Cryongenically treated in-wall AC power wire
I have a high end sound system and am building a new house. I would like to have a dedicated electrical line installed for my system, to run from the electrical outlets in my music room to the breaker box. The builder asked me how long I wanted the wire to be, which runs from the outlets to the breaker box. I have no idea. I could place it as close as several feet or much longer. The wire is $20/foot. So, here are my questions:
1. If you want to install a dedicated electrical line for your sound system how close should the electrical outlets be to the breaker box, or does it make a difference? In other words, is there a minimum length of cryogenically treated wire that I will want in the wall stretching from the outlets to the fuse box?
2. I assume that using cryogenically treated wire and electrical outlets will reduce noise. Does anyone have any experience with cryogenically treated wire?
From Whitlock’s paper almarg cites above: What Does “Ground” MeanThere’s a lot of good information in that article, such as Romex is preferable to conduit for reducing noise, as it keeps the hot and neutral wires in optimal alignment. https://centralindianaaes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/indy-aes-2012-seminar-w-notes-v1-0.pdf |
I tried to cryo one of my DIY power cables to see what happens to the sound. After burning-in, I opted out of cryo treating my reference cables. It made the sound more lean and dry, less full. One more note - I found that the longer the power cable is, the more of its "sound" is present in the system. That can be good or bad. If you have very fast-detailed-silver sounding power cable, 1 meter will influence the sound in that way more than 0.5 m of it. I would bet that the same applies for the power line in the wall. I have dedicated power lines in my system (8), and they are on a separate breaker box. So my apartment has 2 breaker boxes - 1 audio and 1 for everything else. I kept the wires at minimum required length, which is still several meters. Each line has electric filter installed before the outlet. I think the investment in AC pays off in the final sound. |
Not to mention the directionality of the power cord. That’s why Audioquest controls directionality for their power cords, as well as all of their other cables. So unless you can verify which direction the wire in the DIY power cord is supposed to go, cryo might not make any difference or may allow you to hear how the wrong direction affects the sound. There’s also the issue of thermal shock when cryoing cables that means judgements should be postponed at least a week after getting the cables back from the lab. |
I'm going to take it one step farther. When I installed my dedicated 10/2 wiring for my audio room I took the time to listen to music by auditioning the 10/2 wire attached to the circuit breaker and AC outlet from both directions before the wire was cut and run in the walls etc. One direction sounded more open than the direction. Yes, it was a major pain to do but I was 25 years younger. |
