Anyone have the Answer?

OK time for a new guy with limited audio knowledge to ask a stupid question or two to try to get some elementary understanding as I am obviously missing something.
if you turn up the volume to the max while not playing music and hear nothing -0- from your speakers I would think you do not have a noise problem. Further, when playing music at various volumes and you hear no noise I would think you do not have a noise problem. I say this as I just did it and that's what I heard lol.    So given the above how does the electrical noise negatively affect the sound if you can't hear it?   What is it affecting negatively, the dynamic range,  imaging, soundstage, etc.? What's the science say.
As an aside  I would have hoped by now audio manufacturers would have addressed this issue in their amps as dirty electricity is a universal and persistent issue. 
Be that as it may the idea of a uniform electromagnetic wave
 flowing thru the system versus one with irregularities seems desirable.
 



  

scott22-

OK time for a new guy with limited audio knowledge to ask a stupid question or two to try to get some elementary understanding as I am obviously missing something.
if you turn up the volume to the max while not playing music and hear nothing -0- from your speakers I would think you do not have a noise problem. Further, when playing music at various volumes and you hear no noise I would think you do not have a noise problem. I say this as I just did it and that’s what I heard lol. So given the above how does the electrical noise negatively affect the sound if you can’t hear it? What is it affecting negatively, the dynamic range, imaging, soundstage, etc.? What’s the science say.

Right. You will never hear the AC line noise I am talking about, not like you think, not at any volume. It is not noise like record groove, or hiss or white noise. You will only hear it at all if it is super bad, like static from flourescent lights or an appliance or something.

The vast majority of AC line noise is not like that. Some of it, a lot of it probably, is RF riding on the AC. RF is everywhere, and every wire is an antenna. Also everything connected to the power grid is connected to every other thing. Electric motors mostly, but everything else as well to some extent, generates a sort of reflected wave called back EMF. The combined upshot of all of this is a lot of low amplitude high frequency distortion riding on the 60Hz sine wave.

Also there is this thing called micro-arcing. No connection is perfect. On a micro scale it is craggy, with microscopic arcs sparking across the gaps. We want a smooth steady flow but instead we get all this static type flow.

If you were to zoom in on this with a scope or something you would see all this as tiny squiggles riding on the huge 120V wave. Running a direct line eliminates a lot of micro-arcing. It also eliminates a lot of opportunities for RF getting in.

Every power supply has the job of converting AC to DC. They all do this with diodes, caps, and transformers. The goal is to produce perfectly flat even and steady AC current and voltage regardless of the demands of the music. Because otherwise, if the power supply wavers at all this fluctuation will wind up in the signal. No power supply is perfect. Whatever imperfections are in the incoming AC, some of that will make it through even the best power supply and into the music.

This is the noise we are talking about, and this is the reason things like a dedicated line, power cords, and conditioners can make so much improvement. It affects all of those things you are asking about- imaging, dynamics, etc. 

If you want to hear for yourself what I’m talking about, simply go flip off all the breakers except for the system. You will hear a big jump in clarity and detail, with a much lower noise floor. This is because cutting the breakers disconnected all those wires that were antennas bringing RFI into the system.

See guys, it is easy to get a sincere answer- simply ask a sincere question. Don’t make up no fake crap about how you been asking everywhere and nobody even tried to answer.

MC is exactly correct in this description which is what Garth Powell discusses (and demonstrates) in the video link I posted. I'm not advocating for or pushing Audioquest products but as a former engineer with Furman Power he offers a lot of useful information. If you want to reduce/eliminate AC line noise, read the paper I linked to from Equi-Tech, the company that developed balanced power.

Loving both my furman pst-8 and AQ Niagara 1200. I am also fond of my AQ thunder, z3, and x3 power cords. Lastly, my 12/2 20 amp from power panel to AQ Edison receptacle dedicated circuit for my hifi. All these things have made a significant difference in both clarity and noise floor in my particular system. It was all well worth it.

You will need a pry bar to remove the plugs from the AQ Edison receptacle, incredible grip.

Unrelated, but also using a Dedicated winegard hd 6010  antenna in the attic for FM signal. The FM sounds as clear as a CD from over 30 to 50 miles away!  I believe in dedication i guess...

The only problems you can get into are not being able get enough current to a high powered amplifier and overloading a circuit by plugging too much into it. Number one you solve by running separate 20 amp lines to your amps and use low gauge power cords, 12 gauge will do. Number two is solved by running two separate circuits, 15 or 20 amp if you like to the system area and dividing the equipment between them.

Thank you scott22. You are absolutely right. It seems that people are scared of what they can't hear or see.

djones is also right. Any equipment with a decent regulated power supply will reject any noise. Don't buy equipment with bad power supplies.

Spending money on equipment on a lark just because you know you can send it back is IMHO silly. Expectation bias is going to make you think it sounds better when it does not which is why these companies bank on this sort of behavior. A company that has confidence in it's equipment will not accept a return unless it is defective. It's the old "Guaranteed or your money back" routine you see on TV all the time or there is a "sucker born every minute." If you get a power device flip to you phonograph and turn the volume all the way up. Is there any difference in noise levels? Sounding better can be an illusion. I can't tell you how many times people I know including myself initially thought something sounded better only to discover down the line that it really did not or even worse caused some kind of problem. If you think your phono stage it too noisy don't buy a power device, buy a better phono stage.

Always keep this in mind, the goal of any company is to make money any legal (sometimes not) way you can and lying about almost anything is called marketing (or politics). The audio world is loaded with scam artists.
Consumer beware.