2012 Recommended Components Powerline Accessories

Powerline Accessories

APC AV S15: $1499 w/ battery backup ✩
The S15 is a comprehensive power source, conditioner, and controller that features extensible external power and isolated EMI/RFI filtration for each of its outlet banks. Voltage regulation is accomplished electronically and without the hysteresis or rebound problems of slower, motor-driven compensation. Protected even the heaviest of KR’s loads while also eliminating gray colorations and intermittent chassis vibration. “The S15 made the bridged eVo6 into an even better power amplifier—a super amp.” (Vol.28 No.9 Read Review Online)

Audience Adept Response aR12-TS AC power conditioner: $8995 ✩
The Adept Response provides power-factor correction, RF noise filtering, transient suppression, and 12 Hubbell high-conductivity power outlets. Each outlet is isolated from its input by one filter, and further isolated from the other outlets by a combination of two additional filters, allowing an entire audio system to be plugged into a single AR. BD noted a profound overall improvement in his system’s performance, characterized by enhanced clarity, precision, low-level detail, image definition, soundstage size and depth, and tonal density. “A thoroughly thought out, well-designed, nicely executed manifestation of all that’s currently known about power conditioning,” said BD. “TS” changes from the earlier aR12 include: a new, larger ground with connections welded rather than bolted; Teflon capacitors throughout; and the use of monocrystal copper wire on the Teflon caps. With the aR12-TS in BD’s system, dynamic transients expanded, resolution of low-level detail significantly improved, soundstages opened up, images became more dimensional, and voices took on additional harmonic richness. “The Audience aR12-TS is the best power conditioner I’ve heard,” said BD. (Vol.30 No.4; Vol.34 No.10; Vol.35 No.1 Read Review Online)

Audience powerChord: $539/6ft ✩
“The wonderfully flexible powerChord, too, was a winner, significantly cleaning up the sound by lowering the noise floor, opening up the space between instruments, and significantly improving the system’s resolution of low-level and inner detail.” Though BD’s reference, Synergistic Research’s AC Master Coupler, offered better senses of space and ambience, the Audience was very nearly as good and much easier to use. (Vol.25 No.8 Read Review Online)

AudioQuest NRG-X3 AC cord: $99/6’
The NRG-X3 three-pole AC cord uses strands of long-grain copper for its semisolid, concentric-packed conductors. SM connected the NRG-X3 to the Emotiva ERC-2 CD player and heard a cleaner, brighter top end; faster, more assertive attacks; and longer, lovelier decays. “The AudioQuest NRG-X3 delivered more music, made more sense of the music, managed to more fully convey the artists’ intentions, and made me a happy guy,” he said. (Vol.35 No.1 Read Review Online)

Ayre Acoustics L-5xe power line filter: $1500
In an attempt to dissipate unwanted high-frequency energy riding on the AC line as heat, the L-5xe uses a coil of wire wrapped around a nonferrous core for each of its four AC jacks. “Its slight softening effect seemed to improve image palpability, three-dimensionality, and midband texture,” said MF. However, the Ayre’s “pleasing romanticism” lacked the believability of the faster and more detailed Shunyata Hydra 2, he felt. (Vol.30 No.7)

Brick Wall PW8R15AUD surge protector: $259 ✩
This small, solid, black block is a series-mode surge protector rated for 15A loads and comes equipped with eight outlets in four filtered banks and a captive 14-gauge AC cord. Gave KR the sense that his equipment was safe from catastrophic insult without changing his system’s performance whatsoever. (Vol.28 No.5 Read Review Online)

CablePro Noisetrapper NANA power strip: $350 ✩
Manufactured by Wavelength Audio Video and available at most Naim Audio dealers, the Noisetrapper NANA is an eight-outlet power strip featuring 12-gauge silver-plated OFC internal wiring, silver-soldered connections, and a hardwired, shielded power cord, all built into a nonmagnetic enclosure, and devoid of LEDs, MOVs, and filters which might corrupt performance. Plugging his entire system into this one strip, Art found “unambiguously good” performance: “My system was simply easier to listen to, and required less nervous energy on my part in order to convince myself I was hearing music.” (Vol.29 No.3 Read Review Online)

