Power conditioning - answer me this...

[Lonnybass]

I know power conditioners have been discussed ad nauseum here on Talkbass, but if they are truly just a glorified power strip, why is it that every professional touring rig I've seen has a PL-Plus mounted in the top rackspace? Just really good marketing, or what?

Lonnybass
Chicago, IL
www.theparamours.com

 

[Snarf]

I've been wondering this, too. Bring on the posts!

 

[chaosMK]

I always thought it was so the rack wouldnt look as empty.

 

[Eric Moesle]

Well, the PL-Plus has many outputs, is rackmountable, and has pull-out lights. You need something in a rack on a big tour, and it does OK for that.

But ALSO remember that the PL-Plus you see on a large tour stage is plugged into other sources, which usually are a huge power distro that has controlled filtering and its own voltage regulation, so you don't need it in every rack onstage separately.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

The simple answer is that if it's small enough to fit into a single rack space it's too small to offer much more protection than is provided by a $15.00 Corcom twin-T filter, and at best that's probably what's in there, if not just a few 50 cent capacitors and three $1 MOVs. That's assuming you're trying to power an amp with it, and not just a rack of processors. Heavy duty filtering and regulation with enough current capacity to handle an amp is going to occupy at least two rack spaces, while the real deal, a transformer balanced A/C supply, will take at least three spaces, and cost at least five hundred bucks.
What I love is the 'conditioners' that have a dozen or more LEDs to tell you that the supply voltage is AFU but don't have the ability to do anything about it. What's the point? Looks pretty, though.

 

[DubDubs]

I know power conditioners have been discussed ad nauseum here on Talkbass, but if they are truly just a glorified power strip, why is it that every professional touring rig I've seen has a PL-Plus mounted in the top rackspace? Just really good marketing, or what?

Lonnybass
Chicago, IL
www.theparamours.com

Because they serve other purposes (like lighting, volatge meters,) and a powerstrip is very useful but a rackmountable one is even more useful. If you already have a nice quality (not cheap savon one) powerstrip you don't really need a PC but I didn't have one and I found some advantages to rackmounting so I went for a PC.

 

[thedoctor]

The good ones have staggered outlets so you can plug in three wall-warts and still have a few outlets available for normal use. That and they look cool. Too bad the good ones are so expensive.

 

[BillisCool]

I liked having a master switch for my whole rack.

 

[Lockout]

The simple answer is that if it's small enough to fit into a single rack space it's too small to offer much more protection than is provided by a $15.00 Corcom twin-T filter, and at best that's probably what's in there, if not just a few 50 cent capacitors and three $1 MOVs. That's assuming you're trying to power an amp with it, and not just a rack of processors. Heavy duty filtering and regulation with enough current capacity to handle an amp is going to occupy at least two rack spaces, while the real deal, a transformer balanced A/C supply, will take at least three spaces, and cost at least five hundred bucks.
What I love is the 'conditioners' that have a dozen or more LEDs to tell you that the supply voltage is AFU but don't have the ability to do anything about it. What's the point? Looks pretty, though.

So how does something like this fit into your explaination?

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I use mine as a glorified power strip with rack lights. I prefer one button for the rack and one cord as well. Saves a rat's nest of cords flying out when I transport it.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

So how does something like this fit into your explaination?

Via very good engineering, and that fact that the last time I looked at these they were two spaces. They shrank them. If they'd shrink the price to $99 I'd even buy one.

 

[Joe Beets]

What I love is the 'conditioners' that have a dozen or more LEDs to tell you that the supply voltage is AFU but don't have the ability to do anything about it. What's the point? Looks pretty, though.

The ones that have all the LED's on the front, are they blue? Imagine what my bass tone would be like if I had something like that in my rack. And it would condition my power too? Super.

 

[steveksux]

Lots of power amp and hi-fi speakers are great for getting a super clean tone, but if you want silky smooth, manageable, bouncy tone with lots of body, and no split ends, you have to use a conditioner also.

Randy

 

[thejohnkim]

just a few 50 cent capacitors and three $1 MOVs.

just a small tidbit worth mentioning is that the series II furman units have series protection, and do not use the traditional MOV design.

also if you look for normal power distribution rack mount units they're around ~$35, about $15 more for basic mov surge protection and emi filtering, and then once you jump up to non mov surge protection, lights, etc thats when you take the hit to $90+

I personally used one for a while until i upgraded to a bigger amp, but wanted to stay in 4 spaces, and mounted a shallow strip on my rear rails. it was convenient.

 

[The 0x]

Lots of power amp and hi-fi speakers are great for getting a super clean tone, but if you want silky smooth, manageable, bouncy tone with lots of body, and no split ends, you have to use a conditioner also.

Randy

Yuck yuck yuck.