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Furman Elite-15 Power Filter Review

Name: Elite-15 Power Filter
Brand: Furman
SKU: not available
Rating: 4.0 (1 reviews)

by Ray Adkins — October 01, 2006

Furman Elite-15 Power Filter

Product Name: Elite-15 Power Filter
Manufacturer: Furman
Performance Rating:
Value Rating:
Review Date: October 01, 2006 19:00
MSRP: $ 299

Specifications

AC Current Capacity:
Input - 15 Amp capacity required
Output - 11-15 Amps RMS (maximum, all outlets combined - continuous)

Linear Noise Attenuation:
Transverse (Differential) Mode:
> 40 dB from 10Khz. - 100 kHz. >80 dB from 2 Khz. - 100 kHz. – 1GHz.
(Linear attenuation curve from 0.05 – 100 ohms line impedance)

Outlets:
1 (linearly filtered outlet - front panel)
2 (linearly filtered outlet - rear panel)
4 (linearly filtered outlets with additional ultrasonic filtering for digital or video components)

Transient Voltage Surge Suppression:
120 VAC - Series Multi-Stage Protection - Non-Sacrificial with Zero Ground Contamination.
Extreme Voltage Shutdown
Telco
Cable / Satellite (less than .1dB insertion loss)

Dimensions:
2.15” H x 17” W x 14.75” D (Standard 1 RU height without feet)

Weight:
11 lbs.

Power Consumption:
6 Watts for display and control circuits independent of actual load.

Safety Agency Listing:
NRTL-C

Warranty:
The Furman Elite-15 is protected by a three year limited warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship. (see manual for details)

Pros

Excellent, Highly Engineered Build Quality
Non Self Sacrificing Surge Protection
High Bandwidth Satellite/Cable Connection
Pull-out LED rack lights are convenient
3-Year Warranty
Great value

Cons

May not have enough outlets for bigger home theater systems
No amplifier triggers
No voltage regulation

Description and Build Quality

Being addicted to audio, video and home theater is a life long habit for which there is no cure. Once you get a taste, you are officially part of the audio/videophile habitual users' club. Being hopelessly addicted, you now spend countless hours thinking of ways to improve your system. Spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on the next piece of gear to improve your system, you finally reach the point of diminishing returns. All is well until the first power surge or lightning storm turns your A/V masterpiece into something that more resembles abstract art.

Looking behind the rack you finally realize that you have spent gobs of hard earned cash on your A/V gear and $10.99 at you local department store for the power strip that it's all connected to. This is very common because many refuse to see any practical benefit in spending money on something that does nothing more than seemingly occupy a rack space. Let me ask you this, would you drive your new car without insurance? Well, of course not! So, why then does it make any sense to spend all that money on A/V gear and not provide it with any protection? The answer to this is simple. There is so much misinformation and confusion regarding surge suppression, line conditioning, and voltage stabilization that many just become confused and overwhelmed. Many manufacturers have marketing slogans like clean power, pure power, and stable power, but is this really what we are going to get if we decide to purchase one of these power centers? In some rare cases, the answer to this is yes but only if you have a huge budget to spend on a power line conditioner. What about those who have only a small budget? Can the lower priced power centers really be of any benefit to our A/V systems?

Description

There are many lower priced power centers and line conditioners available today; the trick is to find one that offers maximum protection and performance for the dollars spent. Furman is a manufacturer with over thirty years experience building A/C power products and has recently introduced a cost effective feature packed line of power centers named Elite. The Elite-15 is the entry level model in the line. The Elite-15 is not a slick glossy box with fancy face plate and logo, rather Furman decided that performance and build quality outweighs aesthetic concerns. Don't get us wrong, the Elite-15 is an attractive power center that has its beauty on the inside where it counts. The front face plate is constructed of brushed machine aluminum. A very easy to read LED line voltage meter is located in the center of the face plate. Two pull out LED lights are housed on either side of the LED meter, this is a very nice feature to have when you need to light up your rack. On the right side of the Elite-15 face plate is a switched outlet and the 15 amp On/Off switch. Looking at the right side of the Elite-15 you can see the extreme voltage protection LED indicator, protection OK LED indicator and the dimmer knob for the pull out rack lights.

Looking at the back of the Elite-15 there are two pairs of outlets labeled "Video" and one set labeled "Audio", three satellite/cable surge suppressor inputs and outputs and one telephone input/output. The six foot power cord is constructed of 14/3 gauge wire.

Build Quality

I told you previously that the beauty of the Elite-15 lies in its build quality and features. Many glamorized line conditioners are nothing more than a fancy box with not much inside, this is not the case with the Elite-15. This little line conditioner is built like a tank. Taking another look at the back of the Elite-15, the outlets are industrial grade and are very high quality; this one feature is most often neglected. Providing an outlet that has the grabbing strength to hold heavy power cords from amplifiers is very important. We have found that many manufacturers that produce line conditioners and power centers often install outlets with insufficient quality. The end result over time is the heavy power cord becomes slightly dislodged and there is a break or intermittent contact with the hot or neutral blade or the ground post on the power cord. When this happens, it is very likely that a hum or buzz will occur in the system.

