UPS/Power conditioner for HIFI systems?

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Hello everyone,

I am currently using the following:
Nad C388 (Integrated Amplifier)
JL Audio E110 (Powered subwoofer)
Focal Chora 826 (Floor standing speakers)

I am worried that the power cuts might harm my system. Firstly can it be damaged due to a power cut?

If yes, can you suggest me a good UPS or something to protect my system from the same.
Currently considering Audioquest Power quest 2.
Thank you!!
 
I am using a cyberpower online ups (ols1000ec) . I never used any power conditioner so don't know any known sonic benefit of dedicated audiophile power conditioner but cyberpower is really good as it's offering a sine wave output, along with battery backup, in case of power outage and voltage fluctuations, it's online so response time is practically zero.
 
Yes, power cuts and voltage fluctuate are big issues for hifi and htr systems.
I am using 3 A capacity stabilizer from v-guard but to be honest, for those 1% situations its useless as my yamaha htr locked 2 times even after using this stabilizer. On both those occasions it didn't auto cut, which it should have done.
You may try a ups but you need a pure sine wave ups else as per my limited understanding there will be problems.
But the problem is to find a good pure sine wave ups.
From a youtube video on this matter i came to know about APC Pro BR1000G-IN but i think its not a pure sine wave ups. So plz do further checks before taking any decision.

And as far Audioquest Power quest 2 goes, I am not sure how it handel the low voltage situation. And as i mentioned above my htr auto locked both the times because of low voltage.
 
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Hello everyone,

I am currently using the following:
Nad C388 (Integrated Amplifier)
JL Audio E110 (Powered subwoofer)
Focal Chora 826 (Floor standing speakers)

I am worried that the power cuts might harm my system. Firstly can it be damaged due to a power cut?

If yes, can you suggest me a good UPS or something to protect my system from the same.
Currently considering Audioquest Power quest 2.
Thank you!!
Some kind of power protection is absolutely necessary. Please don't consider the usual power strips with surge protection as any means of defence. I once had my devialet D-premier, connected to a bellkin power strip, with in-built surge protection, blow up in smoke, due to a power spike. Me and my daughter were luckily not in the room. My speakers somehow survived. But the wall socket, and the belkin power strip were burnt. The devialet was bricked, and is now an expensive door stop in my daughters bed room, a 14k usd door stop to be precise :(

So I would very strongly suggest to invest once, and it will save a lot of grief in the long term, not to mention money :)

I now use a Ps Audio power regenerator, iam mostly deaf ( as your goodselves can see in my signature) , so i wont claim any audible improvements, as my entire system runs off this from probably 2018, when I blew the devialet, and then bought entirely new components to replace it. Subsequently all the new components have been running off it ever since day 1. And I still dont have the courage to plug my system, direct to the wall, even for sake of a comparison.

In the last 5 years, the PS audio has blown its 20 amp fuse twice. But nothing has ever happened to the upstream electronics even one bit. I just replace the fuse, and the PS audio gets on with what it was doing before, without a blink. I know that there have been allegations of power systems like this, killing dynamics. But I can't hear one, and I honestly don't care. The amount of kit that the PS audio has saved during those 2 power surges, is well beyond the dynamics it is supposedly killing.

So I would very strongly reiterate good power protection, and there are tons of options out there. CVT's, Servo stabilisers ( though won't be as effective as CVT if there is a sudden power hike ), online and off-line ups systems. So you are actually spoilt for choice to be honest :D

So please add one, which ever suits your needs best :)
 
I just checked up the audioquest power quest 2. Iam sure it can filter out the EMI/RF noise ( I was using a similar isotek evo3 polaris many years back, which smoothened the treble and made the back ground blacker. I opened it up one day, and was aghast to find a 4x4 cm board with some caps in place. I was dead sure, that there wasnt enough there to stop a huge power spike ) So colour me a skeptic, but i have my doubts about the power protection part of the audioquest. So I would recommend to add it, at the end of a power protection device, like a CVT etc. If you do go down the online UPS route or a combination of CVT + isolation transformer, then you won't need the extra filtration, unless you live in a high RF environment, and using unshielded power cables. All the best:)

Iam just posting a pic of the PS audio, it is right at the bottom of the rack, with heat sinks jutting out at the sides. Has 3 massive Transformers, and is almost 2,5 feet long. Weighs a mammoth 78 kgs naked. Is a 4 man lift. Has killed itselves twice, for the sake of diligently protecting my gear for 5 years now. I will never part with it, unless one of us is dead :D
So I guess size matters, and small power extension blocks with in built power protection or surge protection, might not always deliver the goods.
IMG-20211006-WA0002.jpgIMG_09062022_041849_(1000_x_563_pixel).jpg
 
