1) All 6 outputs should be in the same phase. Have the electrician make sure the phases are balanced and use the phase with the least number of noisemakers on it, or rearrange the phases to be as quiet as possible.
2) Porter Ports are my favorite, read my review.
3)JPS- in my opinion no, Virtual Dynamics cable at $6/ft is good. Romex 10 gauge sounds good too, I hear no difference.
I have posted a lot about this, search my user name.
Best regards... |
Hi,
I have been in the building business for 30 yrs. I recently ran dedicated lines to my audio center. These wer 20 amp, one for each monoblocetc. I followed stereophile recommendations and ran standard 10 gage 3wire to each outlet.
The outlets were cryo treated purchased at audiogon. They were Hubbel outlets very reasonable price.
The installation definately improved sound.
I do think that you may not get much more if any improvement using the very expensive components you listed.
I would stick to basics. The dedicated lines are what is important.As to phasing I don't know but again I would stick to basic dedicated power flow. |
As far as Wattgate vs Hubbell vs hospital outlets vs cryoed vs non cryoed... and all the other tweaky things: hard to tell the sonic differences, (for me) but the fundemental improvement in my sound comes from the combined effort of all these tweaks. I cannot hear the difference, most of the time, of a singular outlet, but change all the outlets back to regular?-- and the like, I think the differences become, though subtle, more noticable. |
If you have a six-breaker panel with six 20-A breakers installed then you have no choice as to the phasing; the panel is full and you cannot - at least never attempt to - reconfigure the panel.
Word of caution: overloading one phase of a 120/240 leg can cause problems. The whole idea of having two balanced phases is to prevent neutral currents. Things like computers and fluorescent lights generate current themselves on the nuetral; having the phases out of balance magnifies the problem, not the least being a fire haxard.
I'm not saying you cannot have your audio gear on one phase or both phases - but whatever you choose just make sure both main feeders coming into the panel draw an equal amount of current (within 10%) with your audio gear on and with the other appliances operating normally. |
Lak:
I'm interested in your recommendation that all outputs should be in phase. Jonathan Scull has recommended that consideration be given to wiring monoblocks in opposite phase with the goal of cancelling noise. Take a look at this:
http://www.stereophile.com/finetunes/200/index1.html
I'm probably going to try it both ways. |
I agree with Lak on the first two points. But reservations though on the 'Virtual Dynamics' Wire.
Did a direct a/b with top quality BX wire and the difference is huge.VD wire was very artificial sounding which is kinda weird since I use a VD Nite, VD Signature and a Audition in my system.Go figure.
Suggestion !. Go to a good industrial supplier, not frigging Home Depot cause they sell the cheapest junk of anyone who will supply it cheapest to them.
Okay then ,Strip off a couple of feet of the 10 guage, 3 wire BX and check it out for discolorations in the copper and the smoothness of the copper. If it is clean and smooth ,no wrinkles, then buy it and you'll be happy.
I learned after trying about 6 kinds /types of wires.
Also check and secure the grounds,in a clean location as far away from any other ground wires.
PeterD |
PeterD:
I'm surprised (and now concerned) to hear of your experience with VD wire. So far, most of the people i've talked to have had very positive experiences with it. Steve Huntley of GNSC told me that several of his customers have raved about it very high-end setups.
Unfortunately, it will be VERY difficult for me to do A/B comparisons of the various wires, so I'm listening to comments like yours very carefully.
Maybe some others will weigh in on this. In particular, I'd be interested to hear if anybody has done comparisions between JPS Labs in-wall wire and VD wire.
Harry |
Harry,
Well they came across very bright and bodyless.
Ran the wire in for two weeks with two 90watt tube
amps with a PS Audio port . A/B'd with also ran in normal top quality BX,10 guage also.
Absolutely no comparison.
The VD wire was too bright, with no flow to the music at all,attenuated the 'tick- n- pop ' twins really bad.
Found that the same thing happened with my Sim Audio w-5 gear as well.
While it is cheap to buy you can give it a go,but IMHO,
the power cables are great but the in-house wiring does not work.
Peter D . |
Hbrandt,
Just one further question for you to ponder: Why the subpanel? By using a subpanel you are inserting another set of electrical connections for everything: positive, neutral and ground. Plus, all of the current for all of your system is being pulled along the one line from the main panel to the subpanel. If the distance from the main panel is not outlandishly excessive, you may have better a result by pulling the 6 dedicated circuits directly from the main panel in uninterrupted runs of cable (provided you have the capacity in your main panel to add the breakers you need.
. |
Rushton:
Thanks. It's about a 30 foot run from the basement to my system. I'll ask my electrician what he thinks about running 6 separate lines as opposed to using a subpanel.
Harry |
Harry, FWIW, I had a 55' run to make and we pulled all six dedicated lines in a continuous run directly back to the main panel using 10 gauge. Can't say that the technicians were real happy working with the 10 gauge when it came to doing the receptacle hook-ups, but it all worked out well. |
Rushton:
Did you use an audiophile wire (JPS, Virtual Dynamics) or did you use regular 10g Romex??
harry |
Harry, we didn't use any of the audiophile in-wall wire. We did use a good quality metal clad cable with isolated neutral suitable for hospital installation (green in color, three insulated wires, white/black/green, plus a fourth bare grounding wire). Nothing special about the metal clad other than the added shielding it provides. Also didn't test it for directionality before installing it. (I'm a believer in directionality of wire for audio circuits, and I believe people who say they have observed the difference for power installation. We just didn't take the time given everything else I was working on at the time.) I can certainly hear the improvement made by the dedicated lines; don't know what more improvement could be achieved with the audiophile in-wall wire since I haven't tried any of it. |
Hbrandt, Don't exactly know why you are going so gung-ho on using "audiophile" in-wall wire for your dedicated lines. It seems to be a wasted expense - this was my gut feeling & it seems to be verified by several other members. I think that Belden in-wall cables just might do the trick. I doubt that it is much better than the plain-old Romex wire that electricians usually use. My friend bought THHN wire from Home Depot to do the re-wiring for his room & he is happy w/ the results. Subaruguru sells some reasonable DIY power cords, in-wall wiring (from Belden, I think) & other AC power stuff that might be of interest to you. Here is a link to his ad: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablpowr&1091878265I think that you will gain the most from the fact that you are laying dedicated lines more so than using "audiophile" in-wall wire. Of course, JMHO. YMMV. |
After lots of consultation decided not to use audiophile in-wall wire. Will either choose solid copper romex or Belkin wire. I put the cash into all Wattgate 381 outlets and Running Springs Audio conditioners.
Harry |
Gotta disagree with your priorities. I'd get the Belden 83803 (from me ("cured") or on your own), and use P&S or Hubbell outlets. Teflon and good shielding DOES make a difference.... |
Subaruguru:
Yeah...you and just about everybody else has differing opinions about these issues. But I certainly appreciate your input....and haven't made final decisions yet. |
