Axe-Fx III power conditioner or voltage regulator?

Kuceracrew

Member
Expecting my Axe-Fx III to be delivered this week and I’m getting some rack stuff setup. I haven’t been able to find much talk about recommended rack mounted power conditioners or voltage regulators for the III. I’m based in the U.S. so this would not involve gigging overseas. I’ve looked at several Furman products and I’m leaning toward the
M-8X AR. Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
 
@Kuceracrew, welcome the the Axe community!

Regarding “power conditioners”, many of the cheaper consumer grade so called power conditioners do little if anything to actually condition power. Yes, the documentation will make it look like the do, but if you look at the specs they do not.

These units provide some form of surge protection, but again the devil is in the details. These units have a limit to the amount of voltage they can suppress. Different unit have different levels of protection. Also how they provide surge protection is important too. Do they have a breaker or does the device sacrifice itself?

Here is the thing: power conditioning is sold as helping to keep noise out of connected devices. Most high end electronics today have Noise filtering built in as an integral part of the power transformer. So the other main function of power conditioning is to provide consistent voltage to eliminate voltage spikes and dips.

I use a commercial grade TrippLite that was not cheap. It can suppress a lightning voltage surge, has a resettable breaker, provides consistent voltage, and has circuits that are physically isolated from your electrical system.

Just be aware of what you get. There is a lot of marketing speak around “power conditioners”. Do a little research and you should be fine.
 
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I had a Furman AR-15 Voltage Regulator for my whole rack . Use to play block parties and other informal gigs that got their power from some unreliable sources . It protected against over and under voltage conditions well . Took it out a while back since not doing those types of gigs as much anymore . The AxeFx and Matrix GT1000 I'm using for some years now appear very stable . As Cooper stated my back also thanks me .
 
I'm in Florida and a Power Conditioner or UPS (battery backup) is a must. Not only does the voltage fluctuate continuously from 100 to over 120 volts because of non regulated power, the brown outs accelerate during storm season.
 
I use the AR-1215. I had my 24 space rack go down on stage in the early 90s, never again.
 
@ccroyalsenders I think the value add of “power conditioners” is surge protection and perhaps over/under voltage management. I would rather fry a “power conditioner” than an Axe FX.
Again, as it has been stated many, many times on this forum, the vast majority of power conditioners are very cheaply made and will fry long before the Axe in a surge situation. But it's your money. Do whatever you want with it.
 
Keep in mind that most “conditioners” are basically just $9.99 power strips in rack format. Useful for plugging in multiple things, but they aren’t doing much else. Real voltage regulation devices are cool, but aren’t cheap and weigh a ton. People often seem confused between the two.

That said, I have a cheap Furman in my rack, basically just so I can have a single plug and my wireless etc all runs off it. No great “protection” but that’s not really what I wanted or needed.
 
As has been said, it’s your money, both for the Axe Fx and the power.

I have personally watched bad power smoke my fellow guitarist’s Mesa rig, while my power supply shut down the overpower that was mistakenly applied to the circuit. Reset the unit, and I (along with the three keyboards connected to my supply) were back up once power was corrected. My buddy got to play out the night on a Roland keyboard amp. A fate worse than parting with a couple of hundred bucks. I saw the smoke from across the stage and no one is going to convince me to not use power protection for gigs I am contracted to make music for, not excuses. It’s a matter of professionalism to me.

Furman PL-Pro DMC for me, AR-1215 for band mixer. You may never need it, like car and home insurance. If you play professionally, especially outdoors or on generator power, I would (and do) have a quality supply of power. Again, it’s your call.
 
I run a Furman P1800-AR power conditioner/regulator which is highly rated. New they run $1200 but I picked up a used one on eBay last week for $430 shipped.
 
It really depends. For the Marshalls models id use a really good conditioner because the tubes somehow draw more power and are more sensitive to power fluctuations . But when im using the model of the JC i would dare not using a conditioner at all because its solid state. Also if you have more than 1 amp block in a preset put the AxeFx in standby when not playing as it gets really hot.
 
I use a Rockn Stompn RS-4, with a footswitch to turn off and on. it's a sequential power supply, so never again a loud pop out of my monitors. Also has surge protection for what it's worth.
 
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Again, as it has been stated many, many times on this forum, the vast majority of power conditioners are very cheaply made and will fry long before the Axe in a surge situation. But it's your money. Do whatever you want with it.
This is the crux of it: your cheap Furman may fry, but what happens with the excess voltage? In cheap units the joule rating is so low that it is very possible for significant voltage to make it past the fried Furman to connected devices.

I live in Temple Terrace, Florida which is referred to as “the lightning capital of the US”. I have had 2 amps fried by lightning strikes that were powered off and connected to cheap Furman units - even though everything was powered down. For some reason lightning in our area really likes transformers.

On the flip side, I have lost a TrippLite to lightning strike but everything connected to it was spared... because I intentionally bought a unit that could offer surge protection for lightning strikes. That $350 TrippLite was worth every penny I paid for it.

The repair costs for a lightning damaged amp far exceeds the cost of a good power unit. I can tell you that from first hand experience.
 
This is the crux of it: your cheap Furman may fry, but what happens with the excess voltage? In cheap units the joule rating is so low that it is very possible for significant voltage to make it past the fried Furman to connected devices.

I live in Temple Terrace, Florida which is referred to as “the lightning capital of the US”. I have had 2 amps fried by lightning strikes that were powered off and connected to cheap Furman units -

Not all folks buy the cheap Furmans however.

I live in "brown-out" city, where during storm season power goes out frequently and right before we usually get lasting severe low-voltage situations. All my gear in the house is on a good (meaning more than a sacrificial diode-type) protection from that nonsense.

The AxeFx 3 and Matrix sits with a Furman PL+ DLC. I can see voltage, current draw and no diodes. Superfast shutdown. It's not a "power conditioner", but that's not it's intent.
 
I recently got a Furman AC-215A, found a sale price at $110. Their marketing made it look pretty good. I don't know if it would save me in a lighting strike or not? I just lost a UPC at home last week. I knew it was storming and had all my gear unplugged, so I don't know how the gear would have faired. Also lost my furnace... well so far I know the stepdown transformer is shot, hoping that's not all.

I may or may not mount my AC-215A in the rack, but I certainly will at least carry it in the car especially in Spring an early Summer.

Lighting is powerful to be sure.
 
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