Furman Elite-15 Power Filter Review

[gene]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/FurmanElite15p1.php"></A><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/FurmanElite15p1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 21px" alt=[elite153] hspace=0 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/elite153_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>The Furman Elite-15 has quality where it counts and is an outstanding power center/surge suppressor.&nbsp;&nbsp;Fit, finish, chassis layout, and overall engineering are outstanding. The Elite-15 did not quite live up to its marketing literature for improving system performance, but none of the other line filters at this price do either. This little power center will however protect your equipment and not sacrifice itself doing so and that is the most important part of any power protection product.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>[Read the Review]</FONT></P><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/uploads/elite15.jpg"></A><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/uploads/elite151.jpg"></A>

 

[corey]

Refering to this as an "outstanding power center/surge suppressor" I can understand, but without voltage regulation how can it be a power conditioner?

 

[Mudcat]

I generally like Furman products. But something about this unit seems to be lacking. Especially at this price point.

Previously, I used the AR1215. It was a couple of years ago, but I think I spent less than $350 through ZZounds (probably costs a lot more now). I know I sold it on Ebay for more than I paid retail. Anywho, the AR-1215 is supposed to provide a steady 120 VAC output. And I know this to be a fact because I watch the Volt meter on my ART something or other (model forgotten becuase I'm not at home) drop to 88 while the volt meter on my Monster 5100 stayed at 120. The Furman was between the ART and Monster units. And it did this quietly. I got rid of it because there were not enough outlets for my junk. In comparison, the Tripplite LCR2400 does the voltage regulation just as well, but it is very noisy.
By noise, I do not mean electrical jism in my music or videos, I mean an audible clicking.

 

[Audioholics]

Refering to this as an "outstanding power center/surge suppressor" I can understand, but without voltage regulation how can it be a power conditioner?

Thanks, absolutely correct - the correct term (one of them anyway) is "Filter" and we've corrected it above and in the review title. Ray had the terminology correct, we just named it incorrectly in the title.

 

[RLA]

Hello All

Furman, Panamax and Monster all label their power centers "conditioners"

If the name used on the product, brocure and manual is conditioner that is the way we need to name it. Rewording the review to filter is incorrect. Filtering is part of conditioning even if the power center doesn’t do voltage stabilization. The review correctly states that the Elite-15 doesn’t do line voltage stabilization. Yes there are product out there that do voltage stabilization The AR1215 is at a higher price point that the Elite-15. The Elite-15 is in a price point that competes directly with Monster and Panamax and is built better than the competitive models offered by those companies and that is why it is an outstanding product for the price. The value and the perfromance scores are based on many aspects of the product please don't get stuck on one.

Ray

 

[gene]

If the name used on the product, brocure and manual is conditioner that is the way we need to name it. Rewording the review to filter is incorrect.

Ray, we are cracking down on power conditioners this year and in order for them to be considered "conditioners" they must meet the following criteria:
1) surge suppression
2) line filtering
3) regulation

In this case, the Furman Elite-15 doesn't have regulation thus we don't consider it a "Conditioner". Its like calling a two way bookshelf speaker a 3 way design.

 

[FLZapped]

Hello All

Furman, Panamax and Monster all label their power centers "conditioners"

Ray

The Elte 15 does not say "Conditioner" in any of the literature.

http://www.furmansound.com/products/consumer/elite/elite15.php

 

[RLA]

The Elte 15 does not say "Conditioner" in any of the literature

It's pasted on the front face plate of the unit, below the volt meter and it’s listed on the owner’s manual. If you read the review and click on the photos it should be fairly obvious

 

[FLZapped]

It's pasted on the front face plate of the unit, below the volt meter and it’s listed on the owner’s manual. If you read the review and click on the photos it should be fairly obvious

BAH! I did read the manual, musta missed it......thanks.

They seem to have a different definition than everyone else in the industry. What everyone else would call a conditioner, they call a regulator.

-Bruce