Please help: turn volume knob to about 1 o'clock position on VTL preamp and Carver amp also to 1 o'clock running thru 2 polk audio RTi12. Music is loud, but the lights on the Carver amp started flashing. Why is this happening? Am I not have enough power? If turn volume down, then it's ok. Please help. What should I do/get to cure this problem. I did use a surge protector. Thank you & always appreicate the input. Lawrence
Wishing to protect my expensive audio equipment (Accuphase, Revox, Bang & Olufsen), I seek line conditioner and surge protector guidance but am bewildered by the vast array of equipment (all claiming to be "best") and appalled by some of their prices. Can any expert out there get me past the hype? Would like to hear from Eric Ramsey in particular, but welcome other knowledgable input.
Thanks, Eric, for prompt response. My benefit/cost calculus is circumscribed by the fact of being on a modest fixed annuity, and, at age 80, having difficulty finding additional sources of income. OTOH, I do have expensive components that beautifully reproduce classical music, my favorite hobby, and which I could not afford to replace. Hence my search for an effective high quality line conditioner / surge protector. Clearly the toys that CompUSA and Best Buy sell for around $100 are unsuitable. I am considering a Chang line conditioner for about $800, recommended by the audio shop that provided my Accuphase gear; although like most others in its class, it is transformer based. Another brand that is battery-based claims much higher sensitivity, and of course is not vulnerable to burnout like my last two APCs, which nearly burnt down my house. However, it is prohibitively priced at $2,400. Unless it is three times as good as the Chang, I am searching for something similar between those two prices. Being new to the field of line conditioning, I am too naive at this point to distinguish between the cost of necessity and the expense of esoteric frill; so I am reaching out to those better informed than me, and will greatly appreciate any comments. (I am now perusing the URL mentioned in your second post in this issue).
Eric, I should have mentioned that the battery based unit is not primarily to provide back-up, but rather to provide an absulutely fixed current flow through a converter to the components. The batteries remain on perpetual recharge from the house grid, on a principle similar to that which operates the Prius automobile.
Norman: I've never used the Chang units but I heard some positive reviews of them. The Monster units and the Panamax units,which I use in this price range you mention $800 and up will have what I think you are describing- AC regeneration. This type conditioner places the L1,L2 and ground through a power supply and additional chokes to effectively reproduce the AC current. Unless you have very expensive system components, such as a $5K amp there is no need to spend more than about $1500 for a line conditioner/surge protector which will give you topshelf performance. I have an inexpensive system with an HK receiver and I use the Panamax 4300. At only about $170 it is truly a bargain and has served me well for several years now.
Thanks, I'll look into Monster and Panamax. I had been avoiding Monster because of their cable, which is pretty good but, in my opinion, not optimal for my components. My Accuphase amplifier alone cost about $7K; Accuphase tuner, about $5K (these are marvelous Japanese products that produce beautiful sound but are the ones I could not afford to replace); my B&O tangential turntable is no longer available but worth at least $1K; other components are Revox, also no longer available, but their upgraded Revox replacements would cost a minimum of $10K and of course would come only in 240 volt versions. So, I need very good protection for them.