exactpower ep 15A

Nsgarch - You confirmed, pretty much, the design I had in mind. Thank you. However, I had thought about putting a regenerator upstream of the balanced power unit (still deciding between a 2qr equitech or BPT 3.5 sg plus - largely because I do not know how to evaluate the differences between the two, or if I should bother trying). So, if that is not a good idea, what other solutions are there to deal with the voltage fluctuations? Also, I assume the RG 1200 is good way to go on the regenerator side, are there other options you would consider? Oh - one other thought, the subs have built in digital amps (1000W) - would they benefit more from balanced or regenerated power?

Since I will be wiring from new dedicted ciruits - any thoughts on Romex, other than 10gauge? I could go with a two wire (hot, neutral) and twisting it and running a separate star ground, and then there is the 3 wire croy'd stuff...
Cheers.

PB, I'll try and take a minute to look into the two balanced models you mentioned and post any pros/cons I might discover. If I forget, feel free to email me and remind me ;-)

As for your other quandries ;-) here's my approach:

1.) Put in those dedicated circuits - biggest bang for the buck in audio! Here are the finer points:
a.) Two separate 15A circuits near your sources; not for extra capacity but to keep analog and digital separate.
b.) One 20A near the amps/speakers in the center of the end wall OR (just as an alternative, but especially if you are running monoblock amps) two 15A circuits, one on ea side of the room.
c.) Believe it or not, Romex is better than twisted wires in a conduit because the latter creates inductance, and RFI is better taken care of at/by the equipment itself.
d.) If your receptacles will be more than 20' from your breaker panel, go up one wire size from code to make up for voltage drop over longer distances. I.E. 10AWG versus 12AWG.
e.) Make sure the breakers for all your ded. cts. are on the same side of the neutral buss in the breaker panel box to insure they are all in phase.
f.) Use Hubbell hospital grade receptacles (with the green dot) because they have clamping connectors for the wire, as opposed to screw terminals (NEVER use 'push-in' connectors!)

2.) Voltage fluctuations: Once you've installed your ded. cts. you need to check the wall voltage at different times of the day (and night/evening.) It should not vary more than 5% over all (117 - 123 VAC) If it's higher or lower by more than just a volt or two (115 - 125 VAC), more than just once in a great while, and just for a few seconds, then you'll need voltage regulation, especially if you have tube gear. There are many inexpensive ways to do this. The least expensive being a voltage regulator(s) (duh! ;-) of the proper capacity. But, if it's a serious problem (like it's just too high or too low too much of the time,) I would FIRST talk to your utility company - they might need to replace a pole transformer!

3.) Subs with digital, or ICE, or Class D amps, should go right into the dedicated circuits' wall outlets. They create more noise than they are affected by it, and you don't want them dumping digital hash and in-rush current surges into your carefully balanced or regenerated power, from which they won't benefit anyway. They CAN benefit from big 10AWG power cords however ;-)

4.) If lightening and/or huge power surges are a problem in your area, the ONLY intelligent practice is unplugging your entire system. Seriously! Lightening can jump right across open circuit breakers and still fry your system -- so unplugging is the ONLY way except for: big isolation transformers. They will electrically separate your stuff from the grid (lightening) smooth out power surges, and eliminate a lot of noise. If I still had a house of my own, I'd combine dedicated circuits with isolation transformers, and be done with it!

Neil
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Does anyone know how much the Exact Power EP-WSC-15R is selling for? Is it an improved version of the Ultrapure I? Has anyone got a hold of one yet?

I don't remember what MAP told me however I do think they will tell you over the phone or point you to a local dealer if one exists for you that will give you this info.

I am also an EP-15A owner, and spoke with MAP a few months ago about my sentiments regarding the excellence of that product and my disappointment that the new company has abandoned it. However, although I can't recall a name, I'm sure I was only speaking with someone in customer service, not a company officer.

I do want to mention, in light of above comments, that it's perfectly fine to hang a balanced power transformer off the output of an EP-15A, and in fact that's what the old Exact Power company intended for their complementary SP-15A unit, which is generally similar in principle and execution to units from Equi=Tech and BPT.

The combination of voltage/waveform correction from the EP and further noise-reduction/balanced-AC from a b.p.t. connected in series is not something I'd want to be without. I believe balanced-AC does more than just reduce powerline noise, I think it allows connected components to actually function better in and of themselves, often significantly so.

I myself take the wall power for my entire high-powered, bi-amped system and route it first to the EP-15A, then to an Equi=Tech 2Q for the power amps only, and also to an API Power Wedge Ultra 116 for the preamp and all the sources. (The PW uses six invidual smaller b.p.t.'s with six individual outlets to provide balanced AC for low-power sources while isolating all sources from each other on the powerline. However I do not recommend using the PW's four power amp outlets, which aren't balanced, for that purpose, or any other if you can avoid it, other than possibly feeding some battery trickle-chargers which may not accept balanced AC.)

BTW, not to jump on any PS Audio bashing bandwagon, because I generally like and admire the company and use one of their products, but it's worth noting (and has gone nearly unremarked-upon) that while the original Power Plant models did provide balanced AC, the current PP Premier that replaced them does not. The company has been, perhaps unsurprisingly, totally silent about this change in philosophy, as have all the reviews I've seen of the P3 whether out of acquiesence or ignorance. But if you followed the debate that took place in the Letters pages of Stereophile several years ago between Paul McGowan of PSA and Equi=Tech's Martin Glasband, McGowan stipulated that in his opinion at the time, balanced-AC was the THE single most important factor in terms of sonic improvement among the original PP's functions.

Also, for anybody considering the Equi=Tech 2Q (at least as it applies to high-powered power amps), I have found that in order to obtain the most dynamic, widest-bandwidth sound, I recommend using only the unswitched GFCI outlet duplex for that purpose, and if you use none of the other switched outlets for anything else, then in addition turn off those unused outlets from the front-panel rocker switch.