Environmental Potentials EP-2450 Home Theater Power Supply: $1025.21
Environmental Potentials EP-2050 Waveform Correction Absorber: $728.99 ✩
The EP-2450, a lightweight, full-size chassis, has eight unisolated AC outlets that can pass 20 amperes of HF-filtered, ground-filtered, surge-protected AC, and comes equipped with a filtered and surge-protected coaxial line. KR used the EP-2450 to rid his system of noise generated from digital amps. “Reduced amp noise to effective inaudibility!” The E-2050 provides protection from AC-borne noise by means of a tracking filter, and uses a metal-oxide varistor to clamp and absorb surges. KR: “Examination of my house’s line voltage on an oscilloscope revealed a smoother, cleaner 60Hz signal than before.” (Vol.28 No.9 Read Review Online)

Furman IT-Reference 20i power conditioner: $3699 ✩
Furman Sound’s top-of-the-line power conditioner provides four duplex outlets offering balanced and power-factor–corrected AC, as well as two duplex outlets offering unbalanced power for high-current-draw power amplifiers. JM: “The IT-Reference 20i is built like a tank, and worked flawlessly. It brought a slight lowering of the noise floor without any reduction in dynamics.” (Vol.30 No.10 Read Review Online)

GutWire B-16: $99/5.5ft ✩ $$$
Uses Schurter and Leviton connectors on multistranded, oxygen-free copper wire. With the B-16 in place, JM noted improved image focus and clarity. “A great value,” he said. (Vol.31 No.10 Read Review Online)

HiFi-Tuning Silver/Gold fuses: $34.95–$49.95 each ✩
These German fuses, distributed in the US by The Cable Company, have silver filaments, ceramic bodies, and gold-over-silver terminations. Mikey replaced the cheap fuses in his Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier and was rewarded with a subtle but noticeable improvement in smoothness and coherence. The HiFi-Tuning fuses worked well with both the Onkyo A-9555 and PS Audio GCC-100, imparting a clearer, more dynamic sound, with crisper transients, said RD. Go figure! Available in various sizes. (Vol.30 Nos.2 & 9 Read Review Online)

JPS Labs Aluminata AC Cable: $3999 ✩
The Aluminata AC has three 8-gauge Kapton-insulated conductors and uses a Wattgate plug and IEC connector, both with gold-plated contacts. Along with the matching interconnects and speaker cables, the Aluminatas “brought a new measure of spaciousness, scale, smoothness, heretofore unimagined detail, and overall musical ease and naturalness to my music system,” AD enthused. KR agrees with AD that the expensive Aluminata lowers his system’s noise floor. (Vol.30 No.4 Read Review Online; also see CS’s VTL review in Vol.25 No.11)

JPS Labs The Digital AC-X Cable: $399 ✩
Uses “very-high-purity” stranded copper conductors, insulated to a 300V rating and said to contain a special compound that absorbs and dissipates high-frequency energy. AD: “The Digital AC endowed the music with a better sense of flow and a smoother, more ‘liquid’ presentation....The sound was more open...with an easier, more natural sense of movement from note to note....The performance as a whole also seemed more dramatic and, in some spots, downright louder.” He purchased The Digital AC to use with his Sony SACD player. Current “X” version has updated capacitors. (Vol.26 No.4 Read Review Online)

Kimber PowerKord 10: $25/ft, plus $130 for termination ✩
ST uses Kimber Kords throughout his system, and noted tremendous differences with a Jadis Defy-7. But try before you buy, he warns. (NR)

Kubala-Sosna Emotion AC cable: $1100/m; $300/additional meter.
A KR favorite. See “Loudspeaker Cables.” Add $300 for each additional meter. (Vol.29 No.7 Read Review Online)

Pangea Audio P-100 power supply: $129.99
Designed by Peter Madnick, the P-100 choke-regulated power supply can be used with Cambridge Audio’s DacMagic, Wadia’s 170iTransport, or Musical Fidelity’s V-Series components. When ST used the P-100 with Musical Fidelity’s V-DAC Mk.II, he heard more low-level detail, cleaner attacks and decays, and less electronic edge. “The Pangea P-100 is for those who want to wrest the very best from their budget gear,” concluded Sam. Available from Audio Advisor with a money-back guarantee. Price is MSRP. Street Price is $99.99. (Vol.35 No.2)

