Thanks Jim for sharing this with us. The quality of the power line or the lack thereof is all important for good sound.
power problems at house, impact and thoughts
Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but thought it most appropriate.... these are just my observations to pass along.... as usual YRMV
For the last week plus, we had power problems in my home most evident by lights flickering.... during this time, I also noticed that I was not happy with the sound from my turntable ( which I thought I had sorted perfectly with modified interconnects right before this lol), I am using a Jolida phono preamp and I wondered if the tubes were going bad? The sound from all other sources through the HT receiver seemed fine (no critical listening), but I thought that the receiver did seem to be running hotter than usual..... I checked all my equipment plugs, checked the house panel and breakers, and even tested a number of the outlets themselves... but could not source the problem so I finally called the power company.
The power company checked everything, and I mean everything, from the house breaker box, the breakers to the street in detail... no problems. said had great service etc. Then they opened up their box (everything is underground in my neighborhood) which feeds the neighborhood and sits between my yard and my neighbors and found a very bad flat jumper connector that was deteriorated and had a hole in it. They replaced it.... everything back to normal.
The reason for this post is that I was never a big believer in power feed impact on equipment and sound... and was surprised by the effect on my Jolida phono preamp... got me thinking about some of the strong differences in opinion on the sound of equipment in reviews etc. and how source power may play a factor.... just a thought and topic for discussion. Thinking Carver, Macintosh, electrostatic speakers and remembering my gone but beloved Belles power amp that would play for more than a few seconds sans power.
FYI my house is about 30 years old, the equipment is in a 1 year old addition that I ran two separate 15 amp circuits just for the equipment, The lights etc are on their own. I used premium outlets / plugs and wiring. The connection for the house is about 125 ft away at the end of the drive. Receiver is a Marantz SR6005. The tubes are Black Sable Tung Sol 12AX7 gold pins graded.... I think that covers it....
For the last week plus, we had power problems in my home most evident by lights flickering.... during this time, I also noticed that I was not happy with the sound from my turntable ( which I thought I had sorted perfectly with modified interconnects right before this lol), I am using a Jolida phono preamp and I wondered if the tubes were going bad? The sound from all other sources through the HT receiver seemed fine (no critical listening), but I thought that the receiver did seem to be running hotter than usual..... I checked all my equipment plugs, checked the house panel and breakers, and even tested a number of the outlets themselves... but could not source the problem so I finally called the power company.
The power company checked everything, and I mean everything, from the house breaker box, the breakers to the street in detail... no problems. said had great service etc. Then they opened up their box (everything is underground in my neighborhood) which feeds the neighborhood and sits between my yard and my neighbors and found a very bad flat jumper connector that was deteriorated and had a hole in it. They replaced it.... everything back to normal.
The reason for this post is that I was never a big believer in power feed impact on equipment and sound... and was surprised by the effect on my Jolida phono preamp... got me thinking about some of the strong differences in opinion on the sound of equipment in reviews etc. and how source power may play a factor.... just a thought and topic for discussion. Thinking Carver, Macintosh, electrostatic speakers and remembering my gone but beloved Belles power amp that would play for more than a few seconds sans power.
FYI my house is about 30 years old, the equipment is in a 1 year old addition that I ran two separate 15 amp circuits just for the equipment, The lights etc are on their own. I used premium outlets / plugs and wiring. The connection for the house is about 125 ft away at the end of the drive. Receiver is a Marantz SR6005. The tubes are Black Sable Tung Sol 12AX7 gold pins graded.... I think that covers it....
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