Line conditioner

[Muse]

I was reading an owner review of a component I have had for almost 15 years, a 301 disk CD player, the Pioneer PD-F1007. I'm reading reviews because I just bought a 2nd one of these used off Ebay, in transit from FL to CA (my fingers are crossed!). I plan to link the two for 602 CD playback, will see how that goes.

Well, the knock on the unit, the main one, is that they lose memory. You can program favorites, lists, groups, input artist and title via keys on the remote (doesn't support keyboard input ). But losing memory makes those features almost worthless. I stopped depending on memory and instead rely on the unit's ability to read CD Text off the disks. This has forced me to copy scores of CDs inputting CD Text into computer software. Once done, I insert the CD Text bearing copies into the player instead of the originals. This doesn't improve the memory of groups, favorites, etc., I still don't use those features but at least the unit can pick up the artist, title and track titles when it loads any particular disk and it remembers the artist and CD title until it next loses memory. Saves me from having to enter and reenter that info using the remote control.

Well, a reviewer I just read said he thought that the units were losing memory because of dirty power that a line conditioner could fix. Here's what the guy said:

I just picked up one of these units and am looking forward to using it. I read where so many people have lost memory. I have a suggestion that even Pioneer can agree with. Get a GOOD line conditioner. You may not THINK you have dirty power, but trust me, you do. And that can cause the memory loss problem. The resistor that bleeds off voltage on the memory capacitor is tiny and any surge or dirty power can kill it. Your other equipment will also benefit from it line conditioning. I am willing to bet that this will fix most of the memory loss problems. I am not going to tell you that a line conditioner will improve the sound because my ears cannot tell a nickle's worth of difference. But they can make your unit operate BETTER and make it last longer. That is a proven fact.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/digital-sources/cd-players/pioneer/pd-f1007/prd_117080_1586crx.aspx#reviews

So, I'm wondering:

1. If he's right

2. If he is right and I get a line conditioner, is it too late to save my units from the ravages of dirty power? Or can I maybe replace that resistor and/or the capacitor it works with?

3. What's the logistics for availing myself of a line conditioner? IOW, how expensive are they, how do I get one, how do I install it? Will it last? Etc.

4. What are the other benefits of having a line conditioner? Or should I say line conditioners? I live in a two story house and there are circuit breakers, around 4 of them, I guess.

 

[Railgun]

If he's right, then show every player that is on a line conditioner that has not had the issue.

 

[Anubis]

expansive line conditioners only are really needed if you live in an area with a horrid power grid. - (lots of brown/black outs, spikes/surges/ and so on). and then you prob need one that is also a sine wave generator to give you a clean 120v 60hz signal - you would be well aware if you had such power issues as it would effect everything

for most people they are not needed and decent power strip is more then enough to protect stuff

as for what he said about the memory issue I have no idea, if hes losing power and its resetting and he put the changer on a battery backup then yes that would be correct but besides that im not sure

 

[Riverhound777]

I picked up one of these because I kept having brown outs in my condo and was worried about my equipment. No issues after getting it. It doesn't do the sine wave generation, but those are really expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003GSLL2E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

 

[smitbret]

Can't you just pick up a decent UPS and get the same thing without paying for the "image".

http://www.costco.com/CyberPower-14...le-Power-Supply-(UPS)-.product.100099657.html

I have seen and heard of this one at several B&M CostCos for 94.99.

 

[Riverhound777]

Can't you just pick up a decent UPS and get the same thing without paying for the "image".

http://www.costco.com/CyberPower-14...le-Power-Supply-(UPS)-.product.100099657.html

I have seen and heard of this one at several B&M CostCos for 94.99.

That doesn't do line conditioning. In fact, a plain UPS often actually makes the power dirtier.

 

[Thump553]

OP: I think I accomplish what you want to do at a fraction of the cost in both time, money and space. I rip every CD to FLAC (lossless and public domain). There are numerous programs to play on the computer (foobar is excellent and free), to make playlists, etc. If you can find out Logitech's Slim Server Squeezebox is an excellent device to play FLAC files over the computer-it hooks up to the stereo just like a CD player would.

I don't have to worry about mechanical devices failing and my CD collection is now one of my sets of archives.