Link: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles To Improve S

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So this guy has a $10K power pole installed in his yard so he can have his own transformer to get that really sparkly clean power. He could hear the difference immediately! I wonder if he left the old power drop in place and installed a mondo mains switch so he could verify the benefit with randomized comparison trials?
 
Makes me feel kind of special that I have a brand new transformer my house is tied to and we are the only ones on it�� No extra fee either!


I believe the closer you are to the transformer it may help filter out hf noise that was on the high tension side. Maybe also suppression if transients caused when large inductive loads are cycled off.

Another thing is that nonlinear loads create odd harmonics that sum on the neutral distorting the fundamental frequency. I am told <5% distortion is acceptable.

How much does having your own transformer help? It would have been a more interesting read if he provided before and after images of oscilloscope readings. As I said I have my own pole and transformer that nobody else is tied to and my power looks terrible, the sine wave is clipped at the peaks which appear to be close to the 5% mark.
 
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I finally got to read it by going through google. I guess WSJ doesn't like links from us.. lol

You're a donor to DIYAUDIO, you can also be a donor to Rupert Murdoch.

Been a WSJ subscriber since 1971, it's a shadow of its former self. Now they have sections dedicated to men's fashions, mansions etc. I wish they would bring the taciturn yankee editors back.
 
Decent PSUs with filters would be cheaper, if there really is a problem with the power.

In any case, what makes him think that the power at 11kV (or 3.3kV or whatever they use over there for local distribution) is much cleaner than 240V?

I think he is still consuming 240V. He is just not sharing the high voltage transformer with his neighbors. I guess at peak times he did not get all the power he needed. Because otherwise he could have had it much cheaper by buying one of these
-> AC Power Regenerator P10 | PS Audio
 
TCI, LLC - High Voltage Distortion

General distribution only needs to be 5%, his own transformer might help a bit with some stuff but it doesn't ensure clean power by any means.

Here is what my wall power looks like, it looks similar to figure 3 in the link I provided above. As I mentioned I am the only house on the transformer.
 

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Having shared a mains transformer with others, I can understand his concern. Being on the same transformer as 4 neighbors with big air conditioners can be annoying.
And on show power? No way I want audio and video on the same transformer or generator as the lighting. That's just asking for noise and trouble.

Certainly there are cheaper ways of getting clean power, but I do understand the problem. Japan mains are at 100V, BTW.
 
I found quite the opposite to be the case (as compared to Mockingbird). My closest distribution transformer used to be 3-4 houses down. The power company installed a new transformer on a pole right at the rear corner of my property, and I'm conspicuously first in line for whatever it dishes out. This included elevated line voltage (125 VAC until they trimmed things down a bit), and all the trash, spikes, ring waves, etc. I started getting random "blue screens of death" on my computer. I installed a UPS that incorporates a mondo surge suppressor, and things went back to normal.
 
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I found quite the opposite to be the case (as compared to Mockingbird). My closest distribution transformer used to be 3-4 houses down. The power company installed a new transformer on a pole right at the rear corner of my property, and I'm conspicuously first in line for whatever it dishes out. This included elevated line voltage (125 VAC until they trimmed things down a bit), and all the trash, spikes, ring waves, etc. I started getting random "blue screens of death" on my computer. I installed a UPS that incorporates a mondo surge suppressor, and things went back to normal.


Yes but the key difference I think is that I am the only one on my transformer.

When your utility company put you first in line from the transformer whatever loads after you is what creates the distortion across the distribution cables inductance which shows up now on your power because you are first.


Edit: My thinking about being close to the transformer being good is that RF induced into the lines might not make it through the bandwidth limited power transformer so it acts as a filter. The further you are from the transformer the longer the lines are to pickup signals.
 
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