GIGAWATT PC-3 SE EVO+ POWER CONDITIONER

CONSTRUCTION

All internal elements of the conditioner were enclosed in a rigid, steel-aluminum chassis, supported on anti-vibration feet made from solid, anodized aluminium, with a layer of proprietary elastomer 3.5mm thick.

To minimize the vibration passed on the conditioner, the whole chassis is additionally damped with a bitumen-polymer composite mat.

The front panel of the conditioner is made from a thick slab of aviation grade aluminium. Its surface is brushed, after precision milling, and then anodized black or silver.

The PC-3 SE EVO+ has six, high quality proprietary GigaWatt power sockets, with large surface contacts. The brass contacts of the sockets were subdued to the process of technical silver plating without the usage of intermediate metals, like copper or nickel, which could introduce an unfavourable serial resistance and a voltage loss. The increased surface of the contacts and the thick layer of silver guarantee good contact with the plug pins. The sockets were additionally cryogenically modified and de-magnetized.

In the central part of the front, there is an LED display indicating the voltage of the input current. The precise voltmeter is very resistant to distortion and measurement errors caused by upper harmonics, at the same time not generating any interference, which would impair the quality of the power filtered by the conditioner.

The voltmeter display is red as standard but is available in green, blue or white on demand.

The conditioner is also equipped with an additional circuit signalling the wrong connection to the power grid. Its action is indicated by a red LED on the back of the unit, which signals the wrong polarity of the device or faulty grounding.

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

The conditioner PC-3 SE EVO+ is equipped with multistage parallel filters. Three, independent filtering branches, which supply three sections, are composed of two output sockets each. Due to this solution, the kind of filtering was adjusted for the load it has, different for each type of device – digital, analog or high current devices. Autonomous passive filters allow for isolation from interference produced by the devices connected together via a shared power line.

The PC-3 SE EVO+ is based on a novel filtering architecture and uses new components. The main novelties are the anti-interference capacitors and the compensation batteries for the buffering circuits, which are manufactured by the company Miflex, according to GigaWatt specification.

In the PC-3 SE EVO+ an innovative, two-stage current distribution system is used, a proprietary design of our company. It is based on massive third generation distribution rails, made from polished slabs of oxygen-free copper OFHCC 10100 with 99.995% purity. The first stage allows for lossless and even distribution of voltage to each of the filtering branches. The second stage provides current directly to each pair of output sockets via bolted and clamped connections as well as cabling with conductors with 4 QMM cross-section made from oxygen-free copper isolated with FEP Teflon. The star connection topology and high conductance combined with the 30 QMM cross-section of each of the rails allow for a uniform and stable power distribution regardless of the load on the individual outputs of the conditioner.

Due to the improved efficiency of the filtering circuits, they were mounted using silver solder on massive PCBs having eight times the amount of copper compared to standard PCBs. The dual layer PCBs have very wide traces made from silver plated copper, with a thickness of 280 micrometres. The interference is damped by filtering blocs of RLC type, built around proprietary Audio Grade capacitors and Super-MSS (Sendust) core filters.

In the conditioner, there are no traditional protective elements, like thermal or blow fuses, which throttled the free flow of the current have a negative influence on the sound. The surge protection of the conditioner is provided by the starting block, which utilizes plasma spark-gaps, UltraMOV new generation varistors and an initial filter. Overload protection is provided by a hydraulic-magnetic switch from Carling Technologies, made in the USA to a special specification from GigaWatt. This element controls the amount of current flowing through the internal circuits and additionally serves as the unit’s main power switch. All those elements working together with a well-made, contemporary power grid, guarantee a complex protection against surges and overcurrent.

To allow for the maximum impulse response, the PC-3 SE EVO+ is equipped with a double buffer circuit with Audio Grade compensation batteries, a proprietary design. The circuit increases the current output with non-linear loads, like power amplifiers, as well as eliminates the difference of power between the input and output of the conditioner. This allows for almost unlimited impulse capabilities, unheard of in other passive conditioners and not reachable for active conditioners. The impulse capabilities of the PC-3 SE EVO+ surpass even the values of a clean power line without any devices connected to it.