Description and Build Quality

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.

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.