Power conditioners anyone ever tried using computer server UPS instead of the over priced audiophile ones?
I have tried dedicated audio power conditioners and heard what they can do, but the price in the UK for good ones are £2000+ I would rather put that money into my system.
Anyway I decided to get a very sophisticated double conversion UPS meaning the AC is converted to DC then regenerated back to pure sine wave AC, I got a Emerson Liebert GXT4 3000VA / 2700W UPS
https://www.vertivco.com/en-ca/products-catalog/critical-power/uninterruptible-power-supplies-ups/liebert-gxt4-ups-3000va2/. The first thing I had to do was change the internal case fans to very quiet ones, the ones that came in the unit sounds like and aircraft is about to take off. With the new quiet fans, the sound is down to a whisper and I need to turn everything off in the listening room and be near the UPS to hear it.
In the UK we use 240V and I have noticed my power in the flat fluctuates between 225V – 239V, I set the UPS to give out a steady 240V no matter what the input voltage is doing.
I connected the UPS to the system, I was expecting the noise floor to be lower. I was not prepared for what was about to happen once everything was up and running.
Wow the first thing I noticed was depth of the image, then the clarity and separations of instruments and vocals. The next thing, which really threw me, was the bottom end just dropped wow the bass was so deep and tight and faster and I felt it. The bass was not bloated or woolly like you would get on a beats headphones. Wow I would never have thought a good power conditioner could do all that.
The last time I heard this level of improvement in my system was when I tried the latest version of my pre-amp and that was £2800 more than my current Pre-amp.
All of this have been achieved at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated audiophile power conditioner and this being a UPS, it will also run my system should there be a power cut. It should run my system for at least 1.5 hours before the battery dies.
I know one thing this UPS is here to stay.
Watch this to know how the Emerson Liebert GXT4 works, it’s just amazing a superb upgrade to my system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arjWAnKxMMwI am running Spectral Audio pre / power.
If you are thinking of an audiophile power conditioner, give a UPS a try first just make sure you get one that put's out pure sine wave and does re-generation and not line interactive.