Industrial isolation transformer for audio use?

Power Components
1

Does anyone have experience using one of these to isolate AC power for audio component use?

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assume you’d go 240 to 120. It would be real isolation. Would it matter……

btw, not 100% sure how I’d ground that circuit….bonding jumper where?

3

It would be 120v to 120v. Just a simple isolation transformer. I’m not sure what improvements if any would show up in the downstream equipment.

I am thinking a 5 kva would supply plenty of reserve capacity (with isolation from the mains) for stereo gear but my knowledge about all things electrical is pretty basic and limited.

I dont know about the grounding either. It’s outside my area of expertise.

4

Go as big as you can afford. I guess for audio applications, at least 10x in kVA what’d be normally considered needed is the way to go if possible. I don’t rightly know to say what that’d be in numbers, just go as big as you can.
With an isolation transformer you might also want to consider balanced mains. Here there’s for 120V, -60V on one leg and +60V on the other, with the ground connected to the center tap of an isolation transformer. The benefit is common-mode noise rejection, kind of like we have with XLR.

5

Thanks and Happy Cake Day.
Obviously I only have basic knowledge about electricity and electronics. I do have a couple of these multi tap machine transformers in my warehouse which got me to thinking about the possibility of using one for audio gear.

6

These devices (as well as mains filters) should be used in situations where disturbances generated by the electrical mains are detected which are detrimental to the quality of the reproduced sound. If there are no particular problems it is better to avoid them, they could make the situation worse. The situation is different for regenerators, such as the PS Audio ones which take the current from the home electrical system and generate from scratch a new AC alternating current that is very clean, safe, protected, regulated and perfectly stable.

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7

Thanks!.
I have 5 of the regenerators so plenty of good things to say about them.

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8

As mentioned yes you should definitively have measurements taken. You could ask a professional to measure your AC up to the RF range, so that’d be with an oscilloscope also.
Regenerators don’t act as good noise filters and aren’t meant for it either. Having both a big isolation transformer and regenerator(s) would provide all benefits if really needed.

What kind of area do you live in is a factor.

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