TESTED: Running Springs Audio Dmitri AC Power Conditioner

No Tradeoffs

June 29th, 2009 -- by Robert Harley
Source: The Absolute Sound

Products in this article:

Running Springs Audio
1800 E. Via Burton
Anaheim, CA 92806
(714) 765-8200
www.runningspringsaudio.com

Associated Components

Wilson Alexandria X-2 Series 2 loudspeakers; Basis 2800 Signature turntable with Basis Vector 4 tonearm, Dynavector XV-1S cartridge, Aesthetix Rhea phonostage; PC-based music server (built by Goodwin’s High-End), Spectral SDR-4000 Pro CD player, Classé CDP-502 CD/DVD-A player, Sony SCD-9000ES SACD player; Spectral DMC-30SS and Pass Labs XP20 preamplifier; Spectral DMA-360 and Pass Labs XA100.5 power amplifiers; MIT Oracle MA interconnects; MIT Oracle MA loudspeaker cables; Shunyata Hydra-8, Hydra-2, and V-Ray AC conditioners, Shunyata Anaconda and Python AC cables; Shunyata Dark Field cable elevators; room custom designed and built, acoustic design and computer modeling by Norm Varney of AV Room Service, acoustic treatment and installation by Acoustic Room Systems (now part of CinemaTech)

Comments

SLG (not verified) -- Thu, 07/02/2009 - 10:43

Nice to see a formal review of Running Springs gear. Would have been most helpful to hear how the Dimitri sounded versus the Shunyata Hydra 8 and/or V-Ray since many people are familiar with or own those conditioners.

Robert Harley -- Thu, 07/02/2009 - 11:09

I didn't compare the Running Springs with the Shunyata because Shunyata was just at the transition of introducing their new Series 2 products, along with the CX-series of power cords. It didn't seem appropriate to compare the Running Springs with the soon-to-be-discontinued Shunyata.

Hywel G. Philippart (not verified) -- Thu, 07/02/2009 - 14:40

Sorry if i sound like a miserable curmudgeon, but the fact that a power "conditioning" device has such a marked influence on how a "high end" system sounds, reflects badly designed power supplies in the audio equipment, and or a real rubbish mains power feed. Before running out and dropping 5K on a black box, why not rent a power analyser for 100$ a day and find out if there is a problem, what the problem is, and where the problem originates.
There's no point adding a power conditioner with common parallell outputs when the problem is downstream (after the conditioner) If you have a device kicking out RFI, clicks, and messed up power harmonics, then that will be fed to all other devices in the system, negating the benefit of a common conditioner.
As a studio and touring sound technician I've had to resolve more problems that were caused by incorrectly specified power conditioners, than use power conditioners to resolve a problem.
If you want to ensure your mains power is to spec, then contact a consulting engineer who specialises in precision power systems. The cost will be moderate, and if there is a problem he or she will be able to design a corrective scheme which you can get your local electrical contractor to install.
Sometimes just having a rant at your electrical utility can solve the problem, as long as it's proven to be their responsability.
Regards
Hywel

I wonder (not verified) -- Fri, 07/03/2009 - 13:11

"There's no point adding a power conditioner with common parallell outputs when the problem is downstream (after the conditioner) If you have a device kicking out RFI, clicks, and messed up power harmonics, then that will be fed to all other devices in the system, negating the benefit of a common conditioner."

Hywel,
That's the advantage of the RSA products (at least from what I surmised from this article) is that each outlet has it's own separate conditioning - this prevents cross contamination from components to others also hooked up to the RSA conditioner. Could someone with more knowledge about the RSA guts comment on this point?

Dave (not verified) -- Fri, 07/03/2009 - 14:52

Robert, any comment on how the Dmitri compares to the Synergistic Tesla Powercell SE? These are the two conditioners I'm most interested in.

TubeMaster (not verified) -- Sat, 07/04/2009 - 09:28

Why not compare? This is routine. Many reviewers compare their long time references, which they know intimately, and are no longer in production, to new products? Im puzzled why this is not appropriate.
And now that you have the new Shunyata products for eventual evaluation, and if you like thier new conditioner better..will you have a NEW NEW reference?
I think that is a fair question.