Mains Conditioner: A Vital Component!
(7-20-23)
I’ve been in the audio hobby since 1970. I’ve had my own audio store since 1975. It’s only been in the last decade that Mains Conditioners have not only gotten better, but become indispensable components in a highly resolving music system.
If you don’t clean up the line hash coming from your wall, the resolution of your system is stymied. If you don’t have a modern technology Mains Conditioner in your system now, job one in your upgrade path is to buy one. Until you’ve done that, don’t waste your money buying expensive gear.
A fellow visited recently who said he wanted to upgrade his system. He has about $40k of very nice gear. Since I don’t sell any of the brands, he expected me to say, unload it all and start over.
I didn’t. I told him what I would tell anyone in his shoes. Start with a Mains Conditioner- preferably by Isotek from Audio Emporium.
Noise Analyzer
If I brought my fancy noise analyzer to your house, I guaranty you, I would measure noise of 750-1000 units- or even more. The threshold of the meter is 1000 and I usually max out. Please don’t take this news personally. What the analyzer is seeing is noise on your line. This noise is promulgated by your power company and the fact that your building acts as an antenna since it is full of metal and wires.
This noise on the line affects our audio systems the same way TV snow infiltrated our visual displays back in the day. If you can’t eliminate the audio snow, it will obfuscate detail. It wasn’t until about 2014 that we had reliable Mains Conditioners that could strip the snow out of the audio picture.
These conditioners provide AC protection as well.
My point is, if you DON’T strip the snow out of your sound, your background level is gray instead of black. You can chase your tail replacing this component with that. But until you silence the debris that your music has to fight through- you’re leaving performance on the table. So before you decide to buy more expensive this or that, be sure to eliminate the snow out of your audio life.
The musical benefit of doing this is clear to hear. It provides improvement in overall clarity, transient attack and dynamic range. Yep, you can have a large, expensive system that won’t sound as transparent as a system for dramatically less money- that DOES have a fine conditioner at the head of the stream.
Isotek
I sell Isotek, founded and owned by Keith Martin of England. Isotek manufactures its products in its factory in Slovenia.
I think they make the best bang for the buck products in the entire category. Isotek makes Mains Conditioners and companion power cables. Of course the market is competitive. Here are some things to consider. When you do your homework, I think you’ll land on Isotek, as I have.
First of all, we need to install a Mains Conditioner before worrying about power cables. If you buy fancy cables and plug them into a noise filled wall socket, you won’t derive any improvement from the cables. If you eliminate the noise from the wall, now you’re to the point where the benefit of superior power cables can be heard.
C13/15 Series Mains Conditioners
C13/15 conditioners can be excellent and support up to 15 amps. That’s more than enough range for most of our shoppers. Customers with heavy artillery amplifiers should buy from the C19 Series that starts with Aquarius V5 below.
Isotek Polaris $500
The Isotek Polaris has sold for $700. I bought a boatload on promo earlier this year and can offer Polaris while it lasts for $500. A new model, Polaris V5, is about to ship any day. It will be $900. I’ll be happy to recommend it. But while we have this version for $500, I recommend you buy it and save a few bucks.
Polaris comes with a fine power cable called the Initium. Initium ($150) runs from the wall into the Polaris. Initium uses nickel pins and a heavy polyethylene jacket to be sure it doesn’t pick up noise from the wall to Polaris. Most power cables act as antennas and attract noise in this vital link.
You might be wondering why I’m pointing out that Polaris comes with an Initium, a very fine power cable. I’m doing so because many of Isotek’s competitors sell conditioners with NO POWER CABLE. That- you’ll have to purchase a la carte. Add $150-250 to be apples to apples. These cables are often much less hearty and isolating than Initium.
Polaris has six outlets. It has one isolating filter network for the bar. The electronics within Polaris squelch the noise by 30dB. Polaris not only protects your system from AC spikes. It will tighten up the bass and improve your transient attack.
These are all good things and you’ll be surprised how much Polaris will help a system that either has no conditioner, a Home Depot bar, or an MOV based box from Monster or someone similar. If you force me to claim a percentage of improvement the Polaris will yield, it’s an improvement in clarity of a good 15% or more and well worth its price.
It is something you’ll easily hear with acoustic music. For example, try the Stacy Kent album “Close Your Eyes”- with special attention to the track “Day In-Day Out.” Listening through Polaris the stand up bass is cleaner/tighter, the vocal is more pure & dynamic- even the piano has superior transient attack of hammers to cables. Ya can’t miss it! Once you hear this with Polaris- you won’t be able to return to your old power bar because it will sound murky.
Isotek Elektra V5 $2000
Elektra is a step above Polaris. It also has six outlets and comes with an Initium power cable. Elektra has six isolation filters- one per outlet. The filters squelch noise with double the affect of the Polaris.
The reason for using a filter for each outlet is that we don’t want back wash from any component to infiltrate others. Keeping each component isolated unto itself pays sonic benefits. Please note that some expensive competitors only use a single system filter while Elektra uses six. Elektra has higher current capability than Polaris and also comes with an Initium power cable. Elektra certainly represents the law of diminishing returns- best value- for the majority of our customers.
C19 Series Mains Conditioners
Please note the connector difference that supports C19.
Isotek Aquarius V5 $3000
Aquarius V5 is the least expensive of Isotek’s C19 high voltage conditioners. If you’re shopping conditioners, please be aware that you’re not apples to apples with Aquarius unless the other guys are running C19 as well.
Aquarius has more power capability than Elektra. It also uses six, more advanced filters than Elektra. Aquarius also comes with a superior power cable, called Premier. Premier sells for $250 a la carte and again, Aquarius does come with one. Premier uses gold plated pins and Teflon for its dielectric. You can spend a lot more for a mains conditioner than Aquarius. But Aquarius is where the law of diminishing returns runs out of gas.
Power Cables
We’re happy to recommend Isotek’s power cables IF you’re running a fine mains conditioner. If you are NOT running a fine conditioner like the ones above, there’s no reason to run a fancy power cable into your wall. If you haven’t stripped the noise out of the wall, the fancy power cable can’t yield sonic improvement to any significant degree.
Initium $150 (58”)
Nickel pins, polyethylene jacket. If you buy Polaris or Elektra, please get additional Initiums
for your main audio components.
Premier $250 (58”)
Gold plated pins, Teflon jacket. If you buy Aquarius, please get additional Premiers for your main audio components.
The Other Guys
In a recent view of Stereophile I saw a dozen or so companies that are advertising power products. I’m sure they all offer some level of improvement. I’m sticking with Keith Martin and Isotek.
The products are excellent, fairly priced and not made in the far east.