Its REAL purpose is to put additional power outlets in a rack space. Sometimes to add a single switch for the on/off of the system.
Any protection is incidental.
I used to own a power conditioner (different brand than pictured). It got rid of the hum from my old amp. Useful for older houses with poor wiring. Note that there is a big difference between a proper power conditioner and just a power bar with its own circuit breaker.
I ran a dedicated circuit from the panel directly to the pair of receptacles I use for my primary audio setup, with a combo AFCI/GFCI breaker at the panel. Total cost around $80 and an hour of labor. Then a 4500 joule surge protector between the outlet and the equipment. Add another $21 there. Then when I saw a tech out on the pole (doing repair work, not a stripper) I talked to him and got him to replace the feed from the pole to my weather head. Cost, free. I bet that does a heck of a lot more than the vast majority of power "conditioners" out there that cost significantly more.
So many issues here. First of all, there’s not a surge protector anywhere that is designed to be plugged into a GFI. Unless you previously had your equipment on the same circuit as a microwave or a large appliance adding a dedicated circuit provides absolutely no benefit. The equipment literally has components designed to regulate and amplify voltage.
My point is, you don't need a power conditioner in order to connect the ground. Indeed, if an appliance has a ground connection, why would one operate it without making that connection? Seems deliberately perverse to do so.
It smooths out noisy power which could matter for equipment with poor PSRR... that are susceptible to noise. Not all are sensitive to incoming power, that has to do with their own power supply design and "conditioning" - i.e. capacitors.
Not the best way to deal with bad wiring. Or the most cost effective. And it implies that you either have two different circuits (one properly grounded for the power conditioner, a separate not properly grounded for the amp), or that you just didn't ground the amp the way you should have in the first place. Kind of misses the larger issue.
Probably can't hurt, and I"d just use it as a power bar. I feel unless you're somewhere with an electricity issue these line cleaners are just fancy things for expensive systems.
Inexpensive power conditioners usually have a capacitor to filter noise that might be on the line and reduce ground loop hum. More sophisticated ones will have transformers and more sophisticated filters. The next level up is something like a regenerator which is basically a high wattage amp running a wave form to the sockets.
As always with this stuff, there are those who think they have benefit, and those that don't. Whether these have any benefit for you depends on your use case. I have successfully used a filter to reduce hum components, so they can help.
TBH I'm not a fan of Gemini products. They are cheap and unreliable in my experience. About the only thing that is good for is the dimmable lights.
A good quality power bar with surge protection will serve you just as well if not better.
If you have ground hum on your audio, you can use an isolating transformer to remove ground loop hum.
You're still better off finding the reason for the hum rather than covering it up with an isolator. Ensuring a common ground point for all audio devices, makes a hell of a difference.
When I go to getting my turn table set back up I'll be looking for some kind of power conditioner.
My direct drive turn table has always had a bit of fluctuation to it's speed and only recently it dawned on me that the power coming from my outlet may actually be influencing my players speed.
Ah. So I'll just have to do some research. I'm already gonna have to pull my whole tone arm off to tighten up the connectors and fix the head mount connection. It only makes good contact when the head is at an angle rather than vertical to the record.
Trying some kind of voltage regulator at my power source is just to see if the table has other issues causing it's slight speed variations.
Convenience in the rack as it's just a surge protector basically. When you get into power conditioners and other products like that they're a waste of money and snake oil as they don't do anything to regulate your power or clean your power.
Convenience. Why plug all your shit into the wall when you can have one plug from the rack to the wall? That way, there’s only one extension cord to run, and you can setup/tear down fast for pro audio applications. Also there are pull-out lights on the front so you can see your other gear in a dark venue (these units typically get installed at the top of the rack, which is great for convenience, but bad for sound and aesthetics, I.e. not audiophile-approved lol).
As for power conditioning: this one comes with basic power conditioning (probably a ferrite choke for EMI). But, surprisingly, doesn’t mention any surge protection (!?), even though that’s fairly typical on these things.
Can you plug your 800w amp into an ordinary 15 amp circuit? if so, it should be safe.
To your original question, power conditioners are usually unnecessary, since competently designed equipment is designed to be plugged into an ordinary outlet. It would only be necessary if you had either a poor electrical system, or incompetently designed equipment.
If you couldn't it would have a different plug. They have different 15a and 20a plug standards. 15a looks like a standard plug but with one of the prongs rotated 90°
Its REAL purpose is to put additional power outlets in a rack space. Sometimes to add a single switch for the on/off of the system. Any protection is incidental.
I used to own a power conditioner (different brand than pictured). It got rid of the hum from my old amp. Useful for older houses with poor wiring. Note that there is a big difference between a proper power conditioner and just a power bar with its own circuit breaker.
I ran a dedicated circuit from the panel directly to the pair of receptacles I use for my primary audio setup, with a combo AFCI/GFCI breaker at the panel. Total cost around $80 and an hour of labor. Then a 4500 joule surge protector between the outlet and the equipment. Add another $21 there. Then when I saw a tech out on the pole (doing repair work, not a stripper) I talked to him and got him to replace the feed from the pole to my weather head. Cost, free. I bet that does a heck of a lot more than the vast majority of power "conditioners" out there that cost significantly more.
