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Least Controversial, Reasonably Priced AC Upgrades

Hello Everyone

At last, the light is appearing at the end of my house renovation tunnel, and -- fingers crossed -- I may actually be listening to music in my new living room before 2005.

Having spent every last penny on marriage, family, Subzero refrigerators etc, I am trying for the first time to upgrade the wiring a bit and protect the equipment against surges.

Despite my enthusiasm for this site and a pretty decent system, I remain firmly in the dark ages on power conditioners, high end power cords, outlets, surge protectors etc.

The place where we are we are moving in the country apparently has frequent power outages, especially in winter when falling branches down the lines.

I have read many heated debates about power conditioners etc with some of you saying that they actually WORSEN the sound, that I would like to start with a simple:

dedicated line?
Albert Porters wall outlets?
a chunky power strip inside my new 6' component rack on casters?
a surge protector (Monster Cable?) to protect all of the above in my newly flaky electical district?

Again, simple, effective, not wildly expensive please.

The idea is to have a moveable rack of equipment on casters that I can wheel from the corner of the room to my listening chair for easy access, which will be tethered to the wall by one power cord only and with long interconnects to the amp which will be located by the speakers.

The rest of the spaghetti mess will stay neatly inside the rack, concealed by a ventilated door.

Thank you in advance for all ideas and suggestions.
cwlondon
twl
3,251 posts
 
I agree dedicated lines are good. Short runs are also good. If you have high-power/high-current amps, maybe increasing wire gauge by a bit would be a good idea. If you are running the wiring now, a twist every meter on the romex would help with RF noise rejection. Grounded metal electrical boxes can help with that too. Keeping all the audio circuits on the opposite AC leg from the refrigerators and other noise-generating appliances is good. Good quality aftermarket power cords do a good job at the last few feet before the components. Keeping digital players in a separate circuit from the amps/preamp may help with isolating digital "hash" put out on the power lines from the digital equipment(infecting the power to the other components). Good grounding is important too.

Basic practices of keeping the power wires away from the interconnects and other sensitive signal wires is a good idea to minimize hum.

Just a few suggestions.
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lak's avatar
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lak
4,529 posts
 
Psychanimal is very knowledgable (and opinionated) about many audiophile theories. I have learned much from Franciso, as well as from many on Audiogon and Franciso’s mentors.

Unemployed? Why the heck did you move over 1000 miles away?

What ever happened to the classes you were going to take at Owens to become an electrician?

Best regards…and good luck with whatever you are doing with your life.
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Lak, Toledo is a dump (the Land of the Bitter, in my words). I was sent there because nobody wanted the job--I applied for a position in Chicago. They sent me (and left me there) cause I was single, unemployed and my lease was expiring in two weeks. Being there and working outside in the cold, windy lake Erie shore was a continuous depressive episode which took a toll on my health. My doctor said my immune system had been "wiped out"...and it wasn't virus related.

London, send me a classical music CD or two. Something live, Baroque, Slavonic, or a surprise. I'll surprise you...beyond your dreams. I might be opinionated, but I'm very well aware that power delivery/noise control is application specific. It can also be dependent on what can be grabbed in the surplus market.

***
kana813
956 posts
 
"4)Install a Xentek isolation transformer (5 KVA) some where before your AC power gets to your wall outlets."

Lak- Looks like you have them in your basement. Do these transformers generate a lot of heat and/or noise?
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