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Let's reverse-engineer the PS Audio Noise Harvester

Here is the device in question; the video might be useful but doesn't add anything w/r/t function. If it retails at $100, it must cost about $25 to make one (which of course begs the question of why it isn't implemented inside the case of PS's pricey power conditioners).

Let's get by the silly name first and then move on; it's an obvious marketing ploy. Motes can "harvest" energy and store it for later use, but obviously noise on the power line is in large part a continuous signal, and has to be dealt with in real time by any device claiming to "remove" it.

So what is this thing? Since it has no power line ground and is in parallel with anything else in your audio system that is plugged in, I assume is is some simple form of low impedance high-pass filter, even though the ad copy implies it's not. ("Works at frequencies 10 times lower than any filter.") The output of the filter would then be rectified and fed to an RC circuit that would discharge the capacitor into a resistor and an LED at a certain voltage level, allowing PS to make the silly claim that the noise is being "destroyed" by "converting it to light". Just as easily could be done by a simple resistor load on the filter output, I presume, though flashing lights always add, well, flash to audio devices.

Let's assume hypothetically that the filter is 12 db/octave and that the corner frequency is 10 kHz. Let's also set as a target a 20 dB reduction in noise on the AC line as measured at an AC outlet on the same house line circuit. Anyone have a circuit design so I can build it, see if it works and report the results here?

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Topic - Let's reverse-engineer the PS Audio Noise Harvester - tomsyl1 18:16:47 06/2/08 (91)
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