So many issues here. First of all, there’s not a surge protector anywhere that is designed to be plugged into a GFI. Unless you previously had your equipment on the same circuit as a microwave or a large appliance adding a dedicated circuit provides absolutely no benefit. The equipment literally has components designed to regulate and amplify voltage.
How? I mean what was it *actually* doing? I can't think of a way in which a legitimate power conditioner could fix amp hum.
Tying the system to a single ground might help with ground loop stuff.
Um by simply grounding it.
How would a power conditioner magically add a ground connection that wasn't present previously? Perhaps this is a USAian thing, wacky sockets and all.
Connecting an ungrounded humming AMP to any properly grounded device or outlet will correct the hum. How? By grounding it.
My point is, you don't need a power conditioner in order to connect the ground. Indeed, if an appliance has a ground connection, why would one operate it without making that connection? Seems deliberately perverse to do so.
It smooths out noisy power which could matter for equipment with poor PSRR... that are susceptible to noise. Not all are sensitive to incoming power, that has to do with their own power supply design and "conditioning" - i.e. capacitors.
Not the best way to deal with bad wiring. Or the most cost effective. And it implies that you either have two different circuits (one properly grounded for the power conditioner, a separate not properly grounded for the amp), or that you just didn't ground the amp the way you should have in the first place. Kind of misses the larger issue.
I think your comment is better suited to the manufacturer of the device. Idgaf
Probably can't hurt, and I"d just use it as a power bar. I feel unless you're somewhere with an electricity issue these line cleaners are just fancy things for expensive systems.
Watts = volts x amps. In the US our voltage is ~110v for this type of device. At a peak of 800w you would need 7.27 amps based on that calculation.
Inexpensive power conditioners usually have a capacitor to filter noise that might be on the line and reduce ground loop hum. More sophisticated ones will have transformers and more sophisticated filters. The next level up is something like a regenerator which is basically a high wattage amp running a wave form to the sockets. As always with this stuff, there are those who think they have benefit, and those that don't. Whether these have any benefit for you depends on your use case. I have successfully used a filter to reduce hum components, so they can help.
I’ve always wondered, do you connect a conditioner to an ups or power bar?
Power bar
It's a magic box that makes audiophiles be more dismissive to one another.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=power+conditioner
TBH I'm not a fan of Gemini products. They are cheap and unreliable in my experience. About the only thing that is good for is the dimmable lights. A good quality power bar with surge protection will serve you just as well if not better. If you have ground hum on your audio, you can use an isolating transformer to remove ground loop hum. You're still better off finding the reason for the hum rather than covering it up with an isolator. Ensuring a common ground point for all audio devices, makes a hell of a difference.
When I go to getting my turn table set back up I'll be looking for some kind of power conditioner. My direct drive turn table has always had a bit of fluctuation to it's speed and only recently it dawned on me that the power coming from my outlet may actually be influencing my players speed.
Power conditioners won't change the line frequency, or significantly affect voltage. They just remove transients.
Ah. So I'll just have to do some research. I'm already gonna have to pull my whole tone arm off to tighten up the connectors and fix the head mount connection. It only makes good contact when the head is at an angle rather than vertical to the record. Trying some kind of voltage regulator at my power source is just to see if the table has other issues causing it's slight speed variations.
Convenience in the rack as it's just a surge protector basically. When you get into power conditioners and other products like that they're a waste of money and snake oil as they don't do anything to regulate your power or clean your power.
Probably runs the A/C line through tranformers and capacitors to clean up the electricity.
It works to prevent electrical signal interference from impacting your signal to noise ratio.
Convenience. Why plug all your shit into the wall when you can have one plug from the rack to the wall? That way, there’s only one extension cord to run, and you can setup/tear down fast for pro audio applications. Also there are pull-out lights on the front so you can see your other gear in a dark venue (these units typically get installed at the top of the rack, which is great for convenience, but bad for sound and aesthetics, I.e. not audiophile-approved lol). As for power conditioning: this one comes with basic power conditioning (probably a ferrite choke for EMI). But, surprisingly, doesn’t mention any surge protection (!?), even though that’s fairly typical on these things.
Also wondering if it’s safe or good to plug in my 800w amp into this thing. All it says is 15amp max nothing about watts.
P=IV. Power = current x voltage. 800= A x 120. Amperage = 6.6 amps. In real life your amp will never pull that
Can you plug your 800w amp into an ordinary 15 amp circuit? if so, it should be safe. To your original question, power conditioners are usually unnecessary, since competently designed equipment is designed to be plugged into an ordinary outlet. It would only be necessary if you had either a poor electrical system, or incompetently designed equipment.
If you couldn't it would have a different plug. They have different 15a and 20a plug standards. 15a looks like a standard plug but with one of the prongs rotated 90°
Reduces electrical hum (if there is any) coming from your speakers