Thank you all for your inputs! I have read the archives A to Z and gotten much useful info. |
The "aluminum" sheathed copper cable Kotta speaks of is commonly called MC cable. It is a commercial grade "romex" that can contain 1 or 2 conductors, a neutral and a ground wire. It typicaly comes in 14, 12 and 10 ga. solid copper conductor sizes. Hope this helps. |
I thought pvc conduit was the conventional thinking for reducing RFI/EMI. |
Sean, I'm sorry to have caused confusion. I do not advocate the use of aluminum wire. What I meant was that, if possible, use Aluminum flex in which to put your Solid copper THHN wire in. (This would be practical in an installation in a attic. If the run had to be made outdoors,
then whatever the electrical codes would detate the choice of materials.) Sometimes you have no choice but to run romex. If one is able to have a choice, IMHO, having solid
copper THHN wire inside of Aluminum flex, is a better than having
a run of romex.(I believe it has to do with the proximity of the ground wire where it is situated in romex.)How much of this
has a sonic effect is debatable. Any dedicated line properly
installed will improve the sound of your components. Bill |
aluminum is inductive and therefore susceptible to RFI.
does somebody know the cost of the JPS in wall cable? |
I used 2 conductor twisted, stranded, silver plated, teflon insulated and jacketed 8AWG copper wire into a Power Port, (had to ream out some plastic on the outlet to accomadate 8AWG). Sometimes (often) my system sounds too bright. Didn't notice this so much before putting in the dedicated line. Could the silver possibly account for this? |
Sean your right on Aluminum wire has been banned in Canada for a Long time.Its your worst possible choice and I have allways been told that 10GA Romex is a good choice. |
Kotta, are you recommending the use of aluminum wire for wiring a house or circuit ??? As far as i know, that is against the law now, or at least it is in Illinois. Someone needs to clarify this. "HEEEEEEEY Glen"......
If you are recommending aluminum wire, what do you see as the benefits to doing such as compared to equivalent copper wiring ? Sean
> |
JPS has a special and expensive inwall cable for this. Putting things on the same phase with ceramic fuses will give you smooth and liquid sound. |
Depending on the length of your run, I would buy an audiophile "in-the-wall" cable.
If you have a long run, (mine was 100') that will be cost prohibitive. Use a metal Shielded cable to avoid RFI or run the wires in metal conduit, and use the heaviest gauge you can. You can even use 10 gauge for a 20A circuit, though 10 ga. will take more current.
Use one length of wire from your main breaker panel to your outlet. I wired direct to a gang of outlets to make a power strip. Then use Hubble or similar (Hospital Grade are about $16 each) duplexes.
Enjoy. |
Sugars right, there is a lot of info. in archives on this; but it's a pet subject of mine because I've gotten such substantial improvements in music quality by improving my electrical system. The FIM 880 outlets are truly excellent, but the audiograde Hubbells are copper outlets that are very good too, and at 2 for $25. from the Cable Co. are something of a bargain. I've never heard of audiophile breakers, but some have mentioned that JPS sells HQ wire in bulk. I just used stranded 12 ga. copper for ded. lines. Good Luck. Craig |
If I were to wire a dedicated line I would use Aluminum flex
(indoors) or if the line had to run outside EMT.( Or weather-tight flex. Ask your electrician.) Try to avoid using romex if possible. Use solid wire THHN 12ga.(20amp)/10ga. (30amp current capacity). Try to have as few
possible splices (when using a wire nut to join two wires together, lay wire side by side then twist on wire nut) Use
a seperate ground wire the entire length of run. Be sure all
metal boxes/conduits are properly grounded. Use high quality
electrical outlet. As far as audio grade circuit breakers/
wire, I'm not aware. Look into VansEvers power conditioners.
(www.vansevers.com) Hire an experienced, knowledgable electrician (hopefully one that's an audiophile too!). Make sure you explain and they understand what you want done. I hope this helps. Billk |
My electrical tweaks consist of the following:
o PS Audio Power Port outlets for each circuit.
o Foundation Research LC-1 and LC-2 in-line power conditioners for each component.
o Three dedicated circuits/lines(two 15 amp, one 20 amp).
o Custom 10 gauge 99.95% OFC romex for each run.
o All audio circuits running from same phase of 115 volts at service panel. |
I am using the PSAudio Power Port, and it seems like it made an improvement in the dynamics of my system, however the more I learn about electricity, the more I believe it's best to stick with high quality copper like in the FIMs. I would buy a FIM to try it out, but damn, I just spent $50 on the PSA, and I'm trying to upgrade my preamp, so the FIM will have to wait.
One complaint of the PSA; I just bought and connected a CinePro Power20 and the PSA doesn't hold the 20AMP plug as tight as I expected it to/should.
m- |
I highly recommend to brows among Albertporter participated threads and you'll find his comments very helpful. |
If you are searching; then I highly recommend you search already existing threads on this site. There is enough material on this subject for months of reading. |
