Voltage variation. How much is too much over what time span?

[zuzu]

How much fluctuation to call for a voltage regulator? X volts change over the average 24 hours? Y volts change evey 5 minutes? How does too much fluctuation affect the sound?

[mas]

I would posit that this is the reverse of how such a situation is judged.

Voltage fluctuation can inded induce subsequent response anomalies, but rather than make absolute standards based upon voltage variation, the practical affect is more dependent upon the equipment attached, as their power supplies and function will exhibit dependencies based upon the topology and function of the device.

In other words, for a given voltage variation, different attached equipment may or may not exhibit negative response characteristics. Additionally, siting variablesoften are the most significant factors in contributing to local voltage variations and noise.

Some may have general guidelines that prove useful for a majority of attached equipment, and lower is always better, but each piece of equipment will ultimately determine the specific sensitivity that must be addressed.

[Guest " "]

I have a regulator in one room that keeps a steady 120. The daily range between hi and low is sometimes 19 volts at my locale.

However, in another where I only use a line conditioner, I had a tube amp that has some remote features go into mute mode if the power goes above 127 volts. As a stop gap, I put the amp on a transformer that could be wired up for various voltage combos and wired the transformer for -5% on the incoming voltage. The seems to be working OK for now. If the swings get higer, I could move to -10%.

[zuzu]

So what are the highs and lows in that 19 volt swing? Until you corrected it to the steady 120, what was it doing to your sound ie, before and after results?