I fear that I may be in the minority here, but I am a fan of using products to improve my AC, in particular the Niagara series from Audioquest. I have played with quite a lot of these devices and found some degraded the sound of amplifiers, typically MOV type units.
Nordost is a company that shuns doing anything to the power other than having really good outlets and ground.
Which ever camp you fall in I was hoping that perhaps I could pique the interest of some SMart person/people and suggest that perhaps designing a DIY power center.
Nordost is a company that shuns doing anything to the power other than having really good outlets and ground.
Which ever camp you fall in I was hoping that perhaps I could pique the interest of some SMart person/people and suggest that perhaps designing a DIY power center.
First have a licensed electrician check out your electrical system. Unless that is good, you can't improve it.
Yes, and a dedicated line is great, but I'm thinking that most of the folks here have more than 2 components to hook up. A bulk buy kit from the store could have potential?
My personal experience with the aforementioned products has been outstanding, and I have sent many units to client's homes on evaluation and even those who were very skeptical
In either case something that has 6 high quality outlets in a very well grounded box could be useful?
My personal experience with the aforementioned products has been outstanding, and I have sent many units to client's homes on evaluation and even those who were very skeptical
In either case something that has 6 high quality outlets in a very well grounded box could be useful?
Not just a dedicated line. Many home electrical systems are in poor condition and need significant work
to perform up to par. Unless checked out and restored by a specialist, "improving" the power will not happen.
https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Electrical_Panel_Rust.php
to perform up to par. Unless checked out and restored by a specialist, "improving" the power will not happen.
https://inspectapedia.com/electric/Electrical_Panel_Rust.php
@rayma I'll take a look at that, but getting electrical work done ain't cheap! Mine is suspect as some of my AFCI breakers would trip for no good reason, including my audio system's outlet, GFCI works much better, but makes me wonder about the wiring.
I do know a fellow who wires up sound studios, says he will not use AFCI breakers.
I do know a fellow who wires up sound studios, says he will not use AFCI breakers.
Might work, I have had mixed results with Richard Greys, which as I recall are balanced isolation transformers. That being said it was long ago and I 
to Wayne's knowledge/design chops.
to Wayne's knowledge/design chops.
Might be an opportunity for a group buy 😉.
Still, I wonder if a nice package could be offered thru the store. A case with 6 high quality outlets, excellent grounding, a breaker/fuse(?), Balanced Isolation Transformer or other noise dissipation circuit?
Still, I wonder if a nice package could be offered thru the store. A case with 6 high quality outlets, excellent grounding, a breaker/fuse(?), Balanced Isolation Transformer or other noise dissipation circuit?
I have seen ACFI breakers trip when using some device that switches off poorly. In my case it was a wax heater that turned off slowly instead of a sharp switch off. Putting a surge suppressor on the device avoided the tripping.
In the continued hope that this concept may pique the interest of those with the chops to design something, I have to say that using my power center w/ noise dissipation was 1 of the biggest improvements I have made to my system in a while!
Correct me if my belief is off, but what we listen to is basically electricity being modulated by our gear. If indeed this is accurate, simplified I imagine, than it stands to reason that getting the cleanest electricity to your gear will result in the best sonic performance.
Correct me if my belief is off, but what we listen to is basically electricity being modulated by our gear. If indeed this is accurate, simplified I imagine, than it stands to reason that getting the cleanest electricity to your gear will result in the best sonic performance.
I have mentioned this before in other threads, but it seems apropos here: Now implemented at four houses over the years, I have run or converted deadicated lines to 240VAC, with 10 or 15 amp breakers and outlets. That gets you balanced all the way back to the utility transfomer serving just a few houses. I then use 240 to 120 dropping transformers to feed my audio outlets. The total cost is very reasonable, and I have always done comparisons and heard a difference -- just sounds calmer. I suspect that there is an issue code wise with outlets having 60VAC on the nominally neutral leg, perhaps @rayma or others can comment. I build almost everything I use and always make sure my PEMs fuse both hots.
I have tried a number of different power strips / power centers over the years.
I settled on the simple Wiremold 9 outlet model shown below. It’s the one recommended by my Naim dealer. Just correct wiring, with no MOVs or inductors. This one supplies two power amps (various Pass clones), my original NAP 250, a dual HiCap DR, two XPS supplies, and a Rega turntable 24V transformer, with an open slot separating the high power components from the low power ones (as a visual indication).
The only power filtration I have found to be useful is a Chang Lightspeed 3200. Mine powers a voltage dropping transformer for my VPI turntable, an Audible Illusions tube pre, a Rega phono pre, a headphone amp, and an Audiolab 6000 CDT. The Lightspeed maintains an excellent ground continuity with the Wiremold strip, and I have no hum when using the Rega phono pre.
I settled on the simple Wiremold 9 outlet model shown below. It’s the one recommended by my Naim dealer. Just correct wiring, with no MOVs or inductors. This one supplies two power amps (various Pass clones), my original NAP 250, a dual HiCap DR, two XPS supplies, and a Rega turntable 24V transformer, with an open slot separating the high power components from the low power ones (as a visual indication).
The only power filtration I have found to be useful is a Chang Lightspeed 3200. Mine powers a voltage dropping transformer for my VPI turntable, an Audible Illusions tube pre, a Rega phono pre, a headphone amp, and an Audiolab 6000 CDT. The Lightspeed maintains an excellent ground continuity with the Wiremold strip, and I have no hum when using the Rega phono pre.
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I have used many over the years, most at work, and find many degrade amplifier's sonics, not a fan of MOVs! The Naim solution is similar to Nordost's QBase, and a kit could be offered with just Hospital Grade outlets in a decent case.
Audioquest's claim is that these are "noise dissipation" devices. Over the years I have found that reducing "noise" in a system is key to getting al the low level info that takes a recording from eh to 😍
Audioquest's claim is that these are "noise dissipation" devices. Over the years I have found that reducing "noise" in a system is key to getting al the low level info that takes a recording from eh to 😍