Quantum Resonant Technology Qbase QB8: $1399.99
Of this AC strip’s eight outlet sockets, only the one at the center of the strip goes straight to ground. For the remaining seven, resistors are inserted between the sockets and the ground in an attempt to reduce the noisy currents that can come from having multiple ground points of differing potentials within the system. (Vol.32 No.12 Read Review Online)

Shunyata Research Hydra Triton power conditioner: $4995
The Hydra Triton power conditioner is the first Shunyata Research product created using the company’s new Dynamic Transient Current Analyzer, a low-impedance power source that simulates the power grid and measures the effects of powerline accessories on a hi-fi system. The Triton offers four pairs of AC outlets, each using brass with a high copper content for the conductors, and employs Shunyata’s new Multi-Phase Differential Array, a system of 30 microfilters, each aimed at specific noise components. With the Triton in MF’s system, music sounded louder and cleaner and was more transparent, spacious, and detailed. “There’s no trade-off,” said MF. (Vol.35 No.1)

Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One 5.0 isolation transformer: $5500
Though expensive, the Pure Power One 5.0 includes a 65-lb, 5kVA, custom-built isolation transformer, a proprietary EMI/RF filter, four double-ganged, gold-plated Furutech AC jacks, and a Vesuvius power cord. The PP1 5.0 eliminated noise and increased dynamic range, allowing music to emerge from the soundstage with far greater three-dimensionality. “There was no downside to using the PP1 5.0, only a big upside,” said Mikey. (Vol.33 No.8)

Torus Power RM20 AC power isolation unit: $3000 ✩
Torus Power’s Power Isolation Units (PIUs) combine surge suppression with massive toroidal transformers to provide AC power conditioning and protection from voltage surges. The RM20 uses a single 2400VA toroidal transformer to supply 120V and 20 amperes to the 10 AC outlets on its rear panel. It has a 20A circuit breaker for its On/Off switch and uses a 14AWG detachable AC cord rated at 15A/125V. “The PIU greatly enhanced subtle details of tone, timbre, and imaging when dynamics were extreme or volume was loud,” said LG. CS20 version has 17" faceplate (silver or black); also costs $3000. (Vol.31 No.1 Read Review Online)

K

Ocellia Reference AC cable, Shunyata Research Triton AC conditioner, Sain Line Systems Pure Current Reference AC Cord.

Deletions

Nordost Vishnu, PS Audio Power Port Classic AC receptacles and Quintet Power Center, Shunyata Anaconda CX and Mamba CX Power Snake, all discontinued.

COMMENTS
Martin Osborne's picture

I understand that this is part of 'what you do', but thanks for bringing this altogther in one place - a lot of work has gone into it and I for one appreciate it. 

 

 

JItterjaber's picture

Making your product recommendations available to the digital generation will certainly help more people see your publication.  Thanks for trying to keep current!

www.hifiqc.com

Ajani's picture

This is a really good move! I know a lot of online users have been hoping and waiting for the recommended components to be released on the website. 

smittyman's picture

I've always appreciated how much content Stereophile makes available on this site.  I also always figured that Recommended Components was something that was held off the website to give us some incentive to purchase the magazine in either paper or on line form so I was really pleased to see this added.

soulful.terrain's picture

 

 This is great!  Thanks to all the staff for putting this valuable info together for us neophytes like myself. ;-)

Timbo in Oz's picture

One of the problems of the 'buy it yourself' approach to audio a Magazine is stuck with is that the path of modifying upgrading used gear gets short shrift, let alone doing it yourself. Those parts of the high-end are off the radar here.

This partciularly applies to FM antennas. The best results from FM stereo can only result from pointing a directional antenna with gain at the desired station. One sure way to get such results is an external directional antenna up high. This ensures that the FM front end will be in (i) full limiting and (ii) that there is minimal multi-path on the signal.

