DIY Power Conditioner.

why don't you just get an iec socket for the power supply that has a mains filter/conditioner in it.. they're pretty cheap

Why don't you just regulate the DC using an LM317+LM337? that way when the voltage varies, the voltage to the amp won't.

http://www.triode-systems.com/module...php?category=1

Here is a good start. I am going to build one of these( the easy one) into my steps.

Do a search in google for "DIY mains conditioner" there are some interesting sites there.

Hope this helps.

Manuel

Power conditioners come in a number of forms and price, and address slightly different needs.

Slight variations in mains voltage are nothing to worry about at all. There is always a bit of variation. But the supply is no more than about 10% out you won't see much in the way of ill effects - certainly not in a head amp. It can be a bit critical in tube based designs - they may start to wear out tubes significantly faster with higher voltages.

Where audio likes power conditioning is not so much in regulating the voltage, but in keeping higher frequency crud out of the feed.

Cheap computer power conditioners are essentially the same as uninterruptible power supplies. In fact most UPS designs are conditioners as well. The cheap ones are connected in parallel with the supply, and actually buck any change in voltage (all the way to total loss of supply, when they are acting as a UPS.) These designs do not provide much isolation from lone noise, and are pretty useless for audio.

The most expensive dual conversion designs take the mains, take it down to a lower DC voltage (which is the same as the battery voltage) and then up convert to AC again. This has very high quality isolation and provides very clean power.

Alternate conditioners that are not based upon UPS designs are either auto-transformers or ferroresonant conditioners. Auto transformers only provide a constant voltage and use a servo mechanism to select the appropriate tap on the transformer to maintain the right voltage. They do provide limited cleaning of the power due to high frequency losses in the transformer core.

Ferroresonant conditioners use a mixture of capacitors and inductors in a very clever system in which the saturation of the inductor core is used to regulate the output voltage. These can provide quite high quality power and voltage regulation within reasonable bounds. They are expensive and really heavy! But a favourite with some audio buffs.

OK, but a schematic? No. There is no chance at all that you could ever compete on price with the cheap UPS systems that are available, even proper dual conversion ones. You can get dual conversion conditioners - it is simply the UPS without buying the batteries. Which can be a big saving. Building a UPS is not a DIY project. You are both using, and generating lethal voltages. Worse, the up converted voltages are just as lethal, and your house's residual current detector (or ELCB) won't detect electrocution with that supply. Auto-transformer and ferroresonant conditioners cannot be built form parts. The only source of parts will be manufacturers of conditioners.

http://dansdata.com/diyups.htm
That's one approach that can be done with just a very small amount of electrical knowledge.

BTW, a simple way to make a large isolation transformer is to buy many low voltage transformers and connect the secondaries in series, so the secondaries add up to 120v. Some trial and error will probably be necessary to get the right phase.

If you have just one, nope, there's no way. But if you have two, connect the secondaries in parallel, apply power to one primary and get it from the other primary.
Or you can add a rectifier and controller to charge car batteries with it (which you can use to power an inverter), but that's probably too complex for you.

No, this is a small variation and should be nothing to worry about. Most power correction devices like a UPS do not correct power to smaller variations than this (unless specially configured).

It worked for me: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=128754 That said it didn't make a worthy difference. Sure there's something there, but not $200 worth of something. It may be better to get IEC plugs with this type of filter built in. They are commonly available

It did. Bear in mind I live right next to an industrial estate and our power goes up and down like crazy. I'm just saying the differences were so incredibly slight that it's not worth building one of thoes linked http://www.triode-systems.com/module...php?category=1 when you can buy the entire thing built into a simple IEC plug or buy them as mains attachments for under $20