Skip to main content

Torus Blog

By October 20, 2020Anthony's Blog

“Did You Just Buy A New TV?”

…or, Why You Need A Torus Power Conditioner

 

Can a product actually be “…too good for its own good?” Sometimes, a component does its job so well, it’s possible to take it for granted. Case in point: Torus. Torus line conditioners are among the highest-performance brands SSV represents but, because they never call attention to themselves, it’s easy to forget about them.

I’m ashamed to admit that Torus has occasionally slipped my mind, even though I have FOUR of their units supplying perfect power to my various audio and theater systems, with never so much as a hiccup out of any of them. It took a visit to one of my dealers to remind me of just how much of a difference Torus Power products can make.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Craig and Elena Abitz of Installation Specialties in Albertson, NY. Craig has been a long-time supporter of both SSV and Torus. He told me that, recently, he upgraded a loyal client’s system with a Torus unit. When the customer’s wife came home, he and Craig were watching a movie. She stopped, looked for a couple of minutes and asked: “Did you just buy a new TV?” He hadn’t. The simple act of plugging the television into a Torus Power product had profoundly improved its image quality. That story drove home just how impressive Torus Power Conditioners truly are.

More than a decade ago, when SSV represented another (now defunct) brand of power conditioners, one of my most technical—and skeptical—dealers proclaimed their product “…a black box filled with snake oil.” I have to agree that many power products offer dubious performance claims which cannot be supported, either by measurements or technical specifications. No one will ever accuse Torus of such pseudo-science: the company’s technology is both straightforward and unimpeachable.

It is also expensive. The lowest-priced Torus model—suitable for a couple of low-amperage source components—retails for $799, while Torus’ largest and most sophisticated units flirt with $28K. The reason they’re pricey? You can’t cheat physics. The “Core” (pun intended) of every Torus product is an oversized, over-spec-ed and overweight toroidal transformer engineered and manufactured by Torus, the most capable of which weighs over 600 pounds. These pricey transformers are the only universally accepted means of lowering noise, eliminating ground loops and protecting electronics from power surges, voltage spikes and more catastrophic power problems without introducing problems of their own. No snake oil here!

Further proof of their technical “Chops,” Torus is managed by a team of engineers who, upon request, often help design and specify power systems for their clients of whom are recording studios. These enterprises are notoriously frugal, yet they seek Torus’ engineering expertise for one reason: they deliver results.

Whether it’s cabling, resonance control or power conditioners, the “Accessory” category, more than any other, is rife with products and manufacturers whose performance claims can’t be proven; however, it would be unfortunate, as well as incorrect, to assume that all accessories are snake oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems) resonance control products and Straight Wire cables—both of which are proudly represented by SSV—deliver the goods in terms of manufacturing, materials and measurements. In the category of power conditioning, Torus reigns supreme. Let us show you why.