Removing the top cover revealed the true beauty of the Elite-15 . The first thing we noted was the power switch actually does double duty. Not only is it used to turn the Elite-15 On/Off but it is also a very high quality 15 amp circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is non-thermal, meaning it is not temperature sensitive. Many manufacturers install inferior thermal type circuit breakers in their line conditioners. These breakers are not as accurate as the one found on the Elite-15 because they are temperature sensitive. The power switch/breaker has a feature called "soft start". When the switch is toggled to the On position a relay is triggered for a delayed power up. This helps to prevent damaging components by minimizing large InRush transient currents when powering up multiple devices. The large toroidal inductor located toward the rear of the chassis is used for surge suppression. The Elite-15 constantly monitors incoming line voltage for an over voltage. If a spike occurs in the incoming voltage that lasts more that 4 milliseconds the extreme voltage protection is engaged and all power is turned off to the outlets. We were midly disappointed that this product didn't include voltage regulation like one of its competitors do at this price point. However, the Elite-15 separates itself from many line conditioners at this price point because it is non-sacrificing. This means that the Elite- 15 can take many extreme voltage spikes and live to protect your equipment over and over again.

The Elite-15 has excellent RF/EMI filtering capabilities with linear noise attenuation of 40dB from 10 KHz-100 KHz and 80 dB from 100 KHz-1 GHz. The switched outlet on the front and the two outlets on the back of the Elite-15 labeled audio all receive linear filtering. The four outlets on the back of the Elite-15 labeled video get linear filter and additional ultrasonic filtering. Analog devices such as Amplifiers should be connected to the audio outlets. Digital devices such as DVD players, processors and digital display devices should be connected to the outlets labeled video. All high voltage wiring from the plug to the outlets is 14 AWG. One Ferrite core is installed on the hot wire lead of the outlets All the spade connectors are soldered rather than crimped to provide a sturdy connection point at the over voltage/ filtering board.

The Elite-15's satellite/cable surge suppressors are gas discharge tube type providing high bandwidth pass-through while maintaining a high level of protection. The "F" style connection is also a floating ground connector. Separate power transformers are used to supply power to the rack lights and power indicator meter, one for the rack lights and one for the power indicator meter. This insures isolation and prevents any interference ingress to the outlets or filtering board. Contact switches are used at the end of the rack light tubes to turn the rack lights On/Off. The Elite-15's build quality, fit, finish, and components used in its construction are excellent. The electronic component layout inside the chassis and the clean installation of the components is exemplary.

Installation, Evaluation, and Conclusion

All of the currently manufactured power centers and line conditioners on the market today have boisterous marketing claims. Marketing slogans vary from the manufacturers; some are more ambitious than others. Furman indicates that using the Elite-15 in your system will improve audio and video. The claim is that your audio will be more focused and sound clearer. The video will be crisper, colors will be more vibrant, and gray scale tracking will be better with the implementation of the Elite-15..

Preparing for the listening and video evaluation we plugged our audio and video components into the Elite-15 .We plugged our Yamaha RX-V4600 A/V receiver, Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player and Sharp DT-400 DLP projector into the outlets labeled video. We conducted the audio and video evaluations with the Elite-15 in the system first. Next, we plugged all of the components directly into the wall outlet without the line conditioner and re-conducted the evaluation. Obviously, part of this evaluation is non scientific and is based on the subjective opinions of the reviewer.

Evaluation

Starting with video we decided to conduct the A/B evaluation using the HQV Benchmark DVD's color bar detail test, picture detail test, and noise reduction test. We also decided to use Avia's Guide to Home Theater chapter 7 resolution test.

Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test Results

720p unconverted DVD with Elite-15 installed in system

Test	Max Points	Component 480i	Component PassFail
Color Bar	10	10	Pass
Detail	10	10	Pass
Noise Reduction	10	5	Pass
Total Points	30	25

720p unconverted DVD with all audio/video components plugged directly into wall outlet

Test	Max Points	Component 480i	Component PassFail
Color Bar	10	10	Pass
Detail	10	10	Pass
Noise Reduction	10	5	Pass
Total Points	30	2

We conducted the HQV Benchmark test several times; the test results we obtained both scientifically and subjectively were exactly the same. At no time during the evaluation did we notice that the picture quality was improved with the Elite-15 installed in the system. Color Bar, Detail, and Noise Reduction looked exactly the same on both evaluations. It was very hard to conduct this test because we had to evaluate, make notes then disconnect power and re-evaluate. We conducted the test many times and we are confident that our subjective testing is accurate.

