Analog Corner #307: HiFiction X-Quisite ST, AC Power, PS Audio Page 2 | Stereophile.com
Just to send it off track in another direction. Add a back up gen, completely mess up audio quality. And of course instead of getting an accredited sparky in he phones Audioquest!
Just to send it off track in another direction. Add a back up gen, completely mess up audio quality. And of course instead of getting an accredited sparky in he phones Audioquest!
Turned his million-dollar rig into a giant boom-box, it did!
Solution: Another pallet-load of cash, as always.
Solution: Another pallet-load of cash, as always.
This is really interesting ...., small world, isn't it? (like Rabbit Hole, 11.22.63, SK)
I'm fully expecting Howie to tamp down his virtual pipe, take a virtual drag and start 'I remember...' 😀
(Aside, in the good old days a pipe was a vital part of any British Engineers equipment. Nothing has really replaced it although I don't really miss the tweed jacked with patches on the elbows...)
(Aside, in the good old days a pipe was a vital part of any British Engineers equipment. Nothing has really replaced it although I don't really miss the tweed jacked with patches on the elbows...)
Having installed tens of both residential and commercial generators and transfer switches, I doubt the accuracy of his perception. The only before/after difference is the insertion of a 2-pole 2-throw contactor, usually rated at several hundred amps with very high contact velocity and pressure. They always actuate live, so the contacts actually weld each time. I have personally measured less than 20 mV drop over these types of contacts with ~100 A of load current through them, which works out to less than 200 microohms contact resistance, less than the plug on his stereo in a receptacle.
Giving him benefit of the doubt, if these contacts were defective and dropped ~10 V (enough to cause noticeable audio system regulation dropout), once his HVAC came on line and drew 40-50 A, the contactor would burst into flames as the contacts attempted to dissipate 400-500 watts of heat. If he really suspects a problem he needs to have the electrician come back and check for voltage drop before a fire starts.
Why am I spending time worrrying about an imagined issue...I have real ones to deal with here...ah yes...I am avoiding work, sorry everyone...
Cheers all,
Howie
p.s. Bill, I don't smoke...
I virtually don't smoke...lolol I do like the image of sitting back with the tweed jacket and a pipe...I do not have the gravitas to pull it off. For me it is more like sitting around in my shop in a Magma T-shirt quaffing a NEIPA...
Cheers!
Howie
Cheers!
Howie
Last edited:
What about when the load is much less such as in residential setting during mild weather? What about noise, did you always measure the AC line noise with a spectrum analyzer? If not, why make assumptions there is no HF line noise, nor any other unmeasured issue?
Markw4 said: "What about when the load is much less such as in residential setting during mild weather? What about noise, did you always measure the AC line noise with a spectrum analyzer? If not, why make assumptions there is no HF line noise, nor any other unmeasured issue?"
None of those unmeasured issues are variables in this situation. The only change to the AC was to interrupt the main house 200 A or 400 A 120/240 split feed and insert a contactor. The only active circuitry (and low power at that) is the starting motor battery maintainer. The low-current battery maintainer in the generator case in my experience with Caterpillar, Generac and Kohler does not create any radiated RFI with the Kohler being the lowest (being a ham why I bought a Kohler), and since it is only connected remotely the conducted RFI is most likely not an issue either.
If conducted EMI is the problem, fixing it at the source is the solution as any ham or broadcast engineer knows. The current crop of HVAC blower PWM drives and PV inverters have made household power a mess. However, given the average home's compliment of switching supplies, if his audio system let the trash through it would mean he had gotten accustomed to the way they sound already...
But you are correct, his audio gear may have such poor line noise rejection that any and all change to line noise modulates his audio. This would make his issue an audio equipment design problem, but if he has the money he is welcome to fix it via expensive line regenerators. A separate metered service from the same pole drop will do nothing to fix conducted EMI. Ask me how I know this...
