Opinions on Power Regenerators and Tube Amps

I use regenerated power on my sources for two reasons. 1- its too expensive too regenerate for my big amps. Also regenerators have limiters to protect them. So if your regenerator is rated at X then make sure your amp will never use more than 60-70% of X. I use a P-300 on my sources and could never do without it. If the power goes off and it resets its output to 60 HZ I can hear it right away. My setup loves the 120HZ setting. BUT don't buy a regenerator to try and solve your noise issue, buy one to make your system sound better. Tube amps will make a little noise audible from close to the speaker. Not audible while listening to music or in the listening position. My last point is that if you do regenerate it is better to start with the sources anyway and do the power amp last.

ET

I had a buzz in my Barons which didn't entirely go away when I used the Barons ground lifters (BTW - if you haven't already done so, try lifting only one ground, alternating channel to channel, that might help). Mine went dead quiet when I plugged them into a seperate dedicated line and an old power filter made by Power Wedge especially for amps but I never did get rid of a buzz when the amp was in pure pentode mode - should have sent the thing back to Mesa.

Art, You've got to get out more. At least on my 91db speakers I have 2 tube ams which don't buzz at all - ear next to the tweeter. I've got 2 tube and one SS that do, not counting the MB which I no longer use. :-)

Nsgarch.....those items on the floor are mouse traps. Actually there are less of them now than there was when I took those pictures :) Currently, my amp and cd player (with VH Audio Oyiade shielded cable) are in the 20A circuit. VPI, phono stage, and active Synergistic speaker cables and interconnects, are plugged into an Isobar which is plugged into the 15A circuit. I think my power is pretty good.....my house is served by it's own transformer since I'm off the road a bit. My main thing was whether or not the Mesa would benefit from any conditioning or regeneration......or if it is actually detrimental with a tube amp. So, Electroid, you can feed 115V and 120Hz to a cd player and it likes it?

So I'll bet the mice are laughing at you too!

If you MUST use a regenerator, get an ExactPower. They don't work the way the (lowish output) P-300 and others do (which is to throw away the whole AC signal and re-build it). Consequently, the ExactPower can offer 1650 watts from 120V wall current, more than enough to power your entire system. But I still don't think you need one.

Conditioners (any kind/brand) are old technology and bad for sonics. STAY AWAY!

After looking at your system again, I would recommend you plug the amp directly into the the 20A circuit all by itself, and get a used ExactPower SP-15A balanced power unit (plugged into the 15A circuit) for everything else.
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A bit of news. The little buzz is only when the preamp is on phono, and the phono stage is turned on. Preamp on CD = dead quiet. Ground switches on the amp don't seem to have much effect. So the VPI is grounded with a wire to the ground on the phono stage.....is that good or bad.