Magazine Reviews

Stereophile Magazine Recommended Component : Torus Power RM20 AC power isolation units: $3000 Torus Power's Power Isolation Units (PIUs) combine surge suppression with massive toroidal transformers to provide AC power conditioning and protection from voltage spikes. The RM20 uses a single 2400VA toroidal transformer to supply 120V and 20 amperes to the 10 AC outlets on its rear panel. It has a 20A circuit breaker for its on/off switch and uses a 14AWG detachable AC cord rated at 15A/125V. "The PIU greatly enhanced subtle details of tone, timbre, and imaging where dynamics were extra or volume was loud" said LG. (Vol 31 No.1 WWW)

Stereophile, January 2008 -   Torus RM20

When I arranged to review the Bryston 28B-SST, I wanted to be certain that the 1kW amplifier wouldn’t be starved for current.  Bryston advised me that Plitron, who manufacture the 28B-SST’s toroidal transformer, also make Power Isolation Units (PIU’s), under the brand name Torus Power.  Torus explained that its PIUs combine surge suppression with massive toroidal transformers to provide AC power conditioning and protection form voltage surges.

For this review, I was supplied with Torus’s RM20 ($3000), a PIU that uses a single 2400VA toroidal transformer to supply 120V and 20 amperes to the 10 AC outlets on its rear panel.  It also has a 20A circuit breaker for its On/Off switch and uses a massive, 14AWG detachable AC cord rated at 15A/125V.

Torus PIUs use transformers twice the size found in typical amplifier power supply toroids and buffer the amplifier’s peak current demands.  The PIU transformer’s primary, attached to the home AC line, is decoupled from the secondary attached to the amplifier, allowing what is claimed to be a more complete attenuation of AC line noise, form 1kHz to over 1MHz. Torus PIU’s also provide substantial surge suppression, and are available in either single 120V input dual 120V (balanced) inputs.

Installation involved placing the RM20's 95-lb chassis where it would get adequate ventilation: atop my Velodyne DD-18 subwoofer.  I then used all 10 of its AC jacks for my audio components.  Not only did the PIU provide a central place to plug in all my audio gear, it helped me eliminate extra extension cords and other line-cord clutter.

My approach to listening tests borrowed heavily from Brian Damkroger’s review of the Audience Adept Response line conditioner in April (Vol. 30 No. 4).  Like BD, I found it easiest to hear the Torus PIU’s benefits by removing it from the setup after having lived with it and the Bryston 28B-SSTs in my system for two months.  The PIU greatly enhanced subtle details of tone, timbre, and imaging when dynamics were extreme or volume was loud.  Removing the PIU shrank the soundstage, making my system sound flatter and less detailed.  This was most evident when I listened to “Deeper Wells,” form Emmylou Harris’ Spyboy (CD, Eminent 25001-2).  The massive synthesizer sounds that open the track dominate and obliterate the sounds of Harris’ voice and any instruments.  Reinserting the PIU in my system focused the sound of the churning, roiling synthesizer on a spot at the front and center of the soundstage, allowing me to hear Harris’ voice and the drums separately, farther back in the stage.

I highly recommend the Torus Power PIU to increase any serious audiophile system’s powers of musical resolutions and imaging.  -  Larry Greenhill 

Enjoy the Music.com  March 2007
"...the synergy was great enough that I've decided to buy the two units for my system." >Link

The Inner Ear Vol 17, #2/2006
"The Torus is a fabulous component and should be regarded as the foundation on which to assemble superb audio and video systems." >Authorized Preprint

Audio Ideas Guide Vol 22 #4 Spring/Summer 2006
"..the difference is very audible: in a broadening of the soundstage width, much greater depth, and an airy freedom in the ambient field that was palpable." >Authorized Preprint >html

Stereophile CES 2006 Show Report
Power-line Muscle from Bryston
by Robert Deutsch >link

 Festival du Son et de l'Image Montreal
Six-Moons Report >link

User and Installer Testimonials

"It has opened up a whole new world for me. The clarity in the bass frequencies is there like it never was for me previously."
>more pdf
Jeff Taggart
Alaska

"After trying just about every other power conditioner...I was hoping, but not expecting much. Then my jaw hit the floor. Bass was more firm and tight than I had ever heard in my room. There was a new depth and it was not just slightly noticeable..."
>more pdf
Brian Esry
Genesis Audio & Video
Irvine, CA

"...the noise problem was gone, completely gone from the system. "
>more pdf
Tom McGehee
Sage Solutions
Rowlett, TX

"Received  the unit Friday.  All’s good, the system sound IS much more stable and  complete through the freqs… good stuff."
Kory Duffy
West Gardiner, ME