Richard Gray's 400 Pro = Emperor's New Clothes??

Albert Porter's comments have piqued my interest on this complicated question, and I'd like to ask about how to help me figure out what to do about my power situation.

I live in a quasi-rural area with a far lower population density than most suburban communities. Our road has about 18 houses spread over a little over a mile. My house is the end of the line, with approximately 800' run of underground electrical cables. A vented underground transformer serves my house alone, since the nearest house to mine on the same lines is approximately 1000' away and closer to the line run on the road.

Still, I have brown outs at times, and I think I have detected power surges as well. The music room has 2 outlets on the same circuit and a ceiling fan. When listening, I have on one or two incandescent lamps. Tube power, tube pre, tube CD, turntable with vac holdown, transistor step-up and electrostatic speakers are on the 20 amp circuit. The power amp is plugged into the same outlet as the power conditioner that has the rest of the components plugged into it. The overall quality of the sound improved when the power amp was plugged directly into an outlet rather than going through the power conditioner. The conditioner sound is better than with a power strip.

Running dedicated lines to the music room seems quite difficult with the construction of the house since there is no basement and the wiring is in the walls.

My 200 amp service box definitely needs replacing. If dedicated outlet rewiring is not in the cards, what recommendations might be made here?

Thanks,
Rouvin

I don't know where you live or what standard the PUC holds over your electrical supplier so my answer may not apply to your situation. I'll describe my situation and the experience I gained from going through the chain and hopefully that will help.

Where I live (in Texas) if power is NOT up to specification or you have potential demand that exceeds what can be supplied, the power provider must upgrade your service to match your needs.

I had a commercial electrical contractor that worked with me and he knew people at the local power company. We requested an upgrade when I was running my 14 dedicated lines for stereo and the provider complied with new transformer, new heavy drop, new Trans Socket meter and all labor (for free).

I paid the electrician about $3800.00 to rewire and the contractor and electrical provider worked out the details. Even if the provider will not do a new meter base for free, it would be worth paying for an upgrade.

That's all I can tell you, unknown what the rules are where you live but it's sure worth fighting for to get the power right. Otherwise everything else you do is after the fact and in my opinion, impossible to make 100% right when you're starting out wrong.

My comments probably sound over the top, but understand that most peoples idea about good power is the lights light up when the switch is turned on. The electrical supplier is not going to upgrade unless they have to. It's your job and your contractors job to convince them you need better. I got that accomplished but then again, I could have been in another state or another time of year and gotten nowhere with these guys.

I will say though, another guy in my audio group who lives in another part of Dallas completely rewired his stereo room about a year ago and he went even further than I did. Larger meter, more runs and even a solid copper drop from his own transformer.

Again, he used a commercial electrical contractor that's accustomed to doing office buildings and businesses and our home systems seem simple to them. All a matter of perspective and experience.

Albert,

Thanks for the info. I will be investigating what is required of the power company. I assume that I will need some sort of power audit (from the contractor?)to document the brown outs and surges.

Definitely get help from a big commercial electrical contractor, sit down with the lead man or manager and let them know up front, exactly what your goals are.

If the contractor argues, says you don't need it or does not care, then shop until you find an ally. Your contractor has to believe it's important to get better service for you and then work with the service provider to get your service upgraded.

It was contractor number three here in Dallas that hit the home run. McBride Electric, the same contractor that does Texas Instruments and Raytheon as well as countless commercial properties.

There must be a company like that near you. Do your homework via phone first and don't be afraid to tell them what you want in your electrical system.

To win them over, I got extra support by dragging in the fact that my photography lighting and multiple computers are reliant on great power and no down time.

Sad tales of losing business and clients due to bad electrical immediately got their attention even though they are not responsible to deliver perfect power, if they perceive you have a real need they push it through.

This is an interesting thread to me...Since buying one of Alberts' outlets, and installing a dedicated 20a for my amp it has caused me to question all my efforts for conditioning etc. I personally own an RGPC and at this point I consider it nothing more than a boat anchor. I would second AP's overall point here, which is the real results can be achieved at the source much more effectively than through some metal box. Up to this point in my audio career I hadn't dedicated a cicuit, and since doing so, I am very happy with how quiet it is. Before, shared ground, lots of dirty noise, ground loops etc.

I personally am at a crossroads, and I am going to attack the problem of power once I get my new speakers. I will most likely sell my RGPC 600, shortly after I A/B the system, with it, and without it. I fairly certain I will hear no difference, since there is no shared ground on this circuit anymore. I may look for more ways to improve at the source rather than buy another PC. Any suggestions appreciated.