2. misc-audio
  3. 156719-128813

Dedicated 20 amp circuit - Electrician laughed!

I brought my electrician out to my house today to show him where I would like to install a dedicated 20a circuit for my system.  He laughed and said that's the stupidest thing he's heard and laughs when people talk about it.  It said, if you're going to do it, you have to have it separately grounded (shoving a new 8 foot rod into the ground) but even then, he sees no way there can be an audible improvement.

Now, he's not just an electrician though. He rebuilds tube amps on the side and tears apart amps and such all the time so he's quite well versed in audio electronics and how they operate.

He basically said anyone who thinks they hear a difference is fooling themselves.  

Personally, I'm still not sure, I'm no engineer, my room's not perfect, and I can't spend hours on end critical listening...  But, he does kinda pull me farther to the "snake oil" side and the "suggestive hearing" side (aka, you hear an improvement because you want to hear it).

I'm not taking a side here but I thought it was interesting how definitive he was that this not only WILL not make a difference but ALMOST CANNOT make a difference. 
dtximages
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
I use a PS Audio P20 for powering my whole system, and my system definitely sounds better with a massive Elrod Statement feeding the P20 from the wall instead of their supplied basic power cord or even a VH Audio Airsine.  Now, I have only run it off my dedicated 20 amp circuit (wired with 10 gage for overkill!), so I cannot specifically speak to the dedicated vs. non-dedicated circuit question.  But the fact that the power cord can improve things certainly tells me that even the upstream configuration makes a difference with a regenerator.
I have switched from standard house circuits to dedicated lines twice in my life, and both times I was well pleased by the sound improvements rendered (more powerful dynamic performance, better micro-dynamic contrasts, fleshier palpability in the imaging, among other improvements).

I am with Millercarbon on this - - everything matters.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I use a PS Audio P10 (on a dedicated circuit) for my front end.  I'd rather not use it to supply power to my amps.  I've done so, and the amps sound better direct from the wall on a dedicated circuit.  Unless you have a flee watt amp that draws little current, I suspect you will want to run the amps direct from the wall.  So you are going to want clean power coming into the room in most cases, even if you regenerate the AC.  
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
I don't doubt Brownsfan's experience, but mine is different (albeit on a different regenerator).  My amps sound better on my P20 rather than direct to the wall (both for my PS Audio BHK 300 mono's, or my Luxman M900u stereo unit).  I'd suggest trying it both ways and hearing what you hear.
tantejuut
125 posts
 
Your electrician needs education. Reduction of (contact) resistance & noise from separation of other household equipment is easy to hear. If you can’t hear the difference, you are a lousy audiophile . It is just a defensive reaction.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
put your hifi on a battery. it don’t get any better than that

Not if there’s a nasty inverter involved, solar or battery, it can be worse as I found out, because the inverters are even worse than SMP’s for injecting nasty HF noise into your household wiring.
Now I switch off my solar inverter when I listen seriously and any smp powered things like computers tv, pvr chargers etc, now I have consistently good sound, where before at times it was good other times not.

Cheers George
More to discover