Estonian Power

Gamer changer. It's what an email from the UK's Definitive Audio said about the balanced-power conditioners from Estonia's Audes. They certainly changed the game for Kevin & Lynn Scott who just became England's Audes distributor. In 1960 so 25 years after their formation, Audes launched their own transformer manufacture. They're decidedly old hands at this niche craft. Though today their portfolio includes loudspeakers, drivers and valve amps—Greece's TruLife Audio and Germany's Octave Audio too started out as specialty transformer firms whilst Poland's Fezz are a subsidiary of Toroidy—OEM transformers and chokes remain a core Audes business. This includes toroidals, laminated EI and UI cores, HF pulse transformers, switch-mode power transformers and more. Their present range of power conditioners spans three models whose 900, 1500 and 3000 suffix respectively refers to VA power. With 0.4Ω output impedance for the beefiest model from a "very large transformer core with very small magnetic flux density", short-term current peaks from LF transients should enjoy speedy supply. By working as 800Hz low-pass filters by design, these transformers automatically block HF noise on the AC and create galvanic isolation. An artificial centre tap separates Europe's utility power of 230V into +150/-150V legs for the extra noise cancellation of balanced power.

The 8-outlet ST-3000 and 5-outlet ST-1500 build in a DC blocker. That's optional with the 5-outlet ST-900. With big iron, weight here means 18kg, 25½kg and 33kg respectively. FedEx smiles. All models include two VU meters to show output voltage and current draw. Other balanced-power brands in our hifi space include Furman and Plixir. As it is so famously for transformer-coupled tube amps, the execution of AC isolation transformers should be a serious variable. It'll determine how good they are at their job. With Definitive Audio being the distribution arm of Living Voice which represented the legendary Japanese Audio Note electronics until Kondo-Sans's passing and today handle SJS Electronics and Triode Corp., the earlier game-changer mention will specifically refer to the quality of this Audes iron tailored to lower noise on our 50/60Hz AC. In hifi, anything that's not the signal is distortion. That's not just transient intermodulation and total harmonic distortion. It's also noise, be it power-supply surf, a ground loop, mechanical transformer hum or out-of-band modulation effects. With the preponderance of fast-switching power supplies in electric appliances plus the ubiquity of WiFi with bathes our environs and thus cable looms in microwave radiation, hifi noise killers of all stripes and sizes have become a lucrative industry.

True, with sufficient wall sockets for our needs, we'll most certainly make sound with generic power cords and zero AC conditioning. Plug 'n' play. The end? Nearly invariably things can get a lot better with carefully curated power-delivery products. That's an uncomfortable truth only if we deny it. We might think that none of it matters like believing digital to just be 1s and 0s. From that figures that utility power is all we could possibly need, posh power cords are a crock of crap and junk food isn't just cheap but good for us. If that's really you, perhaps best have ignorance remain bliss to keep your blood pressure low. Otherwise follow the below links to catch up with claimed advances in the field.