I use a Furman IT Reference that I picked up at their offices in Petaluma, CA in 2003. Built like a tank. Weighs 80 lbs plus.
Worth the big $$$$$.....definitely!!!
If you don't have a dedicated outlet on the wall specifically set up for your amp, the variation in power coming out of an outlet can be significant not to mention the interference. I have just moved my gear into a cottage we built on the back our property that does have a dedicated outlet but when things were in the main house....holy crap!!!!!!!!! The power sags and surges and the interference from appliances was beyond annoying without the Furman IT Reference.
The Balance Power Distribution is just a "gotta have" in my opinion... However the sucker is SO HEAVY you probably would grow weary taking it to gigs
(where you would probably get the most benefits!)
From an outside website:
The power running into our playing rooms consist of three wires. The 120-Volt positive wire (also called the hot wire), the neutral wire, and then the neutral wire is tied to the third wire that is the ground. The positive wire is usually not separately shielded and, therefore, free to interact with the others causing problems. Another quandary most of us have experienced are those nasty ground loop hums and buzzing due to the impedance of your equipment's chassis and interconnect shielding to ground not being zero. If you live in a big city then you can top all this off with the usual line pops, Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), Electromagnet Interference (EMI), and more noises that can drive us nuts!
Symmetrical (also referred to as "balanced") power has been recognized by the US National Electrical Code (Article 530) as an effective and safe method of power distribution. Symmetrical power also uses three wires like we use today, but in a manner that makes sense. It uses a 60-Volt positive wire, a 60-Volt negative wire, and then a ground wire. Benefits? No more power line induced noises effecting nearby audio wiring because the positive and negative leads cancel each other out just as they do with balanced analog audio (XLR). The ground currents that may cause ground loops from the non-symmetrical scheme are virtually eliminated! The icing on the cake is that by balancing your entire system you will typically get up to 24dB improvement in reducing background noise. The electromagnetic waves generated by electronic devices negatively affect other, similar, electronic devices. Technically these adverse affects are called Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). EMI and RFI may cause malfunctions in electronic devices. Specifically, EMI and RFI cause suppression of signals generated internally in a device, external ambient interference with equipment operation, or emissions generated internally that will interfere with equipment operation The Furman IT Reference cleans this up wonderfully.
The current Furman P2400 and the IT Reference 20i are available sometimes on Ebay for pretty good deals. I just saw a IT Reference 20i go for only $600!!! A real steal...
I checked all the outputs and most were 9.2 - 9.3, but the switched #5 or 6 output was 16.8 Volts DC which is a lot higher than the manual says it should be.
