DIY Power Conditioner.

[Mod_Evil]

Garbz,

I will make this Power Conditioner: http://www.triode-systems.com/module...p?articleid=22 .

Do you see MUCH difference in the Classical musics?

I listen in my system Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Tchaikovsky, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Norah Jones, Alanis Morissette. Do you think I see much difference in this type of music?

What difference you see in your system ago and after the Power Conditioner?

Thanks in Advance,
Felipe Navarro

 

[Garbz]

The before and after sound is similar to night and day sound. No i'm not saying there's a distinct audible difference like most people use the term night and day. Just that during the Day especially weekdays the power is dirtier thanks to high levels of use. Especially living next to industrial estates or areas which supply poor power. At night time sound clears up slightly.

The audible difference is very very subtle and focused on the extreme trebble only. It seems a few things like cymbal hits sound as if they decay more naturally. That said there's a lot of factors which influence how much if any difference this will make.

The circuit you linked is a very standard RFI filter. Caps between the terminals, and from terminals to ground filter common mode noise and that other noise type, while the inductor raises the impednace at frequencies higher then 50hz to eliminate what's left.

The filter I built is just like the one you linked to, except with 2 stages instead of one, and Varistors on the input to prevent thumping. What I was trying to say earlier is see if you can use a prebuilt filter which you have found, but to make things EVEN easier have a look for something like http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...Max=&SUBCATID=
Thoes are identical to the one you posted except built into the IEC socket itself, less wiring, less potential problems.

 

[Tomo]

Hi,

I tried building those common-mode-filter double decked sandwitching MAINS transformer thing. ... but them filters are expensive. ... you will probably be better off taking apart some broken appliances. Look for a switching PSU's, you will see tranny-like objects, it is highly likely these are common-mode-filters. (CHECK IF IT IS SO. I AIN'T SAYING ALL OF 'EM IS COMMON-MODE-FILTER. THANK YOU FOR TOLERATING ALL-CAP.)

Me? I did like what Garbz said. Didn't have space in my chasis to install two let alone one. So I bought a Corcom's MAINS filter and put one in before the tranny. Effect is NOT audible, but I highly recommend to try it out because some Corcom filters are very very affordable and some of them are extremely easy to install on "existing" systems (http://www.cor.com/Series/IEC/EAHEBH/)

If you like that thing, then think about bumping it up. PSU stuffs can get pretty expensive (and really heavy!) real quick. And, the improvement curve asymptote really quick too in my opinion.

T

P.S. I don't really hear much difference really. I listen to Classic and it's dead quiet with or without. And Ms. Jones and Ms. Morissete sounds pretty clear to me either way.

 

[Mod_Evil]

Yeah. Have a nice Merry Chrsmas friends.

Garbz, I have listened music in the Nigh and in the day to see a difference and I see much difference in terms of oscilate of the main voltage. In the nigh the oscilate be at 117~118 and in the day. 117~121...

I seeing to mount various simples filters to use in paralell. Is this a good idea? One filter for one plug?

Thanks for all replys.
Felipe Navarro

 

[Mod_Evil]

I have mounted in now a filterl with capacitor - inductor - capacitor.

The capacitor is a 0.22uf 250vac.

The sound? Very clean! Harmonics is goods! The canon in the Overture 1812 is more really in now!

I can't think a simple upgrade have much difference. But this upgrade, make a big difference in my headphone amplifier!

When I listen Starway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin, I think the space is VERY GOOD!

Thanks in Advance,
Felipe Navarro

 

[Garbz]

one filter per device is not really needed. THe thing is that these types of noises that it filters out come from industry and whitebox appliances especially fridges. You should be fine with one filter for all audio gear bearing in mind the current limits. I only have 1 2x70watt amp, a cdplayer, turntable, and Dynamid plugged into it. which leaves me well under the 10A limit on my filter, however if you play with 2 400watt monoblocks and other equally loud gear you may want more.

Also thoes IEC plugs I linked are only 6A

 

[Mod_Evil]

Oh yeah!

I have 2 820uf 200v eletronics capacitors. Can I despolarize this and use to filter my main? ( + - - + ) In finaly I will have a 410uf 400v capacitor.

Can I filter my mains with this? Or it is insane idea?

Have a nice merry chrsmas

 

[Garbz]

Definitly not. Aside from the fact that the idea itself doesn't work because the caps are polarised (Mains is an AC voltage), you need a special type of capacitor to filter mains.

Mains caps are generally metal film type, except come in a special packaging designed to withstand fire and other nasties. These film caps will be rated X and Y. IIRC X rated caps are for connection between Hot (Live) and Cold (Neutral). Y rated caps are for connection between either L or N and Ground.

Do not wire capacitors into mains which aren't specifically designed for it. It's a safty issue pure and simple.

 

[star882]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mod_Evil Oh yeah! I have 2 820uf 200v eletronics capacitors. Can I despolarize this and use to filter my main? ( + - - + ) In finaly I will have a 410uf 400v capacitor. Can I filter my mains with this? Or it is insane idea? Have a nice merry chrsmas

Not like that, but if you're willing to mod your equipment, you could replace the existing primary caps or parallel them. I did something similar to my PC's PSU. Note that it won't work if your PSU has active PFC (single cap of 400v or so rating). You could put the caps in series with equalizing resistors, but I really question the safety and reliability of such an approach.

 

[Mod_Evil]

Yeah! It isn't a good idea.

It will be insn't secure...

Thanks in advance,
Felipe Navarro

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis_Vaughan 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.

Nice post, very informative indeed.

 

[musick7]

The link you have here is Useless.  
can you update it