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They do different things...

Posted by Ian Mackenzie (A) on November 10, 2003 at 12:27:41

In Reply to: Power conditioners vs power cords? posted by KevinT on November 10, 2003 at 11:11:47:

Conditioners clean the power, re-synthesize it (or whatever the f^%#)or filter it.

Power cords ensure that your components are fed a steady amount of juice when peak current loads demand it.

The best/simplest explanation I ever heard was by Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio:

"Amplifiers demand current from the power-line when the capacitors in
their power-supplies become momentarily discharged due to high-current
transients in the music signal. This discharge condition must be quickly
recharged from the power-line, through the power-supply transformer,
during the short periods that the rectifiers are conducting, or a voltage
sag will occur. Such voltage sags can cause audible distortion at the
loudspeakers. If the power-line has significant series inductance in the
path from the power panel to the amplifier (such as a standard power cord),
this can prevent the capacitor bank from recharging in time to prevent a
voltage sag from occurring at the amplifier output transistors. Since
Empirical Audio power cords are low-inductance, the voltage drop across
the power cable will be insignificant during high-current transients,
minimizing the voltage sag. This allows all of the current needed by the
amplifier output transistors and pre-drivers to be supplied when they need it,
resulting in a fast, dynamic response to transient signals. The Grand Slam
provides a uniform low-impedance path for these transient currents, no
matter what spectral content the current has. This is what makes it so
coherent.
"

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