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I just checked up the audioquest power quest 2. Iam sure it can filter out the EMI/RF noise ( I was using a similar isotek evo3 polaris many years back, which smoothened the treble and made the back ground blacker. I opened it up one day, and was aghast to find a 4x4 cm board with some caps in place. I was dead sure, that there wasnt enough there to stop a huge power spike ) So colour me a skeptic, but i have my doubts about the power protection part of the audioquest. So I would recommend to add it, at the end of a power protection device, like a CVT etc. If you do go down the online UPS route or a combination of CVT +

What you saw when you opened audioquest power quest 2 would most probably a MOV (metal oxide varistor) and not a capacitor. It is the same thing that is inside your belkin which blew up. These MOV short themselves when voltage crosses the threshold that the MOV is designed for. The short will cause your house fuse to blow off or trip the MCB. In that process the MOV will mostly like totally get burned. These MOVs cost less than Rs 40 usually.


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Some kind of power protection is absolutely necessary. Please don't consider the usual power strips with surge protection as any means of defence. I once had my devialet D-premier, connected to a bellkin power strip, with in-built surge protection, blow up in smoke, due to a power spike. Me and my daughter were luckily not in the room. My speakers somehow survived. But the wall socket, and the belkin power strip were burnt. The devialet was bricked, and is now an expensive door stop in my daughters bed room, a 14k usd door stop to be precise :(

So I would very strongly suggest to invest once, and it will save a lot of grief in the long term, not to mention money :)
+1. Power strips with surge protection are based on MOVs. They short the output when voltage transient crosses a threshold it clamps the voltage and starts throwing off extra voltage/energy in form of heat. This should cause your house fuse / circuit breaker to go off.

MOVs cannot be a substitute for something like a CVT, voltage stabilzier. You can put a power strip before a CVT and after a CVT. But power strip shouldn't be the sole protection mechanism.

Here is a good funda on how they work. littlefuse is a well known company that manufactures them. Belkin, audioquest, etc just just use them inside their devices and maybe add a hefty markup for brand value.
 
Hello everyone,

I am currently using the following:
Nad C388 (Integrated Amplifier)
JL Audio E110 (Powered subwoofer)
Focal Chora 826 (Floor standing speakers)

I am worried that the power cuts might harm my system. Firstly can it be damaged due to a power cut?

If yes, can you suggest me a good UPS or something to protect my system from the same.
Currently considering Audioquest Power quest 2.
Thank you!!
All you need is an overvoltage/undervoltage cutoff device. And one that let's you set those cutoff thresholds. Like this one: https://www.amicikart.com/products/c5c77f7440/450878000000062247

Unless you want to spend big bucks for audiophile protectors - in which case... ;)
 
Hello everyone,

I am currently using the following:
Nad C388 (Integrated Amplifier)
JL Audio E110 (Powered subwoofer)
Focal Chora 826 (Floor standing speakers)

I am worried that the power cuts might harm my system. Firstly can it be damaged due to a power cut?

If yes, can you suggest me a good UPS or something to protect my system from the same.
Currently considering Audioquest Power quest 2.
Thank you!!
A UPS on the lighting circuit of the home. Say 1.1KVA
Offline model is cheaper, online model costs a bit more and is noisy.
A stabilizer, preferably programmable servo, at AV wall. Optional.
A couple of Belkin/MX/Gold-Medal power strips.

Power outages tend to harm amps, especially plate amps of subs.
Use the UPS standby power to gracefully shutdown sensitive electronics after a power outage.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
After my subwoofer was damaged in a power surge, I started using a APC double conversion 1.5kVA UPS.
It has about 15 minutes reserve power from the built in battery. As @raghupb has pointed out this gives enough time to gracefully shut down.

Only downside is the noisy fan of the UPS. So the unit is banished from the room and a longish power cord (by Mr. Murthy) brings in the power supply through a gap in the window. I also have to open and reach through the window to turn the UPS on and off.

A small compromise for stability of electricity and of my mind.
 
All you need is an overvoltage/undervoltage cutoff device. And one that let's you set those cutoff thresholds. Like this one: https://www.amicikart.com/products/c5c77f7440/450878000000062247

Unless you want to spend big bucks for audiophile protectors - in which case... ;)
Would your above recommendation be sufficient for a house with a 3 phase supply ?

Or would it require this one instead ??

Advance apologies if my question is silly. My knowledge about home electrical circuits is NIL.
 
Hello everyone,

I am currently using the following:
Nad C388 (Integrated Amplifier)
JL Audio E110 (Powered subwoofer)
Focal Chora 826 (Floor standing speakers)

I am worried that the power cuts might harm my system. Firstly can it be damaged due to a power cut?

