# Furman PL-Plus vs. Tripp-Lite Isobar 6 Ultra vs. Wall Socket



## infinitesymphony

I've done various experiments with the power equipment mentioned in the title and thought I'd share my impressions. First, I'll describe them:

 Furman PL-Plus. A power conditioner (using filters) that's marketed to professional audio people and budding live musicians (i.e. those in need of a rack power strip). I pulled it out of my mostly-unused guitar rig to test. Price: $115 new.








 Tripp-Lite Isobar 6 Ultra. A surge protector with some of the characteristics of an isolation transformer. Marketed toward computer users. Purchased for my new computer rig. Price: ~$15 used.







 Wall socket. Essential in every home. Note: My version didn't come with the safe feature. Price: "free."






 Okay, on to the results. This shouldn't take long because I observed almost the exact same changes when using either of the two conditioning devices (Furman PL-Plus and Tripp-Lite Isobar 6 Ultra).

 Variations:

 1. Amplifier and source plugged into the strip. Initial thoughts: Blacker background, bassier. Then: Loss of detail, muffled, compressed soundstage, bad imaging.

 2. Amplifier plugged into the strip, source into the wall. Not much change from #1. Perhaps better frequency balance.

 3. Source plugged into the strip, amplifier into the wall. Initial thoughts: Big difference! Soundstage much improved from #1, extreme treble detail, good instrument definition, bass separation. Then: Fatiguing, inaccurate frequency balance, not musical, notched and peaky.

 4. Amplifier and source both plugged into the wall. Initial thoughts: Standard sound, less treble than #3 but more than #1 and #2, bass not as defined as #1 or #3. Then: Best frequency balance, most musical, best imaging.

 Summary: These impressions are the results of testing the equipment with several systems in different rooms. As you can see, the wall outlets won out in all cases. One alternative that I haven't tried is an online/line-interactive UPS system, but they're currently out of my price range. Regarding power conditioners and strips, I still haven't found one that has improved or even maintained the sound quality of plugging directy into the wall.


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## chesebert

where does Furman fits in? <nm> same as isobar 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Yes I notice that too with just isobar. however, after I put the APC line interactive UPS between isobar and my CDP, the high mellowed out quite a bit and I still get the same soundstage benefit.


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## infinitesymphony

Yep. I found it sort of peculiar that the two differently-built units sounded like they conditioned power in a similar way. In comparison, the Furman's conditioning seemed a little stronger; it was more exaggerated. But overall, I grew to dislike the sound. Maybe it's me? Initially, I thought that leaving the source plugged into the Furman was really cleaning things up and giving me the best sound quality, but then I noticed that the music was missing parts of important frequency ranges and that it sounded lifeless. It was like discovering that I'd been using a slight smiley-face EQ without realizing it. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Which APC UPS are you using? I've read that only their top-end units are useful for audio because the sine wave approximations in the lower-end models are "stepped," and that audio equipment prefers pure sine waves. With those units, the battery power would be used, whereas with the lower models, I've read that the battery power is so bad-sounding that it should only be used as a supplement to the regular power.

 The market is saturated with different types of UPSs... It's tough to find one suitable for music.


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## chesebert

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *infinitesymphony* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Yep. I found it sort of peculiar that the two differently-built units sounded like they conditioned power in a similar way. In comparison, the Furman's conditioning seemed a little stronger; it was more exaggerated. But overall, I grew to dislike the sound. Maybe it's me? Initially, I thought that leaving the source plugged into the Furman was really cleaning things up and giving me the best sound quality, but then I noticed that the music was missing parts of important frequency ranges and that it sounded lifeless. It was like discovering that I'd been using a slight smiley-face EQ without realizing it. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Which APC UPS are you using? I've read that only their top-end units are useful for audio because the sine wave approximations in the lower-end models are "stepped," and that audio equipment prefers pure sine waves. With those units, the battery power would be used, whereas with the lower models, I've read that the battery power is so bad-sounding that it should only be used as a supplement to the regular power.

 The market is saturated with different types of UPSs... It's tough to find one suitable for music._

 

not top of the line but its APC Smart UPS 750VA not as good as online perhaps but good enough. You can find the unit new for about $400ish IIRC.


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