Voltage Stablizers...

[rolyasm]

I have been reading with great interest the threads about surge suppression and power conditioners. I thought I would put out the next question regarding power, and that is the voltage stabilizers. Not even sure who makes them, besides MC. The way I understand these units is that they keep a constant 120v going to your system. No spikes, no dips. I can definitely see the need for surge supressors, kind of sometimes see the need for power conditioners, and don't have an opinion on voltage stablizers. Anyone have an opinion, or better yet, facts?
Roly

[brucek]

Not even sure who makes them

PS Audio produce several power plants (regulators) of various sizes (300w/500w/100watt). They are quite expensive and do the job they're intended to do.

Basically these devices are AC to DC to AC converters. They receive the AC from the wall and convert it to DC the same as the power supplies in all your audio equipment that you own. Then they feed a very high quality AC inverter to create a new AC signal to feed your equipment. Well, if the AC power in your home isn't a problem to begin with (and it usually isn't), what have you gained here? You already have a device in every piece of equipment you own to nicely convert AC to DC with a rather high noise rejection. Why do it again and then reconvert the DC back to AC and then feed it to a power supply and recreate DC again. Is the AC coming from the AudioPlant going to contain less noise and harmonics from the wall? Maybe, maybe not - and anyway, the noise rejection of a standard power supply in a piece of audio equipment is very high. You'd be adding another device into the chain. How many times do you want to go back and forth from AC to DC?

Take for example the model PS300. It only supplies 300 watts. A standard 15 amp wall plug can supply about 1800 watts. Should you limit the power to your equipment to 300 watts, particularly when most residential power is not flawed to begin with?

brucek

[rolyasm]

So say the wattage drops from your wall, for whatever reason, as claimed by the VS makers. Does this cause any undue stress upon your receiver or components? Do the converters in the equipment care if it drops or goes a little higher every now and then? I think that is what these companies tout is that even if there are peaks or dips, your equipment ALWAYS sees the same power input, whereas without it it might be higher or lower. Whether or not this causes a problem, I have no idea. If the onboard converters don't care, I guess it wouldn't be.
Roly

[brucek]

Do the converters in the equipment care if it drops or goes a little higher every now and then?

The DC power supplies in all your equipment will accept quite a wide variance in the AC it receives. No problem.

brucek