Introduction A friend once said to me, "I have several known problems with my audio system, and you are suggesting that I fix one that I didn’t even know I have?" He had a good point except for the fact that sometimes you need to get rid of a problem to appreciate that you ever had one. So, who has these power problems and for that matter, what the heck is a power problem? What does your power have to do with the quality of your sound? First of all, just about every audio system suffers from poor power. The power to your home runs through power lines that are shared by many others. Each home is most often connected to a power transformer that is shared with at least several houses. When these houses use appliances, noise is transmitted through your ...

Introduction So often when we contemplate music and video playback systems, we think about their components, components such as amplifiers, preamplifiers, CD players and DACs, and let’s not forget cables. Then there are lists of accessories: racks, stands and dozens of other items that can aid in the pursuit of playback perfection. Rarely do we consider the word "power," although many of us know that there are significant advantages to improved power. For some reason, many think that bad power is somebody else’s problem. We continue to spend big bucks on equipment to improve the sound of our playback systems, while neglecting power. The problem with the average household’s power is that it is shared, in most cases, with many others, including your neighbors, their computers and appliances. These things cause noise in your power that will greatly reduce your system’s ability ...

Introduction Before I start describing the unit itself and my experience with it, let’s talk about power, AC power. The vast majority of our audio components use AC power and look for that power coming in at a certain frequency, usually 60Hz. Unfortunately, in a less than perfect world, there is often a lot of "dirt" that comes in with our power, making that 60Hz sine wave less than perfect and also causing variations in voltage. This "dirty" power makes your power supplies in your equipment work harder and can also effect the sound and picture quality of what you hear and see. Power pollution comes from many places before it gets into your home. Inside your home, many of your appliances generate noise, which travels into your power lines and into your equipment. You could do what I did and install ...

Introduction The Strata 800 from XS Technologies is a Power Management System featuring an Uninterruptible Power Supply [UPS] and a detachtable remote control. The Strata 800 protects up to six A/V components from spikes, surges and power losses. The UPS function provides 20 additional minutes of power, allowing electrical devices to be turned off safely during a brownout or blackout. Due to their microprocessor based circuits, today's electrical devices are even more sensitive to power fluctuations. Many of these products, such as home automation systems, cable and WebTV boxes, and A/V or Satellite receivers, are dependent on a certain amount of memory which can get lost during a power outage. While power sags and surges are generally unnoticed and seemingly insignificant, power fluctuations can cause long-term damage to your components. Most surge protectors only handle short duration events. According to a recent report ...