Few indoor antennas are really good at either (i) or (ii), unless your lucky and close to a desired staion or two. Just one type is capable of doing both, but you can't buy one. This best indoor FM antenna is the wire rhombic with sides approaching 3 metres long (or exceeding). The gain is high because each element equals the desired wavelength and becasue it is also a highly directional antenna. The cost in money is very low, 14 to 20 meters of twin ribbon, some resistors and a balun to feed coax to your radio.

When made from 300 ohm twin ribbon (the same stuff used for T folded dipole antennas) it will have twice the already high gain. Don't worry you are most unlikely to overalaod your FM front-end.

You can hide it on a suitable room's ceiling or under a large rug. A suitable room is the largest one which has a long diagonal pointing in the right direction - ie at most of your desired stations. Note also that the acceptance angle of a rhombic can be adjusted in and out a couple of ways, see the article referenced below.

The article about them and how to make one was published in the now defunct magazine 'Audio' and is available at the Audio Asylum's FAQ section, near the bottom of the listings.

If you can drive a good tuner into full limiting with a strong low multipath signal and have even one station that broadcasts live acoustic simply miked concerts, you have a true high-end source.

Tim Bailey

 

 

 

JohnnyR's picture

Cable reccomendations without a single measurement, just "oh it sounds just dandy" approach. How lame.This is useless.

Glotz's picture

This subjective review resource has around for decades, in print form.  You are the 4,895,235th 'listener' that thinks he knows more than these guys...

Bwahahahahahhaahhaahahhah!  Yeah, really.

Tim Lim's picture

Dear Stereophile,

This report is indeed welcome but may I ask how are the different classes differentiated? What are the criteria for any model to be included in their respective class? I don't see this guide anywhere.

Regards,

Tim

earlnightshade's picture

Total new guy here, but a quick question about the rating of the Peachtree Dac it.  To confirm I'm understanding correctly, is it considered so poor quality it gets a letter grade of "K"?  As in not even worthy of an "F"?

 

Thanks

smittyman's picture

They haven't reviewed it yet.  It is not several grades below an F

nleksan's picture

Okay, so sound quality is as subjective as the music itself, I get that.

But seriously, you include the ATH-M50's and ATH-AD700's (good headphones, don't get me wrong), but not the SR225/SR325 from Grado?  What about the absolutely SUBLIME RS1i or its little-brother the RS2i?  The PS1000's?

I own all of the above, and for studio work I favor the RS1i's above anything else, especially Sennheiser, as monitors don't have to be PAINFULLY Flat to listen to, they just have to be accurate to the source while able to replicate other sources, which the RS1i's/RS2i's/PS1000's do with aplomb!  The dynamic design and solid-mahogany cups make the music sound much more "alive", and the editing/mixing sessions sound identical to the recording sessions; this is in contrast to many others that neuter the sound to the point that it just goes flat.

I realize I am here spouting off my opinion, but as I am pretty sure that's like 87% at least of the job description for being an "audiophile", so I'm okay with it ;)