Moving to the next evaluation we loaded Avia Guide to Home Theater into our Toshiba HD-A1 DVD player and selected chapter 7-resolution test. With the unconverted 720p resolution 100 TVL image displayed on our screen, we dissected the image looking carefully at all the line structure and vertical/ horizontal resolution wedges. Making both mental and written notes we unplugged all of the components from the Elite-15 and re-conducted the evaluation with the components plugged directly into the wall outlet. Once again, we viewed no significant differences in any of the line structure, burst patterns and horizontal/vertical resolution wedges with or without the Elite-15 installed in the system.

Subjective DVD Evaluation

We decided to try a subjective audio/video evaluation using the pristine near flawless HD DVD, The Chronicles of Riddick. This HD-DVD has near flawless reference video quality. The Dolby Digital + and DTS sound track are awesome to say the least. Once again, we selected a chapter from the DVD and evaluated our systems' performance, first with all components plugged into the Elite-15 and then re-conducting the evaluation with all components plugged directly into the wall outlet.

We selected chapter eight, The Lord Marshal's Offer because this chapter has a lot of dialog and dialog mixed with music. We believed that this type of material would make the subjective evaluation comparisons easier to conduct. As the Lord Marshal is convincing the recruits to convert, we paid very close attention to the dialog emanating from the center channel. We also listened very carefully to the mixed dialog/music that is reproduced in the front left and right channel. Viewing the near static images in this particular scene we noticed the absolute pristine detail in the Lord Marshals intimidating armor.

We replayed this chapter many times with all of our equipment plugged into the Elite-15 making both mental and written notes of audio and video quality as we conducted the evaluation. Disconnecting all of our components from the Elite-15 and plugging them directly into the wall outlet we re-conducted the subjective test and compared our notes. Our notes confirmed that we were unable to view or hear any significant difference in the audio or video presentation. We found that audio and video performance did not improve with the implementation of the Elite-15 . Based on our evaluation tests we must conclude that in our system the marketing literature stating "Far clearer, stunningly focused sound and video from your system" "Better gray scale tracking, improved depth, and clarity" did not pan out in our system.

We decided to conduct one more evaluation to test the filtering capabilities of the Elite-15 . One of our circuits in the family room has noise issues caused from various appliances connected to the circuit. If we use the outlet to power an amplifier, it will produce a significant audible hum in the speaker system. We decided to connect the amplifiers power cord to the Elite-15 and then plug the Elite-15 into the noisy outlet and conduct an A/B test. We found that when the amplifier was plugged into the Elite-15, the hum was attenuated slightly. This appears to indicate that filtering is occurring between the wall outlet and the Elite-15's outlet. The filtering performance of the Elite-15 cannot fully resolve ground loop or high level RF interference and should not be considered a fix for these complex problems. For information regarding ground loops and elimination of system hum or buzz please read this Audioholics' article on Ground Loops - Eliminating System Hum and Buzz

The Elite-15 has three satellite/cable coax "F" style input and output connectors. These connections are sacrificing. This means that if an extreme voltage spike occurs on the cable connected to these, the input may be sacrificed to protect equipment down the line. Furman indicates that if this happens the Elite-15 can be returned to the factory for repair. The inputs and outputs have a very high bandwidth specification of 0.1db loss @ 1 GHz. We connected our Direct TV H-10 HDTV satellite receiver to the inputs and viewed HDTV programming at 720p resolution. We noticed no signal degradation in the image while we were using the connection. One telephone connection is also provided on the Elite-15. This connection is also a sacrificing connection that may sacrifice to protect equipment down the line in extreme conditions.

Conclusion

The Furman Elite-15 has quality where it counts and is an outstanding power center/surge suppressor. High quality electronic parts are used throughout its construction. Fit, finish, chassis layout, and overall engineering are outstanding. The Elite-15 did not quite live up to its marketing literature for improving system performance, but none of the other line conditioners at this price do either. Also note that our power going to the dedicated theater room is likely better than most consumers setups since they are fully dedicated lines. The Elite-15 is a compact power center that won't take up much rack space and will make power cord termination easy and neat. This little power center will protect your equipment and not sacrifice itself doing so and that is the most important part of any power protection product.

The pull out dimmable rack lights are very convenient and the large easy to read voltage meter isn't distractive. Furman has a long, highly regarded reputation for supplying high quality power protection and line conditioning products to the electronics industry. After reviewing the Elite-15, we believe that reputation is highly deserved. If you are looking for a compact well designed power center that doesn't break the bank we encourage you to check out the Furman Elite-15.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

— Excellent
— Very Good
— Good
— Fair
— Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Features
Performance
Value

Like This? Check out our other Power Conditioner Reviews!

About the author:

RLA Home Theater and Hi-Fi began as a hobby and has expanded into a business. Ray took his love of music and movies and turned it into his personal business to bring movie theater sound and quality into the homes of his customers. Ray brought great knowledge and expertise to us from a custom installer/integrator's perspective.

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