If yes, can you suggest me a good UPS or something to protect my system from the same.
Currently considering Audioquest Power quest 2.
Thank you!!
Surgex is best ..
 
As an electrical engineer I can only say none of the so called pure sine wave commercial 1 phase UPS can provide you a pure sinewave as even a small kerosene engine driven genset can. They don't turn in a magnetic field like an AC generator in a perfect circle to produce a sine wave. All of them chop the DC and serve a chowmein of harmonics whatever filter they use.

Unless you have a 3 phase isolation transformer with delta connected primary and star secondary you are not going to eliminate fully the harmonics generated by the chowmein supply feeding into your gear. And for that you need a 3 phase UPS.

And those poor transformers inside are designed to work on 50Hz will have to gulp down 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 Hz etc. at differing "strengths" and get "drunk", get hot and die a premature death due to many kinds of electrical cancers - insulation failure, internal shorts, core over heating, winding failures etc. etc. :cool: So I don't think these pure sine wave are the holy grail.

Always a stable network power is the best sine wave you can get. The generation behind your "disgusting" EB power is in GWs (In India something like 300 Giga Watt so where is your 200Wpc amp?). It is an infinite bus.

The surges you experience is many a times beyond the control of any power utility - mostly lightning or fault induced or by your neighboring workshop doing welding or a furnace in the industrial park throwing load up and down.

For these surges as @mbhangui explained or @ranojoy pointed out you need a proper surge protection. Or you'd have "fryums" made of capacitors, resistors and chips on your AV rack. Stabilisers may not act fast enough to tame these surges. They can't as unless there is a steady state rise in voltage these deviations may be in their deadband. dv/dt has to match the inertia they have.

You also cannot purchase any power strip and assume it will not get fried. These lightning surges though last only a few micro seconds the energy is unbelievable and so too the effects may be benign or devastating.


The power strip should be able to take in the energy so you need to choose as high as possible in the order of 1kJ. Once the MOV is fried and open, the surges have free access to lick your gear with their fire.

You also need to look for a 3 line protection - Line to Earth, Line to Neutral and Neutral to Earth.

I was eyewitness to a lightning bolt getting to the ground two times - once through a 50m lightning mast and another through a ground wire up a 400kV power lines. Beautiful sight but we had no cameras or mobile phones those days to record :(
 
The power strip should be able to take in the energy so you need to choose as high as possible in the order of 1kJ. Once the MOV is fried and open, the surges have free access to lick your gear with their fire.
That's an import thing Subbu mentioned. The MOVs are rated at the amount of energy than can absorb before dying. The important thing is that the MOV should last longer than your house fuse or circuit breaker. In the olden days, folks used to put thick copper wires to prevent the fuse from blowing. If you have such a fuse and no ciruit breakers, then these MOV will not save you. In 2012 during rains, some high voltage line came in contact with low tension line. Instantly all houses in my building got > 600 volts. I was playing music and smoke started coming out of my surge protector. All tube lights blew off. My refrigerator blew off. But my valve amp, my avr and all my music equipment was saved because the MOV shorted and the house fuse blew off. This was a very old building without circuit breakers. This was when I was in a rented house temporarily at Aundh, Pune. In my case luckily the MOV held it's fort as long as the fuse blew off. Here is the remains & the innards of a cheap < Rs 100 surge protected power strip that I had purchased in Chennai way back in 1995. there was nothing left of the MOV other than the two legs. Never expected a no-named power strip would have protected my equipment.

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That's an import thing Subbu mentioned. The MOVs are rated at the amount of energy than can absorb before dying. The important thing is that the MOV should last longer than your house fuse or circuit breaker. In the olden days, folks used to put thick copper wires to prevent the fuse from blowing. If you have such a fuse and no ciruit breakers, then these MOV will not save you. In 2012 during rains, some high voltage line came in contact with low tension line. Instantly all houses in my building got > 600 volts. I was playing music and smoke started coming out of my surge protector. All tube lights blew off. My refrigerator blew off. But my valve amp, my avr and all my music equipment was saved because the MOV shorted and the house fuse blew off. This was a very old building without circuit breakers. This was when I was in a rented house temporarily at Aundh, Pune. In my case luckily the MOV held it's fort as long as the fuse blew off. Here is the remains & the innards of a cheap < Rs 100 surge protected power strip that I had purchased in Chennai way back in 1995. there was nothing left of the MOV other than the two legs. Never expected a no-named power strip would have protected my equipment.

View attachment 69996
Wow, you kept it as a relic 😯 It had 3 line protection it seems.
 
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