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  Power Products > UPC-200HB UPC HB More Info Starting at just $499.00!  The UPC-HB Power Center combines the best of passive power cleaning, surge protection and Humbusting – together in one sweet package. Inside the UPC-HB is a single zone Ultimate Power Cell™ for cleaning and isolation, a single zone Humbuster™ (fed by the Ultimate Power Cell) that will lower or eliminate internal hum for connected equipment, and our exclusive triple surge and spike protection circuitry. With the UPC-HB you can clean, protect and lower hum inside your connected equipment all with one unique dual output power conditioner. Ultimate Power Cell™ technology The UPC series is based on a new technology exclusive to PS Audio, the Ultimate Power Cell™. The UPC 200 has two Ultimate Power Cells inside, and the UPC-HB has a single Ultimate Power Cell along with a Humbuster.  Ultimate Power Cells™ (UPC) combine the best of the High Current Ultimate Outlet, a Balun and its associated components, along with a 10 fold increase in energy storage and release.Ultimate Power Cells provide a one way gate for AC power line noise. This noise is generated by cell phones, computers, vacuum cleaners, radio and television stations and even your own AV system. Power line noise is inherent in every home’s AC power and keeping it out of your equipment can provide major performance benefits both to the audio signal as well as the video signal. Another advantage of the Ultimate Power Cell is that they function as a one-way-gate for power line noise by keeping garbage generated by the very equipment you are trying to improve and protect out of everything else plugged into the wall socket. The typical home in the US has 15 amp receptacles that can deliver up to 1800 watts. The UPC-HB’s internal Ultimate Power Cell can take advantage of all the power available from your home's receptacle. With the Ultimate Power Cell’s improved cleaning and energy storage and release functions, the UPC-HB can provide clean and protected AC power to your AV equipment.  The UPC-HB’s internal Humbuster Hum. Defined in an audio video setup as a constant “buzzing” noise coming from somewhere in the system, or in a video setup as diagonal lines across the set, it can be one of the more irritating aspects of system performance. People have referred to the sound of it as an “angry insect” noise, a “low rumble”, perhaps simply “an irritating sound” describes it just as well. One thing for sure, it’s annoying. There are two places where audible hum makes itself apparent: the loudspeakers and inside the equipment. If you have hum coming through the loudspeakers it can usually be resolved by first locating the source of the hum, either a ground loop or a defective piece of equipment and then fixing it. We have a helpful tool called Humbusters that you can go to fix hum in your loudspeakers and there's even a real engineer that will help you as well, if the tool doesn't get you where you need to go. Hum coming from the equipment itself is a more difficult problem to solve because it requires sophisticated electrical circuitry. Typically caused by the gear’s internal power transformer, this mechanical vibration can range from soft to quite loud depending on the quality of your home’s AC power. AC power quality can vary from home to home, even from hour to hour making the problem even more difficult to track down. This results in some equipment generating irritating hums and buzzes at different times of the day in some homes while the identical piece doesn’t hum in others.  The UPC-HB’s internal Humbuster can be placed between any piece of equipment and the AC wall source to lower and, in many cases, eliminate the irritating mechanical hum or buzz made by power amplifiers, preamps, digital equipment or anything in your system that is merrily buzzing away. It’s almost like magic Connect the Humbuster™ and voila! The hum’s pretty much gone. How does it work? It eliminates the DC component on the AC line. All AC power lines have a small component of DC (battery type voltage) on the line. Typically this DC is held to a very low level and causes only a few problems. However, many homes are not “typical” and this DC component can be quite high. In fact, it’s high enough to cause an asymmetry that “pushes” the voltage in the transformer in one direction and partially saturates the core of the transformer, causing it to buzz. In addition to buzzing noises, the transformer is also at a performance disadvantage because its core is not working properly. To read an in depth article on this phenomena, go here. Transformers work best when there is absolutely zero DC presented to them. This is because transformers are AC devices, not DC devices. Transformers need to change the direction of their magnetic fields multiple times per second in order to function properly. When there's DC on the line, it forces the  transformer to stay polarized in one direction and this make the transformer a little crazy - and it hums and complains in response.The Humbuster AC is almost like magic in the way it removes the DC component from the AC line and either stops or significantly reduces the buzz and vibrations caused by DC. How effective the Humbuster is depends on just how much DC there is on the line and what the quality of the transformer is. Further, the Humbuster improves the performance and, in some cases, lowers the heat produced by power transformers when it removes the DC. How does it work? Humbusters work by placing a simple network of power rectifiers and power capacitors in an arrangement that removes the direct coupling at the AC’s zero crossing point. This blocks the DC from coming through. Then, just a volt or so above and below the zero cross point, we direct couple the AC signal back again. It’s simple, yet effective. Are there any restrictions? Not really. The Humbuster AC is built from huge 50 amp devices and is not current limiting or restricting in any way as long as you are not asking more from it than you would from the wall socket.  Placed between any size load that a standard 15 or 20 amp wall outlet can power, the output of the Humbuster is DC free and AC clean and can safely and effectively power anything you want to throw at it. How do I know if I need one? Take a moment to place your ear close to each piece of gear in your setup when it's on and functioning. If there's a noticeable humming or buzz inside, you're a candidate for a Humbuster. Sometimes this noise is not audible because of the time of day. You might just notice that you hear a buzzing sound in your system (not through the speakers) at some time in the day but not others. This is quite typical and this would also qualify as a candidate for a Humbuster. Choose the device right for you There isn’t a system that wouldn’t benefit from the advantages of cleaner power and the  UPC-HB’s internal Ultimate Power Cell cleans without restriction. If you only need power cleaning and surge protection, then we suggest you consider either the single zone Ultimate Outlet, or the dual zone UPC-200.But if your system’s electronics has a bit of hum, then the UPC-HB is perfect. You get pure clean power out of both the Ultimate Power Cell’s zone as well as the Humbuster’s zone, and both are surge protected. Surge protection is second to none Using our now famous Tranzorber and super MOV technology for surge protection, the UPC-HB provides 100% surge and spike protection for anything connected. Non-volatile Tranzorber clamps are used as the primary AC surge and spike protection in all PS power purifying products. Tranzorbers are far superior to MOV’s for protection because of their sharp and nearly instantaneous clamping characteristics and because they do not degrade over time. MOV’s on the other hand, the devices typically found in 99% of all surge protectors, are slower to respond and can degrade over time. UPC’s take advantage of both technologies. Tranzorbers are PS Audio’s first line of defense in the war against surges and spikes. The problem with Tranzorbers is they can be damaged by too large a surge and so we protect them from damage by removing them from the line if there’s too big a surge. That’s where the backup super sized MOV’s come into play: we wouldn’t want to count on them for our primary defense but they are just fine as the backup provider. These MOV’s need to clamp long enough for the internal power switch in the UPC to disconnect the AC power from your equipment. It’s a very foolproof protection management product.  While other manufacturers rely solely on MOV’s, without the internal automatic power switch to remove your equipment from the power line in an extreme circumstance, or in the case of products that do have an AC bypass device, they do so at the expense of adding a large and restricting power inductor in the AC path, only PS Audio provides foolproof, non-volatile protection without restricting the power. The entire surge and spike section is built onto a removable plug in board. Should any damage occur to the surge board, or if you need to change mains voltages to another country, it is easily replaced by the user with another board. The UPC-HB Cleaning, isolating, surge and spike protection and the ability to lower or eliminate hum in connected equipment make the UPC-HB a powerful tool in the war against bad power. Remember, good power is the foundation of everything you listen to and look at in your system. Don’t compromise. Get it right in the first place. |
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