Plugs

The outlet on your wall is the first link in your audio chain, and most of us ignore it completely.

I get asked this question all the time. Should my power amplifier go straight into the wall, through a power conditioner, or into a regenerator? The answer depends on what your power looks like before it reaches your gear. In an ideal world, your wall outlet would deliver a perfect 120-volt, 50/60 Hz sine wave with zero noise, zero voltage sag, and zero distortion. In reality, your home's AC power is a mess. It carries noise from every device on the circuit, dimmer switches, refrigerator motors, the neighbor's pool pump, the voltage drifts throughout the day as demand on the grid changes, and the impedance of literally miles of copper.

A power conditioner is the simplest solution. It filters the incoming AC to strip away high-frequency noise. That's nice but at what price? The added components increase impedance, often choking the current and compressing your amp's dynamics, which is worse than plugging straight into the wall. If your conditioner makes your system sound flat and lifeless, that is what is likely happening.

A power regenerator takes a completely different approach. Instead of filtering the incoming power, it tears it down and rebuilds it from scratch. The dirty AC from the wall powers an internal amplifier that generates a brand new, perfectly regulated sine wave. That is what our Power Plant regenerators do, and the results are amazing. Lower noise floor, blacker background, tighter bass, more defined imaging. The regenerated power has extremely low distortion and rock-solid voltage regardless of what the grid is doing.

So which approach wins? Well, I am certainly biased in favor of regeneration, but that bias is based on years and years of A/B tests that never fail. 

The one take away is clear. Plugging straight into the wall is not a great idea if you want to get the most out of your system. Regenerate, baby. Regenerate and win!