Furman M-8x2 vs M-8Dx vs PL-Plus DMC: Picking a Rack Power Conditioner

Every Furman in this guide is a 15 amp, one-rack-space strip with surge and spike protection and RFI filtering. The differences are what the front panel tells you, how deep the box is, and how the protection works when a spike actually arrives.

The short answer

• A small rack that lives in one venue: the M-8x2. Eight switched rear outlets, 15 amps, 3.75 inches deep. Nothing to look at and nothing to break.
• A rack that travels to unknown power: the M-8Dx. Same strip plus a three-digit voltmeter so you can see a sagging generator or a hot venue feed before it costs you a supply.
• A rack with wireless and a laptop in it: the PL-Plus DMC. SMP protection with extreme voltage shutdown, LiFT filtering, a true RMS ammeter beside the voltmeter, LED rack lights and a BNC lamp socket.

Side by side

M-8x2

Eight switched outlets on the rear, rated at 15 amps. Furman’s series sheet quotes nine outlets for the M-8 line but doesn’t say where the ninth sits on this model, and some retailers list it as an eight-outlet unit, so plan on eight. Surge and spike protection, line to neutral, with RFI and EMI filtering. No meter, no lights. 1.75 inches high, 3.75 inches deep, 4.9 lb (2.2 kg). The shallow depth is the quiet selling point: it fits behind a half-rack transmitter tray where a deeper strip would collide.

M-8Dx

The same rear outlets and 15 amps, plus a bright red three-digit LED voltmeter on the front and two slide-out, swivelling 4W lamps. Furman’s sheet lists no ammeter on this model. Depth grows to 7.5 inches and weight to 6 lb (2.7 kg). The M-8Lx is the same box with the lamps and without the meter.

PL-Plus DMC

Eight rear outlets, three of them spaced for wall-wart transformers, and one front convenience outlet, on a 15 amp (1800 W) circuit breaker. Protection is Furman’s SMP, Series Multi-Stage Protection, with EVS, Extreme Voltage Shutdown, which cuts the outlets off if the line goes far out of range rather than letting a surge through. LiFT linear filtering keeps noise off the ground. The front carries a switchable true RMS ammeter and a digital voltmeter, two retractable LED rack lights, and a rear BNC for a 12V AC gooseneck lamp. 10.5 inches deep, 11 lb (5 kg).

What the protection words mean

• Spike and surge protection on the M-8 series clamps a transient between line and neutral. It works, and like all clamping protection it is sacrificial over time.
• SMP absorbs the surge in stages instead of dumping it to ground, so Furman rates it as non-sacrificial. It is the reason the PL-Plus costs what it does.
• EVS is the shutdown: if the mains runs badly over or under voltage, the unit disconnects the outlets until it recovers. For a rack with a $2,000 wireless receiver in it, that is the feature you are buying.
• LiFT is filtering that doesn’t dump noise into the ground, which matters when the rack’s audio ground and its power ground are the same copper.

What a conditioner is not

None of these regulates voltage or stores energy. A sagging feed still sags, the meter just lets you see it, and a dropout still drops out. If you need the rack to ride through a brownout you need a regulator or a UPS, which Furman sells separately and which weighs a great deal more. For sizing the strip against what’s in the rack, see rack power planning.

Depth check

An X32 Rack is deep and a transmitter tray is shallow, and the conditioner usually goes at the top or bottom where the case lid is. 3.75 inches (M-8x2) fits anywhere. 10.5 inches (PL-Plus DMC) wants a full-depth case. The IEM Rig planner flags a conditioner that runs past the case depth before you buy the case.

Preamps

A power conditioner carries no audio, so there is no preamp to count. Its only effect on the rig’s signal is the one you can’t see: the filtering that keeps switching noise off the audio ground. Its rig impact is one rack space, one wall cord, and the outlet count every other unit has to share.

Sources

• Furman M-8x2, M-8Lx, M-8Dx data sheet: outlets, 15 A, protection, meter, lamps, depth, weight
• Furman PL-Plus DMC owner’s manual: outlets, 15 A breaker, SMP, EVS, LiFT, meters, lights, BNC, depth, weight