PLCs
Dear Gary: As I am reading the review of Richard Gray’s Power Company, by Richard Hardesty, I question his statement that PLCs cause more harm than good. Has he had experience with the Tice Power Block III series? I have spoken to several people who are pleased with its performance. I have looked at the Tice Web page and they say that their product does not limit current. What’s the straight scoop?
Audio Equipment Review Editor Richard Hardesty Comments:
If you and your acquaintances are pleased by the Tice products or other series PLCs, then I’m happy for you. My opinion, along with a description of my geographically limited experience, is clearly stated in the article, which you might try reading again. I can only describe what I hear. I can’t speak for other people in other places; and I didn’t. That’s what the whole first page of the review was about. Here is the straight scoop about current: Ohm's law says that I=E/Z where I is current, E is voltage and Z is impedance. When Z goes up, I goes down. Passive series filters have impedance and limit current to some extent. Does this make a difference? Maybe or maybe not, depending on the situation. This is another subject that I thought I covered in the review. The argument for power line conditioners is based on the assumption that filtering higher frequency power line hash will improve the sound quality of audio components. While this may seem logical and filtering capability is easily measured, actual performance benefits are unsubstantiated by testing; and I don’t hear them. When AC power enters an audio product, the first components that it will encounter include a step-down transformer, rectifier diodes and capacitors. The power supply is a filter that is designed to offer filtered DC power to run the circuitry. A poorly designed power supply may benefit from additional filtering. My advice is simple: listen to any PLC in your own system before you buy. I would never say that all PLCs cause more harm than good in all systems. I simply stated that in my experience they usually do. Do you see the difference?
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