think the Audioquest Powerquest 2.
Is this a real thing that will improve my set-up or not worth the money? The store doesn’t offer refunds, so I’d like to get an opinion before I go buy.
Thanks.
It really depends on what your AC power is like. Surge protection is to protect your audio gear from big voltage swings from an unstable power distribution network, thunderstorms, and the like. If that’s what you need, a fancy conditioner like what the store recommends would be overkill IMO.
Power conditioners claim to make your AC power closer to spec, filtering out high-frequency noise, may also DC offset, which may or not affect sound quality.
Personally, I use ZeroSurge to protect \ custom-built, hard-to-replace audio gear, and an Emotiva CMX-2 to remove DC offset that causes transformer hum on a particular audio power supply. I’m skeptical of more advanced power conditioning whose purpose seems to be to make up for mediocre design or implementation of some audio power supplies.
I use a Furman PL-8C 15 A surge protector and power conditioner. Here at my place, with thunderstorms near every night during the rainy season, its has done a good job of protecting my HiFi gear. At Amazon it can be had for about USD 250.
The audio quest marketing blurb states that “Our power filtration removes more noise and distortion than most common power conditioners, dramatically improving your system’s performance.” If you believe that normal electricity, by which I mean the sort of electricity that runs pretty much every electrical device on the planet, is somehow flawed, then maybe this sort of claim makes sense.
If not, then I’d suggest a more reasonably priced surge protector, or better yet, a UPS for your core.
You may want to take a look at some measurements of power conditioners at ASR’s website and decide for yourself, if you really want to splurge your money on such devices.
I read some of the reviews on the ASR website @Marin_Weigel posted. It seemed like there wasn’t convincing evidence that a power conditioner really does anything, maybe if you had a specific problem it might help.
Anyway my system is real quiet, I think I just need a good surge. Thank you so much for your advice.
I would tend to agree with the reviews on ASR. We get fairly frequent power outages, often for only a few seconds/minutes so good surge protection is essential. I bought two of these, which have excellent specs and built like a tank. Can’t go wrong.
I use 2 Shunyata Defenders, one in each receptacle. Simple, effective, peace of mind.