Should I plug my amp into my conditioner?

Just don't. There's enough natural filtering and use the power conditioner for everything else.

Dedicated breakers are a good idea but not neccesary, just a tweak. Unless the conditioner has a non-current limiting circuit, use the wall. Don't overthink everything just based on what you read the other day. This is not a hard hobby.

myke wrote: »

I do tend to over think things but the last thing I want to do is make the wrong purchase/decision. I have read that Emo's position is to go directly into the wall due to fuses built in for surge protection (then i'd have to replace the fuse) but another level of protection couldn't hurt, right?

Then why are you considering Emo? :biggrin: Just kidding.

I also have read posts here saying not to plug amps into the power conditioner, although good technical details to back up the post have been missing.

Anyway, both of my amps are plugged into the high current ports of my Panamx M5300-EX, and, to me, it sounds great. Of course, since I only have one wall socket (2 receptacles) on the wall, and the power conditioner uses one, I really do not have much choice about where to plug in the amps. Also, the Wadia iTransport, SACD player, DAC, and pre-amp are plugged into the Panamax.

I mostly listen to classical in the 70-80 db range, and sometimes a little lower. On the other hand, I will sometimes listen to rock, and variants, in the 90-100 db range, even a little louder sometimes. In both of those situations the music sounds great, and I never felt the power conditioner was negatively affecting the sound. If it is then it is a very small effect.

So, to answer your question, if you can try both ways then do it, and see if there is any difference. If not, and you expect the power conditioner to provide some type of benefit, then use that.

myke wrote: »

Funny:rolleyes: First amp, just really starting to get into things, also self imposing a limit of funds on this first setup. When I get the theater room then we can talk:cool:!

I'm actually looking at the Panamax 5100 vs. ACS 15H.....they kinda seem similar except I haven't seen a statement on the APC site that says it cuts off power like the Panamax makes it a point to state it everywhere and the APC has a higher Joules rating. Has anyone noticed other differences in those two?

And of course when i'm only using a $30 monster power strip I would lose power in the hurricane briefly today, luckily only the tv/cable box was on!

Actually the APC takes it a step farther as the H15 is a voltage regulator. For voltage over/under situations the H15 adjusts the voltage to avoid a shutdown. Only when voltage goes outside of the adjustable range does the unit shut down (I believe the range is roughly 90 - 140). The Panamax and Belkin have "brickwall" type protection but do not adjust voltage.

myke wrote: »

Marty913, thanks I forgot about that. I wish it had a trigger too. It seeems to be better in joules too so I wonder what is the benefit of the panamax compared to the APC 15H?

engtaz, how did you see or know amps were being limited, did you hear it or see it on the meter?

I suppose I am concerned if I don't use the conditioner and plug directly into the wall that all of this is going into a 15amp circuit......

The H15 does have a trigger from one device (your receiver) that can control powering up two other devices (amp, sub-woofer, etc.). I did look up the voltage regulation range and it is variable (your choice) up to a maximum of 92 - 144 volts. It does have two "high current" outlets which I would assume are not limited but who really knows.

I'm not recommending one device over another, just trying to help out with specifications & features.

If I'm home and we get some crazy weather I unplug my rigs if not I don't worry about anymore. At first I put more energy into so much dumb crap with my rigs that it starts to take some fun out of it..

Get a good PC and sit back and enjoy!! You should have a good PC if your pluging in a TV it will give you a better picture and give you some protection..

I'd get an estimate on some dedicated lines to your listening room, mine was close to the main box, so it was only $250 for two dedicated, properly grounded (important), 30amp lines with two 4-plug receipticles. Money well spent since ML speakers need a plug socket just for them. If your home has dimmer switches on the same line it's just nasty stuff, same with your computer, A/C unit and the fridge. I didn't bother looking at conditioners, I just went straight to the electrician when I moved in, and I'm a renter who plans on staying awhile, so YMMV.

I think it depends on the conditioner.

I use an APC-S15; it's rated at 900W/1500va, and it's always done me right.

Every single piece in my 2-channel rig (see sig + my comuter) is plugged into this thing, and at full reference volume, the APC says I'm only using about 550 watts out of the the 900 available, so I'm not worried about losing dynamics in the least, in fact, everything sounded better as soon as I got this thing a bout a year ago.

Another cool feature is the battery backup. At full reference volume, the included battery could run my entire system for 30 min! That's impressive given the amp, powered sub, and hard to drive maggie 3.6's. More importantly, it could drive my wireless router, modem, and computer for days. That could come in handy in a power outage.

I actually tried this once, but I don't encourage it:

OK so everything wass plugged into the APC-S15 PC, and the APC was the only thing plugged into the wall. I turned everything on, which at the time included a TV and receiver in addition to the 2-channel step, and yanked the APC's power cord from the wall...

Nothing skipped a beat. The battery backup kicked in seamlessly, and you wouldn't have even known what I did had you been watching the TV or listening to the music.


In my particular situation this thing comes in handy a lot, because sometimes when the HVAC kicks in, the lights in the basement dim a little, and there's obviously a strange signal being sent to the APC because I can hear the APC turn on and "do" something, but the music is never affected.

YMMV

Cheers,


Ben

Drenis wrote: »

What if your amp draws 1500w @ reference level?

Then you would need a more capable conditioner...

Drenis wrote: »

What if your amp draws 1500w @ reference level?

I have a Carver 705THX 5-channel amp, 60" Sony, Dish cable box, music steamer, Bluray player, a few other small devices plugged into my Belkin PF60. With all on and cranked to a fairly high listening level I barely draw 4 amps. If your amp is drawing 1500 watts you need to have it check out pretty quick.

myke wrote: »

Both of which I am buying soon, the answers I receive along with constant reading will decide exactly which ones I buy (emo xpa-5....panamax 5100 or apc H15).

So I have been reading not to plug it in b/c of many reasons, limiting power to the amp, over loading the conditioner with other gear on at the same time, amp should be on a separate circuit, and a few more.

On another crazy note :biggrin: (no but really) should I buy a 20 amp breaker and run a new recep to the living room for the amp (with/without conditioner?)?

Any thoughts?

If you have the cash, what the heck, I say run a dedicated 20-amp circuit for the amp. You could also use it to power gear that draws less power with that circuit too. Thats the route I went.
I have my Emo plugged into a Panamax which is plugged into that dedicated receptacle. Sound great to me. I tried and tried but could not hear or see any difference with my Xpa-5 plugged directly into the 20-amp plug vs. using the Panamax. So it remains connected to the Panamax conditioner/surge protector.