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The sound of my new electrical service: Day 1

And I mean a completely new service. New pole!, new pole transformer!, new underground line to the house (was above ground), new meter, and new breaker box with all new breakers. House wireing remains the same. Talk about an upgrade! Or, will it be a sonic downgrade? I wouldn't be surprised. House was built in 1964, so that stuff was 50 years old.
I don't do much desk work, so typing all these subjective impressions will be quite a bit of work for me. I hope we all can find it interesting at the least. I doubt too many others will have to go through this with their systems, so maybe it's pointless, but might still be interesting. Beforehand, my system was sounding so good that I was afraid to change anything. You know what I mean don't you? If not, I'm sure you will get there eventually.
System: completely restored, vintage tube. Been through the modern stuff, this is the real thing. I will stick to digital VIA CD for the first few days to keep things simple for us.
Day 1: Eric Clapton "Unplugged", Buddy Guy and Jr. Wells "Alone and Acoustic", Ani Defranco "Living in Clip"
Right away I noticed the urge to turn the volume down. I'm usually inclined to turn it up because this system can sound so deliciously juicy with real life timbre and tone. Not sure if it now plays louder at the same volume setting, or if it is just more irritating. On Unplugged the instruments have lost that deliciously right timbre and tone. Total lack of analog like sweetness and the system could even be mistaken for solid state. It has aquired a solid state like impression of power though. Foot stomp/tapping is more audible with a bass like presence. Sibilants, S's are pronounced like they linger too long. Capton's voice is both murky and harsh at the same time. Overall, a great loss of transparency that makes this obviously a recording and not the musicians in my room.
On Buddy Guy, a lack of clarity on the voices. Also irritation when things get peaky. Jr's harmonica is dark and lacking the usual bouncy excitement. Guitar tone seems lacking in higher frequencies. Again though, I hear more intense feet to the floor sounds. Need to play something with bass to see what happens there.
On to Defranco's live disc. If you have any interest at all in this artist, just buy this one. You might not love all of it, but the good stuff is just great. On this disc, the energy is all there, but on the irritating side when things get loud. Voice comes off better than the other two discs, but not at all what I am used to. Bass? Well, it seems tighter, but not better or stronger. Her guitar rings out as usual with plenty of power, but, again the timbre is off making everything less interesting. When the music quiets down, a perception of transparency sets in that approaches what I am used to here.
Thats it for now, stay tuned for day 2, etc. to come.
hifiharv
hifiharv OP
351 posts
 
Thanks for all your interest so far. The job did include a new ground rod by the way.
jea48, not sure, I will look at the box tonight when I get home.
I don't know what the voltage was beforehand, but I will check though and make sure it is at normal specs. Normal specs today are different from 1958 when the amps were built. Could be 120 or more now, was 110 or so then. It's a common problem with vintage electronics as the higher line voltage can run the tubes very hard. Also, these EL84's were run hard in the first place by design. Not a big deal when you could just go to the drug store and get a new one for $2.00. Resistor changes can address this when needed. The results so far actually don't surprise me. I didn't expect things to be great right away. No different from a new cable or component needing break-in I suspect. There is alot to break in... transformer, incomming line, breakers, etc. So, thankfully, I'm not exactly beside myself with audio depression...... yet. If things don't come around I will do whatever it takes to re-tune the system and hopefully bring the magic back.
Sorry, but no time last night to listen. I should have some more results tomorrow.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Harv ... since you mentioned it, how fresh are your tubes?? Maybe time for a new set???
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,823 posts
 
I would be willing to bet that things do in fact come around over time.

In many cases, part of the process allowing any change to settle in or come around involves the listener as well.

When one is so precisely tuned into how their music sounds for so long, any change at all can be a jarring experience for many reasons and the listener himself must adjust somewhat as well before concrete and lasting conclusions can be drawn.

Note to myself: pick up an oscilloscope and learn how to use it properly someday in order to help put many of the symptoms of audiophile paranoia that we all are subject to to rest in a more objective manner.
minorl
1,014 posts
 
It will get much better over time.

The new equipment must break in like any other equipment. Measure your line voltage to make sure it is correct. if it isn't the power company will correct it. once the equipment has broken in over time, you will then hear the true sound of your system. If the voltage is accuract and correct and basically an infinite bus (fixed voltage at zero phase angle with variable current over load), you will then hear true system sound. this is akin to having a nice system and upgrading a component only to find out that because of that new upgraded component, faults in your system's sound that were hidden are now out in the open. I've changed pre-amps and discovered that many of my CDs now sound like crap. Great music but bad recordings. The old pre-amp masked the sound and was forgiving, but the new pre-amp is not forgiving and does not mask. Don't get me wrong, excellent recorded music sounds wonderful. So, give it some time. That pole top power transformer and new wires will take some time to break in.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
03-19-14: Mapman
Beyond the multimeter, which is a logical first step, is there an affordable gadget out there that can be used to actually measure AC line noise? That would take a lot of guesswork out of the equation when attempting to determine value of adding conditioners, regenerators, etc.

I'm thinking an oscilloscope type device could certainly be used but something more affordable and easier for a lay-person to use and get a clear determination of line noise frequencies and levels just for this purpose?
I suspect that in most cases even an oscilloscope would not provide useful information. While it would give a general idea of the overall magnitude of noise and distortion, it would say little or nothing about how the noise and distortion is distributed among what will inevitably be an enormous number of different frequencies. And there is no telling how a given component will react to a given noise or distortion spectrum. I doubt that even a sophisticated and expensive spectrum analyzer would be particularly helpful.

In any event, my bet is that the most significant contributor to the problem is a change in line voltage (even if it was and still is within spec), due to the transformer replacement and perhaps also to the change in the outside wiring.

Best regards,
-- Al
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