Symptoms of UN-CLEAN power

Power cable influences on equipment has to do with a) less contact resistance b) less rfi and emi pick-up, and transfer to the component c) less cross-contamination from components on nearby other components and cables d) less voltage drop e) less (lower) leakage currents and parasitic capacitance between components.f) quicker rise times/faster current draw. 

But, if the incoming electricity is dirty the effect will be reduced offcourse,  

Sometimes changing one power cable can have an effect on other equipment in your system.You only hear the endresult. A lot of people have heard the change a good power cable can bring to your system. Who I am to judge? If you don't hear it, be happy and listen to some good music.

Love to hear other peoples experiences. 'Facts', 'Engineering' and 'Measurments'. can be discussed in Tech Talk.

Having just went through a power upgrade, I can provide my experience. I went from an old electrical panel and one 15amp line to having a new panel and three dedicated 20amp 12gauge Romex lines, good Siemens breakers, each placed as far away as possible, better grounding, and run to quality Audioquest outlets. I kept it as simple as possible after doing a lot of research prior.

 

My system didn't sound bad before, but it went up several levels after the upgrade. Noise floor dropped significantly, bass strength and definition improved, more detail comes through, and the whole system sounds more 'effortless'. It made a bigger difference than many components I've added and was significantly cheaper.

Bigtwin, you already tried to mess up the tread twice. How about letting others answer the question for the OP.

 

For me, system noisy one day and quiet on others. Especially with tubes.

Two caveats prior to responding. I really don’t know how clean my power is out of the wall compared to your situation. We just built and moved into our house. So, the power distribution is new. Our neighborhood was farm/ranch land until the last few years. We have a neighbor that raises camels. Secondly, your equipment throws noise back into the power line, so not all noise comes from your house/utilities power distribution.

I made a major change in power to my system, pretty much all in one go. I was floored at the difference, but to quantify the difference is a challenge. The presentation was more detailed, with more air, silence between notes and better imaging. Everything was just more musical. Listening was less tiring.

For me, power upgrades involved adding a Shunyata plug, Everest conditioner and a Sigma power cord to my integrated amplifier. I had a three pack of Venom and some old power cords… so my power upgrade wasn’t really in one step. Later I added Venom NR to my subwoofers and replaced the remaining power cables with Sigma NR. I purchased items with a sixty day return privilege and my salesperson let me just trade up without any loss of funds, even after the sixty days. So, more money spent on power than any other one component. I intend to add a dedicated circuit, but my current power distribution is from a garage on the opposite side of the house. My listening room is over the second garage, so will need a long run to second panel.

I believe that addressing power is the single biggest improvement to my system. Other changes, balanced analog interconnects and speaker cable were more nuanced improvements. Digital cabling (AES/EBU and Ethernet) improvements were the second largest cabling improvement seen on the digital side. Room treatment is probably up there with power as an important component of good musical reproduction.

The remedy for dirty power is depending on a) the time of the day b) your system itself (they are noise generators themselves and cross contaminate throught the grid) c) the rest of your household equipment d) tha hood you are livin in. If you have a lot of wall warts and computers for example on the same spur as your stereo, you can start with placing them on a separate spur and filter them also. They are spitting out a lot of RFI and harmonics. Clean power is not a one stop solution. A good filtered power bar with DC correction will do wonders. But don’t forget good quality cables and connectors, cable dressing (separation) and correct phasing of your equipment as a starter.

 

Dirty power can be better described as suboptimal power. The quality of the power supplies in every system vary. So some, people hear great differences, some will hear improvements in de last %.  Some power supplies have better noise blocking capabilities and filtering qualities when rectifying AC to DC. I don't believe in golden ears BTW. Maybe there is a difference in sensitivity of one's hearing capabilities but mostly it is experience.

VERY interesting reading sofar. 

Before looking for solutions, is it recommended to first find out what TYPE of 'dirt' my power carries so I can select the right remedy?

Dirty power = Electrical noise (hash) = Distortion in the audio signal.

• Not hiss or hum.

_ _ _ _ _ 

 

Symptoms of distortion from noisy AC power:

 

HF:

- High notes are ‘etched’ or ‘hard’.

- A vocalist’s voice sounds ‘grainy’ - and/or – has glare when belting out high notes.

- A violin sounds too strident. No tone or timbre. No delicacy.

- The high notes on a piano ‘ring’ unnaturally.

- Cymbals don’t shimmer, they crash.

- Unable to discern individual stringed sections in orchestral music.

- The instruments in a crescendo from an orchestra become confused - indistinct.

- Poor extension. Instead of feathering off into airiness, the notes might truncate.

+ much more

 

Midrange:

- An acoustic guitar - or piano - seems to have too much harmonics - more than the real thing. It might sound pleasing – but, not true.

- A horn or woodwind sounds too diffuse or bloomy – more than the real thing. In other words, the notes of the instruments have a fuzziness around the edges. There should be a solidity & transparency.

- Unable to determine if an acoustic guitar has nylon or steel strings.

- A vocalists voice sounds electronic – not natural.

+ much more

 

LF:

- Bass is a one-note thump.

- Bass is not tight – too diffuse or boomy.

- Unable to discern tone or timbre in the bass.

- Poor extension. Instead of feathering off, the notes might truncate.

- Difficult to follow the bass line. For both stringed instruments and drums.

- Unable to discern individual bass sections in orchestral music.

- Unable to discern bass riffs in orchestral music – while the full 96 piece ensemble is playing.

+ much more

_ _ _ _ _ _

Black background:

- Lower noise floor.

- Ability to easily discern nuance.

_ _ _ _ _

Some of the above symptoms may also be the result of poor room acoustics – or poor synergy between component/component – component/cabling.

 

My take on symptoms of 'Dirty power'.

 

RFI - Harsh sound, Grey background, Sounds that blur with each other. 

EMI - Weak & untight Bass, Small stereo image. Missing the Boogie Factor

Leakage currents - short decay of sounds, obstructed sound (can be minimized with correct phasing of equipment)

Too much shielding - splash sounds on cymbals, congested & choked sound

DC - Missing Oomph, Tiny bit of distortion on the transients. General lack of naturalness. Bassdrum that sounds like 'Bonk' instead of 'Bup'

General observation: More capacitance = less high, More induction = less bass.

 

Love to hear other peoples descriptions.

 

Power transformer hum, very faint static noise at 0 volume, fuses blow often, and possibly other malfunctions.

A world-class power conditioner can take the strain off internal power transformers in audio equipment. The end result is better power factor, optimal performance, and longer lifespan without intermittent failures.

Check out my profile. What I'm using works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lack of or less detail is heard within the music composition.