Dan D’Agostino, the founder of his own amplifier brand, explicitly recommends plugging his amps directly into a wall outlet rather than into a power strip or filter.
Does anyone here power their amplifiers this way?
If so, have you noticed any sonic or performance differences compared to using a power strip or conditioner?
Do you think this advice applies only to D’Agostino’s designs, or could it be beneficial for all amplifiers?
Does anyone know of a specific technical rationale behind avoiding power strips/filters for high-end amps?
I don’t know exactly what D,Agostino says but normally this type of recommendation does not mean use ONLY into the outlet on the wall that your builders installed. It means not using any power strip with features ( such as filters). A plain extension lead should be OK ( and necessary for practical reasons), but only if it can provide adequate current. The latter is certainly of concern with some of his high powered amplifiers and where current limitations may not allow full power to be developed.
If you are using one of D’Agostino’s big amps it might be worth talking to your electrician as a high power ( e.g. 20 amp) circuit may be worth installing.
NB: my amps are powered from dedicated mains ( no power conditioning). However the circuits are fed via a normal domestic consumer unit ( again dedicated).
Ive spoken with dan about it directly. He said his amps are built specifically to take the power as it is, coming out of the wall. Conversely he now runs his amps thru a strom tank and that in itself provides an isolation. He indicates that upstream components should all be filtered. I believe that he feels that any device placed between his thirsty amp designs is more harmful that possibly helpful. All of my amplification equipment and central preamp are dagostino design. Amps all are on individual home run, dedicated, oversized circuits and preamp is also on a dedicated circuit but pulls its power through a adept response power conditioner. All audio circuits are on an isolated ground leg in the breaker box with a separate ground rod from the balance of the home circuitry. My home is also further isolated on an transformer that serves only my home. It isnt noise proof but very quiet.
I believe the rationale is never having an amp lacking more power than it could possibly use. Full class a theory … always keep the hose full and dont rely on capacitors to provide what the cord should supply.
I would imagine it would be beneficial for any class a design amp. The music suffers as the availability of full power ( headroom) diminishes.
My conditioner chokes my amp so badly that when I first used it I thought I did something wrong. Directly from the wall is my only option. However, at AXPONA I spoke with a speaker/amp designer whose room was outstanding, and he said the Stromtank gets his highest recommendation.
The system I have includes a Shunyata Everest power distributor. When I asked Caelin the designer of the Everest about using the Everest to power my Spectral Audio mono block amps he urged me to plug these into the wall. He felt that with my speakers putting a potentially significantly low impedance load on the amps, that anything getting in the way of such loads, and the high current demands of the amps, using the Everest is not advised. He urged a 20a circuit for each mono block as well.
Thanks. But the StormTank is more a high quality energy storage than a filter.
I use the Synergetic research top of the line that have dedicated inputs for the amp.
I did raise this question because talking with my AD where i buy most of my gear, i ask him why sometimes the music sound better, there’s no harshness in the mids, the bass sounds tight. The music just sounds more right, clean and deep.
He told me to try to connect the amp directly to the wall because Dan recommends that.
I use the darTZeel CTH-8550MK2 that is not a power hungry but i like to listen music loud, one of the reasons because I’m considering change the amp for the Dan Agostino Momento power stereo.
This afternoon I’ll try to change the power connection from the filter to the wall.
I changed the integrated’s power connection to plug directly into the wall, and I’m keeping it that way, the sound improved a lot. I do notice a slight loss in bass weight, but everything else is simply more “right”: more refined, coherent, and natural. No fatigue listening for hours.
I’m also running a REL S/812 with IsoAcoustics footers and I added IsoAcoustics to my Wilson Audio Alexia 2 as well. I’m happier than ever: I don’t feel I’m missing anything, and I’m listening at lower levels without losing engagement.
The D’Agostino power amp is now off the table. I’ve basically reached my audio nirvana (well… almost ). I might still upgrade the DAC to a dCS Rossini with clock to see how far I can push the rest of the system, i don’t have space for the Vivaldi stack.
I think Dan D’Agostino’s advice makes a lot of sense, especially for customers who may not be too familiar with electrical details. Many power strips or “conditioners” are built with thin internal wiring, mediocre sockets, or are simply not rated for continuous >10A current draw. In other cases, the filters inside (EMI, DC block, digital noise suppression, RF filtering…) can actually choke current delivery if they are not designed properly.
Now, consider that most D’Agostino amps use very large transformers – often above 2000VA – together with large capacitor banks and well-engineered internal filtering. In that scenario, plugging such an amplifier into the wrong type of conditioner or strip may bring more drawbacks than benefits.
A large transformer also means very high inrush current on startup, as well as high peak current demands during playback. If the external filter/strip isn’t designed for that, it can heat up, add unwanted impedance, or even limit dynamic headroom.
From my own experience:
Even with a Stromtank S5000 (2500VA transformer), I wouldn’t say it’s always advantageous with big power amps. The Stromtank’s battery mode can be beneficial thanks to its instantaneous current and low internal resistance, but otherwise I’d only recommend Stromtank for source components (CDP, preamp, DAC, clock). For power amps, stick to battery mode if you go that route.
In my setup, I use a regenerated supply from batteries with a 5kVA transformer feeding a D’Agostino power amplifier with a 2200VA transformer. I’d call that just “sufficient.”
With mono blocks like the Momentum M550, I plug them straight into a custom wall distribution line rated >25A, which I consider the safest and most effective option.
So in short: the recommendation is not unique to D’Agostino designs, but applies to most high-power amplifiers. The key is whether the conditioner/strip is truly engineered to handle large instantaneous currents without adding impedance. Otherwise, a direct wall connection is the better path.
In further support of @ngxant’s comment, Boulder gives the same recommendation for its amplifiers–and also advises not to change the power cable–at least for the more powerful amps.
The Boulder 2160 is 600W per channel (at 8 ohms), and comes with this Thor-sized receptor (!)
I decided to check the Gryphon Antileon EVO manual since Gryphon also makes some high powered, well-reviewed amplifiers. This is what Gryphon says:
“We do not recommend the use of any kind of power line conditioning with the Antileon EVO. Due to the EVO´s high AC power demand power conditioners are subject to major failure or saturation that at best are destroying the amplifiers working condition.”
I assume this will be the case for their more powerful amplifiers as well.
). I might still upgrade the DAC to a dCS Rossini with clock to see how far I can push the rest of the system, i don’t have space for the Vivaldi stack.
