Blue Circle Audio Peed Al Sea Thingee (Power Line Conditioner)/Yalo Bulala (surge pr)

[Johk]

Hi,

I recently installed a separate dedicated 20A line for my amps (XPA-2, XPA-3 and the subwoofers' amps) in order to have enough juice for them and to connect my other equipment (display, pre and sources) on the separate 15 A line.

So now I was looking for a non-current limiting power line conditioner and surge protector and preferably a 20A one since the amps are stated to need something like 10A each (well I'm sure I will never draw that much since my speakers are an easy load, but I prefer to have more than barely enough).

So after a couple of days looking at products on the net (PS Audio, Shunyata, Richard Gray, Furman, Panamax, APC, Tripplite, Belkin, etc.), I stumbled upon the Blue Circle Audio Peed Al Sea Thingee a.k.a. PLC Thingee which is a power line conditioner (as in PLC, I don't know much about the weird names but anyway) scaled down from their BC6000 recording reference standard ac powerline filter and conditioner. The PLC Thingee is housed in a silicone filled 4" PVC pipe and looks not that good (the WAF is not big on this one) but the good thing about it, is the price which is IMO really good. Reading the reviews from Affordable Audio (August 09 issue, p.8) and Goodsound!, I was willing to give it a try.

Now the other side, the PLC Thingee has no surge protection and it is not a 20A unit. Regarding surge protection, plugging a Yalo Bulala (yeah I think I spelled it correctly) in the PLC Thingee (or on the same circuit) deals with spikes and surges with TVS avalanche diodes (for the spikes) and MOV (sacrificial for the surges). The Yalo B. looks worse than the PLC Thingee but the price is right. So that got the surge protection covered. As for having a 20A unit, I emailed Blue Circle Audio and they say they can make a 20A version of the unit.

So I guess I'm all covered... Now I'm waiting for the price for the 20A version but I'm seriously thinking about taking the plunge with this.

If anybody has experience with these, I would be grateful for your comments. If not, I will most probably order it and report back with my impressions. I'm not expected day and night difference but I'm hoping to get protection for my gear and ensure that they are not limited by the conditioner.

I currently have an APC H10 conditioner that I'm using for the PS3, display, receiver and cable box and I have a APC C5 which I currently use for the amps (but it only has two sockets for High current applications).

(p.s. I do not work for any of the companies referred... So I'm not doing publicity, I just want to share my experience and I think some people will be interested in reading about it).