PS Noise Harvester

suede wrote: I'm sorry I got a bit whingy about EU regulations and environmental hypocrisy there. But still I wonder isn't more people here having the same problems with wildly varying quality of mains power? And what have they then done to remedy this, if it's even feasibly done? I must say it's quite a peeve for me not being able to use my stereo some days, or even weeks, without instant fatigue and headaches. It's like having paid good money on a nice car that just won't start some days on account of the petrol turning to cooking oil seemingly at random. I just want better reliability is all. I was initially thinking of getting a power conditioner but from what I've gathered they often do just as much harm as good in making the system blunt sounding and lacking in energy. But then this is just what I've read on the internet really. Any views or input would really be appreciated.

I used to have exactly the same problems when I lived in London. Tried a few different power conditioners and filters, all of which did as much harm as good to the music. Eventually I tried a PS Audio Power Plant which is effectively a re-generator of the mains electricity supplier. I found that this device worked brilliantly, removing all the mains nasties at no audible (to me anyway) cost to the sound of the system and I have subsequently upgraded twice as their newer, more advanced, products have been launched.

Now I live in the backwoods of rural France, the need for consistent mains supply is even greater. Although I suspect that I am not suffering from noise caused by neighbours electrical devices, the voltage here can vary by up to 30volts on a typical winters day, whereas the output of the Power Plant is never much more then + or - 2v. Not once have I felt that my system was performing under-par. Strongly recommended.

It seems crazy to have to go to the trouble of turning noisy a.c. into d.c. and then back into a.c. for it ultimately to be turned back into d.c... Maybe there's a gap in the market for Graham to market rechargeable battery packs as an alternative to his standard power supplies... His kit already has d.c. jacks after all...

Being an absolute layman here I must point out, I always reckoned a good transformer/power supply like the PSU1 for example is as "neutral" as possible. Converting clean untampered AC power to just as clean DC, unhindered by unnecessary filters or such, but at the same time being just as susceptible to pick up nasties in the power that's being fed to it. Is this a wrong assumption?


Edited by suede - 08 May 2013 at 1:43pm

I agree with Ian about good PSU design being crucial. This thread is working me towards mains regeneration.