I hear a lot about clean power, my picture and audio seem fine to me, do I really need one. I see Monster has them, I have an Onkyo SR605 with a PS3 and Toshiba HD-XA1 going to my Sanyo PLV-Z4 projector.

my picture and audio seem fine to me, do I really need one.

Sounds like you really don't need one.

All power has a little bit of grunge in it and most equipment deals with this real world situation. Next time you go into the store that sells these products, take a look at what the TV's and computers are plugged into. For that matter, check out the POS cash registers and credit card readers. When you go into a hospital, doctor's or dentist's office, what are their devices plugged into?

Next time you turn on you hair dryer, see what that does to the brightness of the lights.

The best place to start is with dedicated circuits: one for digital, one for amps.

This will take you a very long way and will improve both your audio and video.

Highly overrated for most, but there are exceptions.

Don't make a problem where none exists. The power conditioner folks love that fear of impending doom and gloom. ;)

Highly overrated for most, but there are exceptions.

Everyone's situation is different. I do agree that, as with many products, there is alot of exaggeration/hype that is untrue. Conversely, there are products out there that come from a source that has honesty and integrity.

In my personal experience, 2 20amp dedicated circuits was a tremendous improvement. I just terminated them with ground hospital grade outlets. Next was a power filter, again improvement. Lastly, a simple 15min mod (requires 2 solder connections), very nice improvement.

This simple mod was so quick and easy, you can very easily A/B the results. I installed this little device into my source but it can be installed into any device that uses AC. The device is designed to control self-generated EMI/RFI (noise) within the component and condition and stabilize current flow.

The results (after installation to my source) positively affected both my audio and video performance.

When you go into a hospital, doctor's or dentist's office, what are their devices plugged into?

Next time you're in a hospital, see if you can get to look at the wiring diagram. Their power is NOT your average household power -- even before they add the backup power circuits.

In my personal experience, 2 20amp dedicated circuits was a tremendous improvement. I just terminated them with ground hospital grade outlets. Next was a power filter, again improvement. Lastly, a simple 15min mod (requires 2 solder connections), very nice improvement.

This simple mod was so quick and easy, you can very easily A/B the results. I installed this little device into my source but it can be installed into any device that uses AC. The device is designed to control self-generated EMI/RFI (noise) within the component and condition and stabilize current flow.

The results (after installation to my source) positively affected both my audio and video performance.


Take any before and after pictures? As for Hospital grade receptacles, one is hard put to see how they would improve any AV performance as compared to using a properly installed and functioning general use receptacle. Here is a basic read on receptacle grades, http://www.ul.com/regulators/ReceptacleGrades_Kurten_JF2005.pdf

Hospital power also has noise in it.

Hospital power also has noise in it.

yes it does.... we are constantly running into this situation with sensitive electronics (Siemens, GE ) where they have engineered all excess tolerances out of the power supplies, control equipment etc. Even the quality of the power distribution system is being sacrificed to make the foyer look better.

Next time you're in a hospital, see if you can get to look at the wiring diagram. Their power is NOT your average household power -- even before they add the backup power circuits.


Sure, but is it for "clean" power, or more for safety?

The NEC focus, afaik, is not to make sure your stereo rig has no ground loops, it's purpose is to reduce the chance of your house burning down and or you from being electrocuted.

Take any before and after pictures? As for Hospital grade receptacles, one is hard put to see how they would improve any AV performance as compared to using a properly installed and functioning general use receptacle.

I chose to use grounded hospital grade outlets because they were recommended as a cheap solution to start out with before spending alot of money on receptacles. My priority was to ensure that I had at least 2 dedicated 20amp circuits.

I chose to use grounded hospital grade outlets because they were recommended as a cheap solution to start out with before spending alot of money on receptacles. My priority was to ensure that I had at least 2 dedicated 20amp circuits.

Fair enough, but also good enough-- so spend no more.;)

Next time you turn on you hair dryer, see what that does to the brightness of the lights.

But is that momentary drop just that, or for the duration of the hair dryer being on. If the latter, your house needs serious attention, something is wrong someplace, if 12A will cause such a dimming for the duration.:eek:

But is that momentary drop just that, or for the duration of the hair dryer being on. If the latter, your house needs serious attention, something is wrong someplace, if 12A will cause such a dimming for the duration.:eek:

Try it out for yourself and see what happens. Every home that I've lived in, the same holds true. It has been my experience that the brightness of the lights (on the same circuit) decreases the entire time the hair dryer is on. I've also heard of "snow" on people's TV's when things like mixers are turned on.

The point being that, it's important to have clean, dedicated power and the best starting point is to install dedicated circuits (at least two 15amp lines).

The need also depends somewhat on personal tolerance. Not everyone needs to be set up for worst-case scenario.

Is it worth spending a bunch of money to put in dedicated circuits and power conditioning for the 5 minutes per day the hair drier or mixer is operating?

To some it is, to others it's not.

I put a dedicated circuit because I could do it myself and have four moderately powerful amps that needed someplace to be plugged in. Didn't do it for clean power, these dedicated runs come from the same source as every other circuit in the house. They're all parallel connection to the mains panel - which is parallel connection to the grid along with all your neighbor's houses.

I've got three mixers. I turned them all on in the kitchen. TV looked fine. I didn't try it in the room where the TV is but then I'm not that much of a psychotic.