[gtaphile]

Does the odd detrimental affect of adding power conditioning to certain system/residential power configurations come into play for the odd equipment review - such as Michael Fremer's recent 7Bsst2 review?

 

[1oldguy]

This is an interesting question because if the power protection  MF used was starving the amps of what they need to shine then this could clearly be a possible reason for his take on Bryston Amps.

[Phil A]

Most conditioners do starve amps and drain the dynamics which is something that all of a reasonable level of audiophelia should know.  I don't get wowed or non-wowed by what reviewer says.  I've met more than one.  As in any profession, there are good ones, mediocre ones, ones who may be better at certain things than others, etc.  I've personally had experience with (known) reviewers doing some really basically stupid things that make you wonder how they ended up in the position of reviewing in the first place.  Those things include re-hooking up a subwoofer for a customer of a store, where it was set-up right in the first place, moving it to the back of the room behind the listening position and not hooked up properly.  Auditioning an amp with a 50 ft. 16 gauge outdoor extension cord when they were short an outlet (and wondering why the amp did not sound all that great).

[95Dyna]

It seems logical to me that power conditioners of different designs can affect amps of different designs differently.  We have to be very careful when drawing any conclusions as to what affect they had on Michael Fremer's evaluation, however.  He used three in the review; the Audio Response Adept, Shunyata V Ray II and the Tara Labs Power Screens.

Again, it is important to note that the review in general was positive except for the comparisons to the Musical Fidelity Titan and The Parasound Halo JC1.  I completely discounted any reference to the MF Titan.  It needs to be 400% better than the 7B's for a comparison to have any validity.  The JC1 comparison is legitimate due to its similar pricing to the 7B's.  As a 7B SST2 with upgraded transformer owner this comparison is the only part of the review that was of concern to me.

To answer the question that is posed here we would have to compare the design of the JC1 to the 7Bsq then confirm the designs of each of the three power conditioners then study the interactions and resultant effects those designs have on the two amp designs.  This would be the province of a qualified engineer/physicist to determine if the conditioners adversely affect a 7B design more so than a JC1 design.  For example, the JC1's MEASURED power doubles down from 400 wpc @ 8 ohms to 800 @ 4, approximately 1600 @ 2 and over 3 kw at 1 ohm.  It runs in class A up to 25 watts (adjustible down to 10 if heat is a problem).  The 7B/14B measured power begins to run out of gas when it approaches 2 ohms (i.e. its output diminishes) and it switches to AB output at about 6 watts.  Not good or bad, just indicitive of possible significant design differences that may impact the affect power conditioners of various deigns may have.

It is worthy of note that I don't think any of the three conditioners used in the review utilizes a power isolation transformer.  Perhaps the Bryston design fares better with the PIU design than with other more passive designs that might constrict current flow.

[satfrat]

Most conditioners do starve amps and drain the dynamics which is something that all of a reasonable level of audiophelia should know.  I don't get wowed or non-wowed by what reviewer says.  I've met more than one.  As in any profession, there are good ones, mediocre ones, ones who may be better at certain things than others, etc.  I've personally had experience with (known) reviewers doing some really basically stupid things that make you wonder how they ended up in the position of reviewing in the first place.  Those things include re-hooking up a subwoofer for a customer of a store, where it was set-up right in the first place, moving it to the back of the room behind the listening position and not hooked up properly.  Auditioning an amp with a 50 ft. 16 gauge outdoor extension cord when they were short an outlet (and wondering why the amp did not sound all that great).

Sorry Phil but blanket statements like most power conditioning starving most amps of their dynamics won't cut it for me. It sure doesn't hold water for my own system. I would recommend everyone at least try out their power conditioning on their amps along with all their gear, make listening comparisons between conditioning and the wall outlet and judge for yourself what suits your ears & listening preferences. Trust your ears and not internet "experts".
 
Cheers,
Robin

[James Tanner]

Hi Folks,

Yes I agree with Robin above.

Quality power conditioners will assist in performance improvements but they will not in my opinion change the overall performance or sonic characteristics of the specific amplifier - at least not at the level experienced by MF. 

MF just did not like the 7B SST's - lets please just leave it at that.

james