[infinitesymphony]

Run a dedicated line/branch with its own isolated ground from the main power circuit breaker to the outlet that powers your gear, if you can. That will isolate it from the other things in the house.

Conditioners like the Shunyata Hydra are well-reviewed simply because they don't affect the sound quality much versus the wall power. There's even a DIY Hydra website kicking around, and the cost in parts is far less than what they charge. Not to say that it doesn't work well, just that it seems a bit expensive given what's actually inside.

If I had the money, I'd probably go with either a professional power regenerator from APC, Furman, or Tripp-Lite ($,$$$), or something like one of the audio surge protectors from Brick Wall ($$$). They don't use MOVs for the surge protection stage, so the sound quality doesn't suffer nearly as much compared to those that do. I don't have the budget for either solution at the moment; I prefer to run straight out of the wall rather than use one of several power conditioners and strips that I've purchased, just because the sound quality difference is so significant, IMO.

If you didn't have potential ground loop problems and were happy with the sound from the wall, I'd recommend the cheapest surge protector you could find (ex. Newpoint or no-name brand, $10 or less at your local hardware store). These have minimal components and affect the sound less than power conditioners or line filters.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HugoFreire /img/forum/go_quote.gif One year has gone since I've started this thread and I still don't know what to use as power conditioner.

1 year! that must be maddening. at this point i would just buy anything and see if it works, a trial and error approach. for what it's worth, i use a brickwall. no idea if it will help your situation, as it is mainly for surge protection although it does do some line filtering as well. sounds like you have a ground loop though. those are hard to fix sometimes. maybe a cheater plug. not sure.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HugoFreire /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm having a slight hiss issue since I've got the Aristaeus. It's audible from around 1 o'clock and gets louder when I turn the volume up. It becomes about 2x louder when I touch the metalic volume knob, so it's clearly a power issue. (Ground loop?) It also gets louder when I turn my DAC off or when I disconnect the ICs from the amp.

First thing to try is a cheater plug, on the Aristaeus, and if it doesn't work, at least another cheater plug on another component.

Next thing to try is to get a long piece of wire, tape or attach one end to Aristaeus with one of its screws, then experiment by touching with other end the chassis and/or RCA jack's outer contact ("ground") of other components in your system. The noise may go away with certain configurations.

Often, this can diagnose which components are involved. I've even left the wire connected between components indefinitely if there are no other solutions.

If all this doesn't work, contact your manufacturer.