I just hate to see TRULY deserving headphones get passed over because they don't have the same "prestige" as Bowers&Wilkins or the like, nor the brand recognition of Sennheiser (who are, by the way, on track to becoming the BOSE of the headphone world.... I'll give them 5 years).  I challenge anyone to spend ~20hrs with a pair of Grado SR325's (NOT the SR325i's, but the original Mahogany ones), the RS1i's/RS2i's, the PS1000's, or even the SR225's (again, NOT the SR225i's), a strong headphone amp (everyone has their favorites, but I find that these do best with a good amount of overhead), and the best source material you can get, ideally a very high-end system with DVD-Audio quality sound or better (don't even think about any kind of lossy compression, because you WILL hear every "off" sound).  Heck, I get fantastic results with simply plugging any of the aforementioned 'cans directly into the headphone port on my HT|Omega Claro Halo XT sound card in my very high end workstation/overclocking rig (who says you can't mix business and pleasure??)...
I will admit that every pair of Grado's that I've owned has needed some break-in time, with as little as 40 hours for some SR80i's to ~120hrs for the SR225/SR325 cans to really shine (RS1i's = 75-80hrs, RS2i's = 70-75hrs, PS1000's = 90hrs), but I do my "break-in" a bit differently than most: I set up everything through my computer, including DAC/amp/etc running off an M-Audio card, and I have a specific playlist I use for breaking them in that consists of 125-175x ~3:30 to ~11:15 long Audio Tracks (full, uncompressed recordings and masters; the 125 songs take up about 3.7GB of space! yes, about 30MB per track, at 192Khz/48bit "RAW") of varying types/genres set in "loop" for the first playthrough and then "looping random" after that, and the volume automatically adjusts based on elapsed time.  For those who wonder, I use: Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, OK GO, Led Zeppelin, Bowie, Florence & the Machine, Grateful Dead, Incubus, Jay-Z, Jose Gonzalez, Pete Yorn, (recently added) Trent Reznor & Karen O's "Immigrant Song" cover from Girl w Dragon Tattoo, K'Naan, Manfred Mann, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Metallica ("One"), Norman Greenbaum, Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Scala ("Blower's Daughter"), Shwayze, Sufjan Stevens, RUSH, Tegan&Sara, Tom Petty, The Roots, Them Crooked Vultures, and a bunch more; as you can see, it's a mix of male and female vocalists, every instrument under the sun, all types of music, and so forth (quite eclectic).  BUT IT WORKS!
I PROMISE YOU that if you properly break-in any pair of Grado's, they will become one of your favorite listening headphones, if not your number one.  Having tried everything from the bird-poop-looking iPod iEarbuds (kill me please) to most of the consumer-level stuff (Sony MDR's are Amazing for the price, Beats by Dre are absolute junk and I've left stuff in the porcelain chamber with more musicality than that overpriced BS), to headphones that cost more than many peoples' cars and proclaim to be "hand-assembled by a team of naked supermodels over the course of 123 days with all work done only under a half-crescent moon while Mars and Jupiter align, emparting magical sonic characteristics into the hand-carved African rare wood covers and plated with Rhinocerous poop, well known for its excellent bass enhancement"... Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but not THAT much.  YET I KEEP COMING BACK TO THE GRADO'S!!!

JadenKrosis's picture

This product recieved rave reviews in Stereophile. It scored well in comparisons and has even become JA`s go to device for USB audio playback.

Without going into too much detail of Micheal Lavorgnas` review I`m quite sure I`m safe to say he liked it very much also. 

Is it possible this product was overlooked amid all the shock and awe created by the Dragonfly?  (not that there`d be anything wrong with that, I want one too!!!)

John Atkinson's picture

Quote:
Is it possible this product was overlooked amid all the shock and awe created by the Dragonfly?

The Halide was reviewed in August 2012, after this "Recommended Components" was prepared. It will be included in the next update, due in April.

The Halide was also included in the Collector's Edition of Recommended Components, available from newsstands and form the shop on this site: http://ssl.blueearth.net/primedia/home.php

John Atkinson

Editor, Stereophile

JadenKrosis's picture

Thank you John and I look forwards to reading that April issue.

bmilwee's picture

In your October 2011 issue, the VPI classic 3 gets an A rating, but here it seems to have been demoted to a B.   Tthe Rega RP3 is class B here, but in the anniversary edition it gets a C rating.  Which is correct?

John Atkinson's picture

Yes, sometimes as the result of further experience of the product or of competitive products, sometimes because the initial rating is provisional, for a product that is reviewed in the same issue as the updated list. But whenever a rating has changed, it is the most recent rating that reflects our current opinion of the product.

In the case of the VPI Classic 3, it has been reinstated in Class A in the listing that will appear in the April 2013 issue.

John Atkinson

Editor, Stereophile

shp's picture

I have been a binge reader of stereophile ever since high school when my first job was in a high end stereo shop (Threshold amps, KEF 104.2's).  

My brother is an architect and my colleague an electrical engineer.  They both deride the idea that giant audiophile cables make a difference noting that the wire that delivers electricity to the house and through the walls is only this big.

Not having the budget to try an assortment of (sometimes very expensive) cables I've kept mine pretty modest.  But I will concede they can sound different.  

But I am a little confused that Stereophile has ratings for digital data connects without any measurements. 

Digital cables either deliver bit-perfect data streams or they don't. And their accuracy should be reported even if Stereophile also wants to report the sonic affect of any digital distortion.

If I spent a lot of money on a music server, DAC, amplification and speakers, the last thing I want is the cable altering the bits. 

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