At the panel

[UltraFast69]

Here’s where the behind scenes action is.

Dedicated circuits delivering power to our beloved gear.

We want the best incoming power possible and sometimes forget it’s our equipment that also contributes noise back to the panel with are large power supplies, capacitors that is all interconnected with cables.

From a company based in Salt Lake is Environmental Potentials that offers industrial and residential products. I bought two EP2050s priced each at $699.00 for the main and sub-panel and also three EP2750 for which is a ground filter priced at $179.00 for each circuit on the reference system.

The build quality appears decent, so I’ll be putting this in over the weekend with KingRex and see what they do.

We don’t expect much in audible differences, and not sure on video images using the 2050, and unsure what the rest of the home will see, aside from additional surge protection now at both panels and hoping I don’t over step with the ground filters will do.

Here is some commentary on Environmental;

Environmental Potentials is a manufacturer of industrial power products. The EP-2050 is the distillation of their proprietary industrial electrical surge and noise filtration technology for residential applications.

Absorbs, dissipates and removes transient voltage surges and spikes
Eliminates Noise Between 3kHz-1MHz
Does not shunt energy to ground
Positively reviewed in Positive Feedback, Enjoy The Music and Stereophile magazines
A 'whole house surge protector' is a device designed to be installed at the main electrical service panel or a sub panel. Nearly all the products available on the market incorporate shunt mode surge protection technology that degrades over time and whose performance relies on the quality of the building's ground protection. In many homes and studios this ground is often of poor quality, with a impedance often over 20 or 30 ohms at 60Hz. At higher frequencies this impedance can be substantially greater, almost nullifying the ability of the surge protector to control the most damaging high frequency spikes. The technology in the Environmental Potentials EP-2050 is different. It does not rely on the quality of the ground to provide surge protection. The device tracks the waveform, damping high frequency, high rate of change impulses. That's why the EP-2050 is called a 'Waveform Corrector'!






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[MPW]

Are you doing this in stages so you can determine the impact of each product? I'm very interested in your results.

 

[UltraFast69]

Are you doing this in stages so you can determine the impact of each product? I'm very interested in your results.

I am first going to put in the ground filters and take a listen to reference tracks I know well and record it’s findings. I believe it will either contribute results immediately or it won’t followed by installing the 2050 on the sub panel, then the main panel.

This will all be done in over the course of an hour or so and if the benefits are cumulative, great. Installation time is under 15 minutes.

Note: I have no issue with conditioning but have experienced too much a good thing can affect dynamics, we shall see.




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[Speedskater]

Do they have a 'UL' safety sticker?

any link to install instructions?

 

[asindc]

From a company based in Salt Lake is Environmental Potentials that offers industrial and residential products. I bought two EP2050s priced each at $699.00 for the main and sub-panel and also three EP2750 for which is a ground filter priced at $179.00 for each circuit on the reference system...

...Absorbs, dissipates and removes transient voltage surges and spikes
Eliminates Noise Between 3kHz-1MHz
Does not shunt energy to ground

I am also very interested in what your findings will be. Please keep us posted.

 

[UltraFast69]

Do they have a 'UL' safety sticker?

any link to install instructions?

I have not noticed any UL safety sticker and don’t recall when I last seen a UL sticker on any audio cable, conditioner or component.

From my understanding, UL is a private and for profit testing company. I am confident the brands I use all measure up to safety and standards within the industry.

Here are some links;

http://ep2000.com/uploads/EP-2500_SeriesSpecifications.pdf

http://ep2000.com/uploads/EPInstallGuide2000.pdf







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[UltraFast69]

IMO, any power piece that is plugged in should reveal the benefits of upgrade then go through an adjusting period as it settles in with the majority of benefit within the first 50 to 75 hours, after that is highly suspect but that’s my opinion and a bigger subject.

When I first installed the grounding filters to the digital and amp circuits, it was too much a good thing. Dynamics were lost, and it was evident to me and my non-audio friends on a Friday get together. I could not take it, and asked to be excused needing 10 minutes to pull them out, and presto the sound was back - we went on to have a fun night.

Next morning Installed the EP2050 waveform conditioner and surge protector not knowing what to expect. Results were positive, a subtle step forward and after a few hours believe it to baked, I may gain a bit more but don’t know.

At the onset, the music is slightly refined, a tad more open. I do have a slight transformer hum, one that irked me and it was hardly audible, KingRex made fun of me for it, after the 2050 it that has greatly diminished as well, you really have to find it.

KingRex came by later and helped installed the second one in the main panel which already has a surge protector and I was debating to install this on the breaker feeding the sub panel, and wanted to do this a different way, and him being a Master Electrician it was his show.

The cumulation of two, one in each panel, now has benefited the whole house.

Video and audio in both systems are enhanced, including the load rate of when channels are changed on both TVs using the cable boxes, I found this interesting.

I have a Shunyata Defender in the open PS Audio receptacle in the bedroom system and pulled it to lend to KingRex. The picture is better than it was with the Defender, which does a decent job for what it is - the Defender will go back assuming Rex returns it.

I may stick the grounding filter back in but only on one side the digital or amps and will update if I do.

Takeaway;

Highly recommended for not only conditioning but also for surge protection.

At $699, it’s a cost effective piece of mind, a benefit to the audio system, and whole house depending on how your panels are configured.

The EP2050 plays well with Add Powr products I wrote about as one goes after high frequency and the other operates on low frequency. My gut tells me for the guys that run conditioners will see further benefit from this.




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[UltraFast69]

Updates:

The EP2050, Waveform Corrector and Surge protector is a benefit to the reference system, and entire home along with reintroducing one of three ground filters back in the panel. As these are for the home but not focused on audio, the price to me is inline of what the value it brings.

I went back and installed 1 of the Ground Filters on the Digital circuit, there is now NO damping of dynamics as previously reported, it has contributed to a lower noise floor, and separation and clarity of instruments and detail - it will stay. I will add the remaining two over the next few weeks and see what occurs, I do not know what to expect.

In respect to my previous comment, I am not sure but I am thinking the EPS 2050 should have been in first before the ground filters and perhaps my loss of dynamics with just the filters was a result of the combination of previous grounding of the panel and system and these filters, or simply too much.

Last, I am starting to think items like ADD POWR and Environmental Potentials reduces the need for uber priced audio cables, but this is just a suspicion and not to take away from there are many ways to address audio. I am still pro cable despite blowing a huge wad of cash on these wire components.