Furman
 

I tried, but simply could not swing a PurePower 2000. So, wanting to get at the very minimum solid surge protection, I went with a Furman P-2400 IT.

and along with the surge protection, it's got the 90Lb 1 to 1 transformer for converting AC line to Balanced.

I'd experimented with balanced AC years ago, but never thought much of it unless needed for some specific problem(s).

Anyway, lugged the thing in hooked everything up...and I hate it when this happens, but I could swear the system sound character has changed for the better. It's been 24 hours now, which is usually all it takes for my imagination to subside and reality set back in..but 24 hours later and I'm still smiling.

I'm not even going to mention what improvements I think I still hear, as it would sound like more audiophile voodoo. I guess I'm now convinced that there is AC power and AC Power and the latter may sound better than the former. :thumbsup:

Glad to hear about your positive AC experience.

I'm a big fan of Furman and employ three in my system; Ref-20 for amps, Ref-15 frontend, and Elite-15i tuner and line voltage monitor. Their reliability and service are first rate. I've tried several PurePower units from time to time and never liked the sound.

I'm still in the "don't really understand why" on this, but still very happy nonetheless.

at least this part I understand, anything with a transformer in it that may have had a slight transformer hum when running on unbalanced AC, becomes dead quiet.

The JC-1s, if I listened a couple inches away from either chassis, could hear a very slight transformer hum prior. The JC-1s are separated by probably 10 inches, and in order to hear transformer hum from either, they had to both be powered on. So it seems there was some magnetic field interaction between the two amps.

This hum is now inaudible from even an inch or two away. So I guess the magnetic fields around power cords, transformers etc, being minimized with balanced AC, must in some way relate to improved sound. ...:scratch2:

Just to bring things back to reality a bit....I plugged the Pioneer Kuro Plasma into the Furman, the picture looked no better than before. :icon_jump:

One thing I was worried about with the Furman itself, was Toroid buzz due to DC offset on AC line. I've had this in the past with various gear and had to in one case build a DC Filter for the AC line. I checked with Furman P2400 does not have DC filtering, but fortunately it is very quiet itself with only a very slight buzz when listening a couple inches from the chassis. Alison Krauss sounds better than ever on balanced AC. :dazed-7::confused-37::puzzled-6:

tdelahanty, NICE RIDE!

Thanks, I love my Mustangs !!! Furman generates it's balanced line voltage by using a center tapped winding for the secondary of the isolation transformer. The center tap is grounded so what you wind-up with is plus and minus 60 vac. Two taps at opposite voltage cancel noise. Connecting across the taps gives 120vac clean and noise free.

I have two Furman units, and hear nothing when I put my ear right up to them. They run quietly, which is nice. I have an Elite-PF15 and SPR-20i.

I of course could not help popping the top on it, that's one nasty big toroid in there!

This one is dead quiet if little or no current draw, when I fire everything up (about 8 amps) that's when I can hear the noise up close to the Furman, but only very close, can't hear a thing from a foot or more away.

Glad to hear your Furman is making you smile.

I'm not a big motorcycle guy, but that is one nice bike in your avatar!