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Another unconventional power cord test?

As I continue to experiment by recording noise in my system by placing a sensitive mic about an inch away from my right channel tweeter, I've stumbled upon an interesting finding: my computer, a simple windows laptop, when plugged into my PS Audio Duet filter, adds a tremendous amount of noise - relative of course. So I plugged the computer into a different circuit and wouldn't you know it the noise is gone. Very interesting, and I never would have guessed or heard this without this listening method that I've been toying with.

I've just bought a shunyata viper high current cable - $265 - and did some testing with it plugged from the amp to the wall, then into the Duet. I then did the same test with one of my PS Audio Lab cables. Again, my findings are interesting: hands down the ps audio lab cable is much quieter. And in all configurations there's less noise with the amp plugged directly into the wall.

I'm still breaking the shunyata in so I'll repeat the test soon. Anybody have any thoughts on this approach or the findings? Will the break in of the viper cord really make that much of a difference or am I sending that cord back to Musicdirect?
robpriore

Showing 2 responses by jazzonthehudson

jazzonthehudson's avatar
jazzonthehudson
277 posts
 
Filtering and blocking noise from one device to another is done by few power conditioners, most just hook the sockets in parallel, a design choice but IME not a good one. Audience adept Response have all filters in each socket just to avoid electrosmog pollution.

As for good sound from PC, there are tons of advice on CA. Free and certainly worth a look is the Fidelizer tool. IME, best bang for the buck is to have first a good USB bridge between PC and DAC, Supra (hand made) USB cables are great value/money, power supply of your DAC is crucial, there are plenty LPS around to feed the little monster. USB noise harvesters et al can help. The UpTone Regen is a must for mid-fi DAC and up.

Back to PC, best bang/buck is a dedicated line, then comes the AC wall sockets. Evaluating PC can be addictive and one has to be careful not to end up with more worth in cabling than gear so a regular sanity check helps. For my second system, I was not aware that I drifted up to nearly 60% for power conditioning and all cabling in terms of total value of the system until I did a tally and keep now everything in a spreadsheet per doctor's orders. 
jazzonthehudson's avatar
jazzonthehudson
277 posts
 
Pops, as always, design matters and PC won't make (much of)  a different if the design is excellent. You have probably a such a linestage.
Indeed I have noticed with some great power amps (e.g. Jeff Rowland) that there is little the PC can influence but with most not-so-expensive or well designed gear the PC does influence the characteristic quite a bit.

With IC, another important factor is the impedance matching between the source and destination device that comes into the equation so there is not just about metallurgy, isolation, skin effect, etc. Lately I have spent a fortune on cables with magnets (too much talk already on this forum), they are indeed transformative and addictive. The question begs - and John is spot on here - if I can achieve the same result with other components. I have been longing for a one box solution like the Devialet so finally can get rid of those expensive accessories but am afraid my old ears are used to (those lush sounding) tubes. Maybe those ingenious French buys will add an option for an iFi iTube type module. 

In fact, all cabling matters (don't forget the fuses!).

Sometimes we forget to listen to the music (our better halves will remind us of that) but the kid inside us wants to venture onwards....
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