Benefits of dedicated lines for amp performance

I tentatively and blindly bought an LSA Signature integrated a few months ago. I owned an ARC VS-110 about a decade ago for about six minutes and with that extensive and incredibly deep tube experience, I almost immediately rolled out the EH 6922's for Amperex 7308's (from Upscale Audio - who had a lengthy and enlightening conversation with me beforehand, even talking me out of buying the more expensive Telefunkens).

The sound became a bit more warm, a bit wider. Like the difference between a Sapphire martini and a Frangelica on the rocks. The latter was a drink I made the woman who eventually decided to marry me several years ago. She's warm, though not too wide. I mean, she just gave birth to our second son so I'm cutting her a break here.

The LSA has an incredible stage and delivery in of itself, so I was happy and whiled away many a late night grading papers and surrounding myself with virtually 3-dimensional music. When I wasn't changing diapers or grabbing a few hours' sleep now and then, that is. Hi-end and newborns tend not to coexist too easily. And no matter how loud you turn up the volume, that nagging parental responsibility and guilt never seem to go away.

This is why au-pairs were invented.

However, since we live in a house built 'round 1940, just about everything is off of four circuits. The amp in the basement is on the same circuit as the kitchen microwave, the fridge, the dining room lights, the neighbor's hair-dryer, the lights in the park up the street, Pyongyang strip clubs, etc. So there was always bunch of dirty power and transformer hum in the LSA from some source or another.

I know - first world problems galore.

But then I got a great deal off of Angie's list and had some electrical work done, including installing a dedicated line from the wall socket to the breaker box. And then I re-installed everything, positioned the Reference 3A's, and played Anat Cohen's 'Clarescuro" cd, followed by Rush's "Moving Pictures".

Wow. HUGE soundstage; crisp upper end; unfettered mid-range; incredibly improved and tightened bass. Simply a very different projection than before. Think a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster but without the hang-over. Short of upgrading speakers, this was as good as I was going to get. And the LSA was dead silent, both through the speakers with no input going on, and in the transformer department.

The actual work on that circuit cost us less than $200 and was one of the best "tweaks" I've ever done. If you're sources aren't running off a dedicated line, look into how much it would cost to have one run. It makes a world of difference.