# Not a review of the Furman PST-8D, a 8-socket filtering power station.



## LibraryGuy

*TL;DR:* No voodoo, just power. Quite large, heavier than I was expecting.
 
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_It was early at the warehouse, but Jerry liked to get started before the rest of the crew rolled in. He pulled his packing list and retrieved his favorite cart: a yellow-and-black plastic, caster wheeled jobber he'd used since his first day. Others poked fun at him for not upgrading, but Jerry would just reply: _"I know I can count on her."
 
_First item of the day...a Furman alphabetsoup? "They make what? power strips? People and their gizmos." Jerry shook his head and set out for the row of shelving marked on the sheet. "Easy item, quick pack. Good way to get going."_
 
_Jerry rounded the corner, and it took a moment to realize he was in a zone reserved for oversize items. "That can't be right."_
 
_Jerry approached the correct shelf tag, finally realizing what he'd gotten himself into._
 
_The blood drained from his face. Jerry gaped. _"We're gonna need a bigger box."
 
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I feel for the guy. I live all of 20 minutes from work and my arms were sore after carrying this thing home:
 

 
Point the first: Blister packaging! Booooo. Does anybody like these? No, nobody does. They're punishment for buying things. And in this case, the plastic was too weak; one of the corners (of the packaging) was damaged and there was a lot of play in the whole affair. Bleh. At least it was relatively easy to get into.
 
No damage to the item, though; so, hooray.
 
 

 
Yup, 4 CDs across. It's big.
 
 

 
7.5 standard jewel cases high. The points for the coax are 8.5 high, same unit of measurement. It's really quite large.
 
 

 
Here's a shot comparing its size to the rest of my horribly organized living room setup. I swear that there is no foreshortening due to camera angle and distance to the other components. It's really that big.*
 
*TESTING-initial*
 
I plugged a lamp into the strip, and the strip into the wall. I turned the strip on, and there was a slight pause before an audible click and the blue 'protection ok' light came on. The lamp also came on, as evidenced by the increased amount of light in my living room.
 
Prong retention is firm, but requires only a slight increase in force versus the wall or the outgoing power strip. The lamp has no ground pin.
 
*Test Passed*
 
What did we learn from initial testing?
1. The strip successfully takes power from the wall and passes it on to the devices plugged in to it.
2. Said devices do not immediately explode.
3. The solid-feeling power switch appears to run a relay of some kind, thus the click after switching and before power. Nice. I'm assuming (probably incorrectly) that this will give a softer ramp to the juice and/or make for less crud/corrosion on the actual switch connections over time.
4. The plug for the strip has one of the wall-hugger type plugs, cool, but instead of coming straight down, it's off to the 4 o'clock position, for some reason. This might let you use the top plug and keep the bottom one free on a standard US wall socket, but I didn't think of that until just now.
 
*IMPLEMENTATION*
 
Power off. Lamp removed from strip. TV, blu-ray, Bifrost (DAC), C-162 (preamp), mini-X a-100 (amp) added to strip. Power on. Click. LED.
 
Ground prong retention in the strip is tight, some force required for insertion; nothing I'd consider out of bounds.
 
*TESTING-primary*
 
No change detected in noise floor. Slight hiss from tweeter unchanged. Transformer noise from preamp unchanged. I had my fingers crossed, but wasn't really expecting any cleanup of those.
 
If/when the upstairs neighbor uses the restroom again I'll know if it cures the associated speaker thump. I wish I were kidding.
 
Self-noise: zero. No audible noise coming from the power strip of any kind. If there was any, the preamp transformer hum was drowning it out, and there's not a lot of that, either.
 
Music: Bon Iver _Bon Iver_, Daft Punk _Random Access Memories_. Testing confirms that music plays. I'd love to say that there were better resolved cymbals, glissandi, and tighter bass...but I can't. I enjoy both of those albums tremendously, but I hear something different every time I listen. And this time I was listening especially hard (if that makes any sense). Allowing for bias there was no significant improvement.
 
I can say with confidence that it had no *negative *impact. I enjoy both of those albums tremendously, and they sounded as good as I've heard them through my system before.
 
I was unable to test the surge protection, and I hope I'll never have to. If something happens, I'll update this post.
 
*CONCLUSION*
 
If you're like me and are in the market for a ridiculously over-sized power strip--I honestly had no idea when I ordered the thing (I swear I am not compensating for anything)--with great apparent build quality and an assumption of good protection, the PST-8D from Furman will turn the trick.
 
Just don't all rush out and order one from Amazon for $105, as I did, or we'll kill poor Jerry.
 
 
 
 
*No, it really isn't**
 
**Yes, it really is.


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## Bobby S

This was one of the most entertaining review I've read in a long time. Really enjoyed the subtle humour.
 Thanks for writing it.


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## LibraryGuy

No problem. I hoped it would be a good start to somebody's weekend.
  
 I laughed when the carrier dropped off the box, it was 8 x 16 x 26 inches. I've been chuckling about it ever since.


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## Zoom25

That was a hilarious review. Strip still working fine?


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## valleysingout

Excellent and entertaining review.  Photos are unforgettable.


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## LibraryGuy

zoom25 said:


> That was a hilarious review. Strip still working fine?


 
  
 It is! I've since moved to a new place, and it survived the relocation.
  
 I've also added an Asgard 2 to the Bifrost with a set of Sony MDR-7506. The noise floor is absolutely non-existent. I credit most of that to the amp, but again, the strip does nothing to harm the overall quality.
  
 There is a 5W 500mv phone charger plugged into it as well, to power either a Raspberry Pi, or a Chromecast Audio. These adapters can sometimes contribute to noise, but there is nothing to note here.
  
 There has been one brownout and one complete power outage since the initial purchase. All devices attached are a-ok.


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## Zoom25

Nice. Glad to hear that your gear is still safe and working fine.
  
 I unexpectedly got some TrippLite power distribution units that were being used with servers. These work really well and just get out of the way. I was considering getting some thing power related, but will likely hold on.


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## valleysingout

Got mine today!  Can't wait to set it up,... get it in the house and set it down first.


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## eschell27

Been looking into getting one of these...trying to decide between the pst-8 and pst-8d... I will be using it to power my dac, two headphone amps one SS one tube and my singxer su-1 DDC. My question which might be kinda silly, would i benefit from having the pst-8d with the digital section separated from the analog....which components would be considered digital and which analog? dac and DDC digital and amps analog? 
  
 Thanks in advance!


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## LibraryGuy

eschell27 said:


> ...dac and DDC digital and amps analog?


 
  
 Yes, as far as I understand it.
  
 However! FWIW, I have moved my DAC and amp to the same pool of outlets and did not notice a difference. I believe if you have gear with well-designed and built power supplies, noise will not be an issue.
  
 AFAIK, the "digital" sockets are meant to prevent noise coming from digital players, TVs, etc, from _potentially _affecting your analog components. The digital sockets deliver the same power as the others.
  
 You can try and simulate what the -8D is meant to prevent by plugging something like an older TV or crappy computer supply into a power strip along with your amps and see if you can tell if the "noisy" device is polluting the output from the amps.


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