ON TEST
50 Australian Hi-Fi http://www.avhub.com.auI
discovered a major failing of the
Torus AVR2 power conditioner the
moment I tried to remove it from
the double cardboard box in which
it was delivered. It’s too heavy! Also,
it does not have handles. A product
that is this heavy (35kg) and this
large (it measures 430mm wide by 200mm
high by 490mm deep) really needs to be
provided with handles—two as a minimum,
and preferably four, so it becomes an easy
two-person lift.
I guess the only godsend was that I wasn’t
reviewing the 20-amp version of the Torus
AVR2, which is even bigger and, at 74kg,
more than twice the weight!THE EQUIPMENT
The Torus AVR2 (the AVR stands for Automat-
ic Voltage Regulator) is a power conditioner
that removes voltage spikes and high-fre-
quency noise from the mains power supply
before they can get to the components in
your hi-fi system. It also stabilises the mains
voltage so there are fewer fl uctuations, and
keeps that voltage to within ±10 volts here inAustralia, with our nominally 240V supply.
(In the US and other countries using a 120V
supply, the Torus AVR2 keeps the nominal
voltage to within ±5 volts). This prevents
against voltage surges and brownouts.
However, in the event that the mains voltage
exceeds 262 volts, or falls below 170 volts,
the Torus AVR2 will automatically disconnect
your hi-fi components from the mains power
supply to protect them.
Once you have wrestled the Torus AVR2
out of the box and placed it on your equip-
ment rack—or the fl oor—it’s simply a matter
of plugging your hi-fi components into the
fi ve empty 240V ‘medical grade’ mains sock-
ets on the rear, plugging the Torus AVR2 into
a standard 15-amp wall socket and switching
it on.
The minute you switch the Torus AVR2
on, the small display at the right of the front
panel will light up, with the top line showing
the incoming voltage and the bottom line the
outgoing voltage. I was a bit alarmed when
I fi rst turned mine on, because it showed an
incoming of 242 volts and an outgoing of
270-volts. I rapidly switched if off, fearingsomething had gone wrong.
A careful reading of the manual showed
that I needn’t have worried, because the out-
put voltage shown on the front panel is not
actually connected to the sockets at the rear
until after the Torus AVR2 has stabilised the
voltage, using a series of relays, and this pro-
cess can take up to 20 seconds. So I switched
on again, and watched the output voltage
slowly drop from 270 volts to 238 volts, after
which that exact voltage was applied to the
rear 240V outlets prior to switch-on.
The Torus AVR2’s front panel display shows
not only the level of the input and output
voltages, it also shows total current being
drawn by your system (in amps) on the same
display. If you push the button below the
display, it will then show both average and
peak power. Push it again and it will show
the time and date. Press it once more and it
will show the power outlets on the rear that
are drawing power. For some reason these are
called ‘active zones.’ Press the button once
more and the display will show the IP address
of your Torus AVR2 (only if you’ve connected
it to the internet).TORUS AVR2
POWER CONDITIONER