The need for AC power conditioning became common knowledge about 30 years ago with the successful introduction of the first power conditioner products. Since that time, a myriad of offering began to occupy the market place, and the impression they gave to those who tried them was a mixed bag, leading some to think of power conditioning as a necessary evil. Not only did efficacy vary greatly between products of similar price range, many of the offerings introduced deleterious side effects such as peak compression, voice coloration, and bazaar alterations of the sound stage geometry, making product selection a murky business of tiptoeing through a minefield.
At Bella Sound, we rejected the familiar approaches to power conditioning and brought our own brand of innovation to the table. Recognizing that a power conditioner can add value to the audio system in five separate ways, we set out to achieve these with a combined technology approach.
Incoming Noise Filtration: Classic filter design has been used in power conditioners for many years. Though they can work to advantage if carefully designed, they usually react with the customer’s equipment, making them vary dependent on the external equipment they power. This is because the load equipment can detune the filters in the power conditioner at specific audio frequencies, resulting in coloration at these frequencies. At Bella Sound, we use load independent filtering, meaning that the filter performance is completely independent of the equipment being powered. There is no coloration or compromise over the entire audio frequency range, ever.
RF Interference: In a world saturated with radio, wifi, and cell phone signals, much of this RF noise can ingress through the AC grid and house wiring. If allowed to enter the audio components, performance will suffer. Bella Sound has taken steps to address this problem with damped shielding that acts to convert this noise into micro amounts of heat, alongside a formidable noise-reflecting shield that doubles as a gorgeous product package.
Inter-Component Current Loop Noise: When multiple pieces of equipment are connected together at their common AC power connections, there is inevitable noise current that passes between the respective components. Regardless of the careful design of these components, this loop current noise will find its way into the signal path and become audible. At Bella Sound, we include a copious amount of quantum noise treatment at each wire of each AC outlet. Between each powered component, at each of the three AC connection wires, loop currents must pass through two quantum purifiers (there are 27 purifiers in all). Each component in the audio system operates as if it were the only component, and this results in a substantially blacker background from which sound emerges, and a substantially more stable and cohesive sound stage.
Inter-Component Signal Leakage Coupling: Bella Sound has discovered that very small amounts of signal current leak into and out of the AC power connection wires of the various components in an audio system. When these leakage currents are left untreated, they contaminate the pristine audio signal path and degrade the listening experience. The extensive quantum purification network at the output of the Bella Sound Hana power conditioner addresses this problem and quiets its effect on the signal path, resulting in a more liquid, organic, and natural sound presentation.
Though not strictly necessary, surge protection is an asset to any power conditioner, provided that it does not affect the listening experience in any way. At Bella Sound, we use a capacitor / gas discharge tube approach first designed by John Curl. What sets this approach apart is that, while effectively protecting the user equipment, it offers absolutely no coloration or compression to the sound, unlike approaches the place protection devices in the AC current path.
Bella Sound did substantial ground work with active power conditioning, but ultimately abandoned this for the passive approach described above. The drawbacks we discovered were:
Limited efficiency (15 Amps out from a 20 Amp input line)
Noise generation (ironically, the active approach generates self-noise)
Inevitable sound coloration
Stability problems in combination with certain load equipment choices
For these reasons Bella Sound has focused on all-passive approaches. The Hana power condition is result of this decision, a design which completely addresses the need for power conditioning without introducing any of the limitations of active approaches.
Features
Material Resonance Signal Treatment, noise damping and traditional RF filtering techniques achieve unparalleled sonic efficacy in home audio playback systems
Provides an incredibly black and stable sonic foundation, without the slightest hint of coloration
Performance is completely independent of load equipment
Cryogenically treated hookup wire throughout
100% passive design results in zero transient current restriction
All milled chassis with half inch floor plate provides vibration free foundation
Thick polished stainless cover for excellent shielding with striking beauty
Hard maple faceplate, black finished with polished stainless inlay
Materials and workmanship provide the highest possible level of look and feel
The positive qualities of the Hana conditioner were immediately obvious...This absence [of noise] makes itself known in subtle but important ways. I've already mentioned dynamics. The Hana also delivers a deeper soundstage, more separation of instruments on the stage, and unmasks low level detail. This more engaging presentation had the effect of drawing you further into the performance...The Hana is one of the best power conditioners I've yet heard.
~ Will Wright
