Intro
Contents
When a manufacturer calls its energy conditioner The Titan, the message is pretty clear, we think. This is a beast. A brute to which you can attach brutal gear. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do with this IsoTek Titan V5. The fourth… huh?… generation of the IsoTek Titan We played with the IsoTek Titan V3 (or EVO3) for a few years. Unfortunately, it had to be returned at some point; such is the life of a reviewer. This completely redesigned Titan V5 – the successor to the EVO3 – may also stay for a while. And we might just purchase it, because man…. what a brutal piece of gear this is… again. A brute in a slightly more streamlined jacket… The square block has made way for round shapes. We think it looks a bit more refined.
From 3 to 5…?
Where did the fourth generation go? Well… there are two stories. The first is that four is an unlucky number in Asia. In short: give a device version number 4 and people skip it. Just like 13 is not really comfortable in Western countries.
A second story is that the fourth generation never got off the ground because of Covid. Well… that is also possible of course. We see it more often now.
And by the way… Windows did not get a ninth version either. And the AMD Ryzen numbers are also ‘all over the place’. In short: there are multiple reasons…. just choose which story you find most plausible or amusing.
More, more, more…
First, let’s mention that the IsoTek Titan is intended for power amplifiers. It is always possible to connect other devices – large energy consumers – but if you want to supply a pre-amp or source with clean energy, it is better to choose another solution. Consider an Aquarius (review of the Aquarius V5 coming soon). Or if you have a little more to spend: a NOVA. Although that does have some sort of Titan built in if we understood correctly.
Now the Titan EVO3 had two outputs, which makes it possible to connect two monoblocks, for example. Or two stereo power amplifiers for bi-amping. The IsoTek Titan V5 goes the extra mile with three outputs. More is always nice of course. Although we did not really come up short with the EVO3.
What has also been increased is the level of security. The new V5 version can absorb up to 153,000A to protect the attached device from power surges. An little bit of extra peace of mind shall we say.
Whether the Titan V5 can deliver more power is not entirely clear to us. The wall socket will always be the limiting factor: you cannot draw more than 2300 watts (10A) or 3680(16A) watts anyway.
Inside
When we open the IsoTek Titan V5 we see four smaller transformers and one larger one. Just like in the EVO3. However, the transformers are different we see when we put the two side by side. Apart from the transformers there are other components poured in resin. Think of a large container with capacitors. The resin kind of stuff is to prevent resonances. Vibrations create energy and that can therefore potentially cause interference.
IsoTek often mentions the Direct Coupled design which means that the filter/conditioner does not interfere with the speed of the power supply. But yes… how does IsoTek do that?
With the IsoTek Titan, we’re talking about a hybrid of parallel filtering and galvanic decoupling. Keith Martin mentions in his technical paper on the IsoTek Titan V5 that IsoTek has done everything possible to keep the resistance extremely low so that a connected device feels like it is directly connected to the mains. With the big difference that the energy is a lot cleaner.
The IsoTek Titan EVO3 looks like this from the inside. Still a different kind of construction and design. Although we do see a similar approach with the Direct Coupling and the – nine stage – serial construction.
That the filtering works, we have not only heard: we have been able to measure it. In our office – almost everywhere – the meter hits MAX and we hear a lot of noise from the speaker. This is due in part to solar panels and LED lighting. When we put the Bluehorizon measurement device in the Titan, we immediately see ‘000’ on the meter. The speaker also remains silent. In other words: mission accomplished. No more noise.
What was the setup exactly? Did you connect only the poweramp to Titan or everything?
Only the power amp… The Titan is not build for sources.
What was the setup exactly? Did you connect only the poweramp to Titan or everything?
Only the power amp… The Titan is not build for sources.