GEAR REVIEW
RADIAL POWER-1 AND POWER-2 | Mitch Bohannon
KEY FEATURES
• MOV ’ s ( Metal Oxide Varistors )
• USB Port on Front Panel
• Fits Wall-Wart Adaptors
• Affordably Priced
• Built Like a Tank
To protect or not to protect ? I guess the question is more like … how much value do I place on my gear ?
Personally , I always look at my church gear in regard to the tithe money spent to purchase it . It ’ s up to me to be a wise steward with church tech purchases . Rack power is not really very glamorous at all … ( that is until you see the Power-2 ). It ’ s not visible like a new wash light and it ’ s not noticed like new speakers . However , it can save you from having some serious issues with some very expensive gear that would most certainly be noticed if the gear was not functioning correctly .
I know I ’ ve been guilty in the past of using some cheap rack power supply units that were nothing more than a power strip with rack ears and an “ on ” switch . If you watch the video , you ’ ll see some of those units that I got to pull when I installed the Radial Power-1 and Power-2 units .
Radial is considered by many to be the Gold- Standard with Pro-Audio equipment . We have many Radial direct boxes around our church campus , and there is no question … they are built like a tank . When I saw on Instagram that they were coming out with these power units , I knew they would be top-shelf , but I sure did not expect them to be as affordable as they are ! The Power-1 retails for $ 100 and the Power-2 retails for $ 180 .
These units protect the connected equipment with MOV ’ s ( Metal Oxide Varistors ) that will block high voltage spikes which can cause serious damage to sensitive equipment . They both have eight outlets on the back … four of them are set apart to make room for wall wart connections , and the other four have normal spacing . This is very convenient , again as you ’ ll see in the video , I have wireless microphones from the same company with two different size power adapters . Some of them need the extra wall wart spacing and some of them do not . The depth of the rack unit is also helpful so to be out of the way of the gear it is racked next to . I have had some that were only a few inches deep and it was next to impossible to plug equipment in and there was no room for any wall wart spacing below the rack .
On the front panel of the Power-1 there are three , always-on outlets and one USB port for charging a phone or tablet . These outlets are perfect for random uses , plugging in a clock , or anything needed you may need temporarily that you wouldn ’ t want to power up the entire system to use .
The front panel of the Power-2 has one of these same , always-on outlets and one USB port . Then it has a pull-out panel that can hold your phone or tablet while it is being charged and underneath there is a strip of LED lights that can be dimmed and color-changed to your preference . This light feature is literally genius ! I remember the old pull-out lights on some power conditioners that would burn your hand very quickly after being turned on . This LED drawer does not get hot and adds some real character to your rack whether you have it on stage or under your sound desk .
Hey , Radial - I ’ m a fan !