Power Conditioner

[DenverEd]

I need to buy one. Which Furman do y'all recommend?

[Smolder]

I'm cheap, so I have the Merit 8x2... a bit more protection than the RP-8 which is basically a power strip in rack mount. You can find them new and shipped with warrantee for $60 on ebay (just bought another yesterday).

There are way better conditioners... but I've never spent the bucks to know if they're worth it.

[DenverEd]

Anyone else care to weigh in?

[strumminsix]

You should do more research. Years ago I was told that spending less than $150 just bought you a rack mounted power strip with nothing more than standard surge protection.

Don't know if that's still true.

[Smolder]

You should do more research. Years ago I was told that spending less than $150 just bought you a rack mounted power strip with nothing more than standard surge protection.

Don't know if that's still true.

this one seems to be a favorite amongst guitar players playing live. I've never used one.

http://www.amazon.com/Furman-P-1800-PF- ... ner+furman

[ugly rumor]

at one time I was in touch with Janet Furman, and she said that after she sold the company quality control suffered a lot. I would try to find an old one made before the sale, which date escapes me now, but I do know that she was very quality concsious.

[Jon S.]

The ex-owner of the co. said things were better under her ... wow, that's a shock.

Speaking for myself, I'm glad I spent the extra few bucks on the P-1800 AR which is a voltage regulator, not a mere power conditioner. It pays for itself at outdoor gigs where outlets are scarce.

[ugly rumor]

I know, right? shifting production to China and cheaping out on components to make more money probably did improve the product. Old USA quality was never all that, IRC.

[zambiland]

It depends on what your needs are. The guys are right, most of them are glorified power strips. That said, I have a Furman because I like the lights and the voltage meter. But, for serious electrical issues (like gigs in Nederland), I do use the voltage regulator version (model number escapes me right now). It's an older one. Since I dropped my Lexicon LXP 1 and 5, I haven't really needed but they got squirrely in a hurry when the voltage dropped.

For my location recording, I use a double conversion sine wave UPS. It's crazy heavy and runs off the batteries full time with a brand new sine wave. If power gets funky I have 10 minutes or so to save my files and deal with the power. Luckily, I've never really had to use it since I got it. It has just enough capacity to run my computer and interfaces. For bigger shows, I have a monster double conversion Liebert, but it's too crazy heavy so it stays in the shed.

[Jon S.]

I know, right? shifting production to China and cheaping out on components to make more money probably did improve the product. Old USA quality was never all that, IRC.

No one's dissing the good ole USA. On the other hand, nearly all of the bands in my neck of the woods use something by Furman and nothing's failing on anyone that I've ever heard of. There are times to prefer old USA over new imports. IMO, here ain't one of 'em but for sure it's a free country, do what you like.

[Smolder]

the best way to filter is actually not to filter. Converting AC to DC and then back to AC creates a pure clean wave. That's a pretty big heavy and expensive box. After that, everything is a compromise. In a rock and roll band, I'm not really sure how much clean power is worth... but with any clean amp/mac it's probably more important than with a pointed guitar into an orange driving chainsaw metal.