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INCLUDES SHELF-MOUNT BRACKET WITH RUBBER FEET. PERFECT FOR HI-END AUDIO OR VIDEO OR CRITICAL COMPUTER APPLICATIONS! Technically, this is a 120 volt 60 hz 500VA Constant Voltage Balanced Output Harmonically Neutralized Transformer. Let's break that down, feature by feature: CONSTANT VOLTAGE SOURCE. Incoming voltage is rarely stable - plug a multimeter into a wall outlet one day and be prepared for a shock (pardon the pun). This Sola includes a ferroresonant transformer that adjusts a wide band of incoming AC voltages - high or low - to a rock-solid 120 volts output. This provides an easier load to the power supplies of your front-end audio gear (CD / SACD / DVD / BLURAY players, preamps), as well as low-power tube amps and video sources. Because they have less work to do, your equipment will generate less electrical noise and heat, reproduce sound more accurately, AND LAST MUCH LONGER. BALANCED OUTPUT. In most cases, the AC voltage coming out of your duplex outlets arrives on the hot leg only (120 volts on the hot, and 0 on the common). However, the rectification circuits in your front end gear are wired to receive voltage from both AC legs. When voltage arrives on only one leg, one side of every rectification circuit works harder, while the other side does nothing. This imbalance creates noise and heat. The Sola solves this problem by dividing the AC voltage between the hot and common legs - typically 60 to 80 volts on the hot and balance on the common (under load). Again, less heat and electrical noise, truer output AND LONGER EQUIPMENT LIFE. Consider this citation from the Equitech Power Conditioner company website: "... numerous testimonials bare the validity of the balanced AC power theory. Balanced power has been applied in numerous audio application environments with great success. Commonly, an additional 16 to 20 db of dynamic range is realized on a system-wide basis where multiple inputs and channels are mixed." Examples would include a stereo system with separate powered sub, or a 5.1/7.1 home theater system. (The Equitech website page is /articles/origin.html). HARMONIC NEUTRALIZING TRANSFORMER. You can get an education about these on the Sola website (http:// /support/faq.html). It is Sola's unique and improved version of an isolation transformer. Nearly every piece of equipment operating on AC lines send signals back into the line, and the bigger the gear, the bigger the signal. Moreover, long Romex and other AC lines act like antennae, absorbing radio and TV signals from everywhere. The harmonic neutralizing transformer included in this Sola strips AC line noise emanating from AM, FM and TV signals, garage door openers, dishwashers, refrigerators, HVAC components, the giant stamping press in the factory down the street and more. (Note to audiophiles: This particular Sola was modified with the addition of an audiophile bypass capacitor to eliminate ultra-high frequency noise.) SURGE SUPPRESSION. The Sola will prevent voltage spikes and prolonged over-voltages from damaging your equipment. This unit is capable of suppressing prolonged overpowers of 400 volts and more! Better yet, the Sola is not sacrificial - in an over-voltage, it will not burn through a couple cheap varistors and turn itself into junk, unlike pricey power bars. This is HIGH-GRADE COMMERCIAL SURGE PROTECTION - 45 POUNDS OF ELECTRICAL FIREWALL - the type used to safeguard internet servers and other high-value gear. In over-voltage situations, the Sola just keeps on working, outputting a rock-solid 120 volts, and bypassing overvoltages to ground, to large on-board bypass capacitors, and to heat/vibration. What are the sonic benefits of this Sola? Digital distortion is multiplied by your preamps and amps, and output by your speakers as grunge, shrillness and glare. When violins sound like Chico Marx playing in a tiled bathroom, you have digital distortion. Purifying front-end AC power with this Sola will significantly reduce digititis in your system. Smoother power will result in fewer DAC errors. Eliminating AC line noise will drop your noise floor by several DB's. Your soundstage will widen. Instruments will distribute themselves properly across the stage, and lock into place. You will detect low-level details formerly lost to noise, including hall ambience, instrumental decays, and those vital little live performance peccadilloes like toe-tappings, page-turnings, throat-clearings and more. Your system will sound louder and more forceful, though that will not be the case. Rather, your system will become more dynamic - a greater range of accurate audio reproduction between the noise floor beneath and the loudest levels of amplification on top. The entire presentation will become more accurate. How about video benefits? Less snow. Reduced pixel motion, resulting in a smoother image. Fewer DLP artifacts like rainbows. The impact is less dramatic because the eyes are more forgiving than the ears - for example, you cannot know by looking that the red car on your screen is supposed to be orange. But you always know immediately if the piccolo sounds like an angry tea kettle and the tympanist sounds like he's beating a refrigerator. Of course, you can use this Sola to condition power to computers and other sensitive home or office equipment. In this capacity, lengthened service life is the primary benefit. How should you install your Sola? This type of power conditioner makes a humming noise and generates heat. You should install the Sola anywhere between your circuit breaker and the target gear, but separated from work or listening areas. A closet near your gear would suffice, or the room behind, or the basement beneath. You get the picture. Unrefined AC power goes in one end (the plug end), and conditioned power comes out the other end (the regular duplex outlet). It's that simple. Expected service life of this unit? Another 25 to 30 years - nearly indestructible. If you are considering this unit for audio, think about one other CHEAP improvement to your AC power. Get a $12.00 copper-clad 8-foot grounding rod from Home Depot or Lowe's. Pound it into the ground about 2 to 3 feet from your home, near your service entrance. Clamp a shielded grounding cable to the exposed tip of the rod. Run the grounding cable into your home and MAKE THIS THE ONLY GROUND YOUR ENTIRE AUDIO SYSTEM SEES. Eliminate all other ground contacts to your audio system ONLY. I am not exaggerating when I claim that an isolated, proprietary ground will double the benefits your receive from your Sola. You can use this Sola as a stand-alone power conditioner, or parallel it with an AC regenerator like the PS Audio Power Plant, or add a Power Plant later. I used it alone for several years, then added a P300 with great results. I AM SELLING THIS 500 VA SOLA ONLY BECAUSE I PURCHASED A 2000VA UNIT. A new Sola power conditioner like this will sell for about $1,200 (check for prices). It will NOT include the 15 amp AC whip and duplex outlet. It will NOT include pre-wiring for 120 volts in, 120 volts out. It will NOT include a shelf-mount bracket with rubber isolation feet. (Sola 500 w isolation transformer,voltage/surge control was posted and is owned by: Lauri Price) |
lauri_price@chicagopartsnetwork.com (Lauri Price) for more information.
