rack power conditioners

[El Chiguete]

Hi all, so what power conditioner do you guys use and can recomendme to get? I'm not a pro musician so expensive gear is out of the question... just one of good quality on a fair price (not one that is just a glorified powered strip).

[MarshallJMP]

I have the furmann pl-plus II series.Really good in filtering noise and spikes.Also protects your gear from overvoltage.All my gear is hooked up trough this furmann.The II series are alot better then the older I series,alot more protection.These shut down when the voltage goes above 250V (in Europe the max grid voltage is 253V).And at start up they first check the voltage,if it's too high it won't start and will give an error.It also has a volt meter on the front,and 2 tubes you can retract  with leds in them (so no more bulbs) and you can dim them.Great for dark stages.On the back is a BNC connector so you can hook a light (like on mixing consoles) which can be switched on or off.Very handy.

It's not the cheapest,but it will give you max protection,usually the rest are glorified power strips.Usually with a cheap net filter and if you're lucky it will have some VDR's that will blow as soon as the voltage is too high.

[El Chiguete]

They don't make those anymore yes?

[rnolan]

I took a slightly different approach (partly cost and partly because we usually rehearse with a generator).  I found a decent (Ritmo (re-badged chinese)) 1 kva UPS (uninterrupteble power supply), it was ~$160 AUD.  Although with domestic UPS rule of thumb is don't load it past 60% of it's specified power (so in my case 600va).  This has worked well for me so far.

[MarshallJMP]

They don't make those anymore yes?

No they don't but i guess you can find them second hand.

A UPS is also good,downside is that the battery's will wear out after a while.

[rnolan]

Another downside of an UPS is they are quite heavy (battery).  There are rack versions of UPS but they tend to be much more expensive (and heavy).

On the plus side, given the proliferation of PCs, home office, small office etc small cheap UPS units are becoming quite common.

[El Chiguete]

MarshallJMP,

What would be the equivalent of the Series II in the products availeble from Furman now?

Also, what do you think of this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MARATHON-MA-MD800-DELUXE-POWER-CONDITIONER-W-15-AMP-/191027041955?pt=US_Power_Conditioners&hash=item2c7a1956a3

[MarshallJMP]

Well the replacement is a PL-PLUS C  http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=PL-PLUSC

I think this will be a better deal  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Furman-Series-II-PL-Plus-Power-Conditioner-/281266617280?pt=US_Power_Conditioners&hash=item417ccbfbc0

The Marathon is again a glorified power strip.

This is the one i have http://www.ebay.com/itm/FURMAN-PL-PRO-SERIES-II-POWER-CONDITIONER-PL-PRO-ARMENS-/310877404297?pt=US_Power_Conditioners&hash=item4861bcbc89

The same with digital readout  http://www.ebay.com/itm/FURMAN-PL-PROD-SERIES-II-POWER-CONDITIONER-PL-PROD-ARMENS-/310877387566?pt=US_Power_Conditioners&hash=item4861bc7b2e

Or do a search on ebay for the furmann pl series II (the series II are the ones to look for)

[El Chiguete]

Yeha thats what I thought of the Marathon, just needed comfirmation because someone was selling me one locally.

[chester_the_jester]

Take a look for one of these:

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products/1252/Pro_Audio_Recording/Accessories/ART_Pro_Audio/SP4x4_Pro_-_Power_Distribution_System.htm

Long and McQuade is a local store but you can get these units all over the internet.

I use the model shown in the link.

ctj

[MarshallJMP]

Just checked out the ART and IMHO the furmann is better.

[GuitarBuilder]

........Another vote for Furman

[kawai2g4b]

Okay, a little late to this thread party but here goes.  I live in an older apartment with horrific ground hum.  Are there any affordable options out there that would help combat against that?

[GuitarBuilder]

Okay, a little late to this thread party but here goes.  I live in an older apartment with horrific ground hum.  Are there any affordable options out there that would help combat against that?

You could try a ground wire connected to the metal water pipe.  It's a long shot, but it might help.

[Duke of Metal]

I've tried many Power Conditioners/Power strips over the years of playing.. and honestly, nothing beats a voltage regulator.  I know they're more expensive than the standard/average Power Conditioner. but with a voltage regulator, you're guaranteed to always get the proper voltage/power to your equipment.  Which means always a consistent sound, specially with Tube amps/preamps.

But if you want to stick with Standard power conditioner, you cant go wrong with any of the Furman stuff.  High quality stuff.

Good luck