Power - Clean vs Not Clean?

[Bryguy]

Hey Holics,

Question about "Power." I keep seeing posts about "Clean" power but no real explanations of it. What is the real difference between clean power from an amp and power coming from a receiver? What if the receiver is just doing direct or straight with no other processing? Would this be considered "dirty" power?

Currently, I'm running B&W 604's with a Yami 1400. Would this be considered dirty power / clean power? Aaaagghhh. I need to know, it is short circuiting the brain trying to figure it out. Thanks in advance.

Bryguy

 

[warnerwh]

When people refer to clean power they mean the power from your outlet. It typically is full of noise and varies significantly. There are power conditioners that can clean up the emi/rfi and some that have transformers and regulators that keep the voltage stable and isolate your gear from the rest of the house. It's not a must have but if you live in an area where there are alot of surges and brownouts it sure couldn't hurt anything. I used to live near an industrial area where there'd be huge surges and the power would go out momentarily and at the same time sounding like someone dropped a small car on the house. Oneac, Powervar and Tripplite make very good conditioners that can be had off of Ebay for cheap. They work as good or better than the fancy ones that are dedicated for home theater/hi fi.

 

[Doug917]

I use several line conditioners. I don't put a lot of faith in the $50 variety you can pick up at your local best buy. I use the larger $500 range conditioners. Not only do they keep spikes and brownouts from damaging your equipment, but they also provide things like sequenced start ups, remote triggering, and delays to avoid thumping with amplifiers. They also contain different pathways optimized for different types of signals (video, analog, digital, amps, etc.)

 

[jzac]

Pricier is not necessarily better!

I use several line conditioners. I don't put a lot of faith in the $50 variety you can pick up at your local best buy. I use the larger $500 range conditioners. Not only do they keep spikes and brownouts from damaging your equipment, but they also provide things like sequenced start ups, remote triggering, and delays to avoid thumping with amplifiers. They also contain different pathways optimized for different types of signals (video, analog, digital, amps, etc.)

Heck, you can get all of the above functionalities and more from Panamax M-5100 10 Outlet Line Conditioner/Surge Suppressor for under $200! I wouldn't pay anything more than that for a power conditioner. Its good to have one... better to be safe than sorry... Besides, the difference in picture quality and sound is very obvious to me. Do a search online and you'll find some good deals on the good brands.

 

[Doug917]

You can get a decent conditioner for around $200. My point was the $50 - $100 strip they try to sell you at a lot of retail stores is not a lot different than a utility power strip and more than likely will not provide any sort of noticable improvment for sound or picture. As the price goes up from $200 you usually get more plug-ins and connections as well as conveinence features.

 

[Sleestack]

I use the Monster HTS 5100. I noticed a significant difference once I started using it. The signal on my analog cable channels was vastly improved and all hums , buzzes, etc. coming out of my audio system are now gone. You probably don't need to spend $500, but I really like the features, layout and desgin of the HTS 5100.

 

[MBauer]

Maybe try this first?

If you don't have one, get yourself a surge protector. They will not condition the power but can provide protection against spikes, lightning strikes, etc. Try to find one you can run your cable through, also phone lines. Computer stores are often good sources for these and some reputable brands are Belkin, Tripplite, etc.

You may not need to condition your power but it is often a good to do so and some very good suggestions have been made already.

If you have a good digital multi-meter or one is avaialble to you just for kicks plug it into your wall outlet and see how steady the voltage is. When I compare my normal power to my standby generator there is quite a difference.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Dirty Power

 

[zumbo]

I always thought clean power meant a powerful amp with low distortion. It is my belief that an external amp provides much cleaner power than a mid-fi receiver.

I use a Yamaha 1400 with an Adcom 5-channel amp. I also use an Adcom ACE 315 surge supressor. I got a great deal on the surge supressor here.

 

[Bryguy]

Power

Zumbo wins the prize:

That's what I was talking about. I read things like someone is run 40 watts of clean power from a dedicated amp that sounded better than running 120 watts on a receiver. Why would an amp be any different from a receiver operating through straight or direct?

I currently use Panamax for TV, Satellite and now Audio.

Bryguy

 

[jaxvon]

Well, part of it is the way the amps and recievers are rated. Some manufacturers tend to be a little zealous when they claim power ratings. It's also what all goes into an amp and reciever. Many amps that have fairly low power ratings have bigger power supplies, bigger capacitors, and ultimately more capacity to crank than a reciever. The reason is simple, being that you can only stuff so much circuitry into a reciever. Thus, things have to be sacrificed. Take RE Designs' LPNA 150 monoblocks. They're rated at only 80w into 8 Ohms, but they each have two mega capacitors and two tordial transformers. This allows for a lot more headroom when you crank up the amp and hit big transients in your music. It's a lot easier to clip a reciever that's trying to power a preamp, a processor, and 5-7 channels of speakers than it is an amp that has its own dedicated power supply only driving one speaker (assuming they have a similar power rating).

 

[hammong]

"Watts" are a unit of power, not signal quality. What people mean by sounding better, or an amplifier having cleaner power is sometimes a matter of personal preference and how their ear reacts to the sound.

As strange as it might seem, Denon and Yamaha (just to name examples) have comparable lines of receivers/amplifiers with almost identical THD%, damping factors, frequency responses, and power supply construction - but there are distinct differences in what these models sound like when compared side-by-side. Some prefer the "warmth" of one receiver over the "harshness" of another, but someone else might describe the same pair as "muddy" and "sparkling". To each his own, you need to listen for yourself to see what sounds best.

I'd say you could universally agree that "clean" amplifiers are going to have a high signal to noise ratio, good channel seperation, low total harmonic distortion.

Greg