None of those unmeasured issues are variables in this situation. The only change to the AC was to interrupt the main house 200 A or 400 A 120/240 split feed and insert a contactor. The only active circuitry (and low power at that) is the starting motor battery maintainer. The low-current battery maintainer in the generator case in my experience with Caterpillar, Generac and Kohler does not create any radiated RFI with the Kohler being the lowest (being a ham why I bought a Kohler), and since it is only connected remotely the conducted RFI is most likely not an issue either.
If conducted EMI is the problem, fixing it at the source is the solution as any ham or broadcast engineer knows. The current crop of HVAC blower PWM drives and PV inverters have made household power a mess. However, given the average home's compliment of switching supplies, if his audio system let the trash through it would mean he had gotten accustomed to the way they sound already...
But you are correct, his audio gear may have such poor line noise rejection that any and all change to line noise modulates his audio. This would make his issue an audio equipment design problem, but if he has the money he is welcome to fix it via expensive line regenerators. A separate metered service from the same pole drop will do nothing to fix conducted EMI. Ask me how I know this...
Arco eletrico - YouTube
Please note that the arc does not move in a straight line at all, but continues to move in the direction of the rods being disassembled.
Please note that the arc does not move in a straight line at all, but continues to move in the direction of the rods being disassembled.
Looks like the sign says, "ANSONIA LODGE ON THE S---- OF LAKE MICHIGAN". May not be in CT or MA.
Read that as you will but looks like a long term loan of $17k of regenerators.
If you are strong enough to read page 1 of that article he is sent a $13000 cartridge and the diamond falls off. He is sent a second and breaks that, but the 3rd one he thinks is wonderful!
I read Fremer to laugh. I certainly won't learn anything about audio from him!
Sure. More likely than he is imagining things that aren't real. At least we now have two possible hypotheses instead of just one.
I do boggle a bit at the way this guy in particular just bathes in all this expensive gear, good lord! It's like the laws of diminishing returns simply don't apply to him. And the way he describes either the drastic improvement or the catastrophic loss from every little tweak or change - it's painfully obvious who he's trying to convince with all this hyperbole.
Given who we are talking about and how the more expensive something is the better it sounds to him I do not think it more likely.
One could equally say it was likely a segue to get the PS audio stuff in for demo. The man is no seeker of the truth that is clear, but he does like shiny expensive stuff.
Funny, I grew up right next to Ansonia. If I hiked through the woods about a mile I'd end up at the edge of a small cliff that overlooked the river. Definitely is a scenic area.
I actually think Pavel's picture is from New York, but not sure. The name of the lodge is Ansonia, but it mentions Lake Mohegan. There is a Lake Mohegan in Fairfield, but it's probably more likely Mohegan Lake in NY.
The arc follows the heated gasses. Really big "contactors" have compressed air to blow out the arc. There is a video of one of these switches failing to switch off during a shorted load. The arc never stopped and the whole substation was about to blow up until an upstream breaker opened. Controlling Gigawatts is a problem as are high voltages. I was told by a physicist who worked on lightning that 1 megavolt transmission doesn't work because you can't stop an arc with that much voltage. He was speaking from experience.
RE Fremer's dilemma
It is possible that whatever circuit monitor that controls the switchover could be putting noise back up the line. Its also possible that some poor connections from age (Fremer's place is not new) were repaired inadvertently and his "soft" power is now more stable. There are plenty of other possibilities assuming there is a change in the sound that is not just imagined.
My takeaway- No point in trying to market a high end audio product for less than $20K. it won't generate any interest.
And here is some basic electronics converted into magic proof of cable superiority (from one if the comments): Messungen fur Lautsprecherkabel: LowBeats hat neue Tests entwickelt However in the actual measurements only one cable introduced changes over .1 dB. Certainly no new discovery.
I can’t convince myself to find such ridiculous prose as entertaining even when I know it’s about how to promote hi-end audio sales.
George