MOTUnation.com

Yeah... mostly likely what others have said... voltage brown out. And as others have said most "power conditioners" don't do voltage regulation -- that's much more expensive. Years ago, I rehearsed with a project in one of those rehearsal spaces where there were bands in rooms on either side of us. The sound of my guitar amp would change when one of the bands next to us was rehearsing as my tube head was not getting proper voltage. I brought in my Tripp Lite voltage regular I use in my studio and plugged my head into that, and my amp sounded right again. Of course that's with an analog device like an older guitar amp. Digital equipment may just lock-up when the input voltage dips significantly below 115V.

Oh... add laser printers to the list of things that can suck power like coffee machines. They have a heating element inside them and when they warm up before a print job they can pull a lot of power!

Speaking of coffee makers and hot plates... I'll never forget the wedding reception at a private home where the caterer got a late start on heating all of the food. In the middle of the first dance, our drummer had not one, not two, but three solos when the rest of band lost power due to the house breakers tripping. Funny thing was, that same caterer had done my own wedding a few months prior, We were disappointed with the food, which was served cold. But at least my wife and I made it through our first dance uninterrupted!

There are some really inexpensive voltage regulators sold by APC. They might work, but I've been advised the taps on the internal multi-tap transformer are rather widely spaced, so significant voltage swings may still occur. Specs look like +6 to -12%

http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE ... _R0_EN.pdf

$35 to $78 from 115 sellers

The Line-R is a microprocessor controlled tap changing power conditioner, which automatically corrects brownouts and overvoltages, and stabilizes chronic line voltage variation. Line-R also provides multi-stage surge suppression and full-time EMI/RFI filters to handle all the problems your equipment is likely to face. A voltage meter on the Line-R's front panel displays the relative input voltage level and alerts you to low or high voltage conditions. A front panel surge protection integrity light indicates the health of the circuitry. In addition, an audible alarm alerts you to extreme input voltages that cannot be corrected to within the normal output voltage regulation band. Line-R automatically performs self-tests, and its "adaptive mode" also senses and corrects frequent tap changing, thereby reducing wear on the relays for a longer life span and quiet operation