The fallacy of ac treatment


I see a lot of threads related to managing and tweaking the ac powerout end of electronic systems. Much has been said about dedicated wiring, termination and even the right kind of extension cords to use. I work for an electric utility; and that's the extent of my credibilty here. The majority of you will no doubt be far more erudite wrt music hardware. Just a thought, though: domestic ac distribution goes thus: power station-step up-city-step down-subdivision-final step down. As far as the utility is concerned, you and all your neigbours are collectively the load for the step down tranformer. Any inductance/capacitance created by your neigbour running motors/tubelights, etc is felt by the lot of you. Additionally, the voltage frequency will almost always move around a tolerance from 50hz as the whole country turns on the air, off the lights - changes all the time as peaker plants ramp up etc. Nothing can change that- the frequency of the grid supplying your city is the frequency in the mains at your house. So what's my point? Well only that how much difference can the last 10 feet of cabling, etc make when the other hundreds of miles are outside of your control? And more importantly, frequency is one of the most imp parameters for measuring electricity quality (your expensive hand-coiled toroids are entirely subject to the f in the primaries) and nothing other than running an f generator can shield you from that. Methinks all the improvements you see from ac cord treatments are pyschosomatic. But that's cool.
snobgoblinf669

Showing 2 responses by iceravendbd3

I agree with Mikem and Hiwaves. My DIY tweaks is almost exactly what Mikem describes them. Mikem, please post here or email to me the VA rating of your isolation transformer. I'm about to buy one but not sure what VA rating will deliver the transient peaks in music. My wall socket wires are large enough for 20A at 240Volts. If I go for full 4800VA, the transformer size would be colossal!wouldn't it :)~
Good lead Mike, i've checked out Equitech website. Your ET2R-Q is a prof. rack mount 2kVA black beauty! I will probably buy their balanced isolating toroidal transformer loose and put in myself the rest of the safeguarding and definitely a IEC950 EMC/RFI filter for the CDP(the "noisy" one). Read also that NEC committee had voted overwhelmingly for the inclusion in the next NEC publication of rules & regulation for wiring & earthing methods for the video/audio & "sensitive" electronic equipment. I interpret this as an implied official recognition of the Balanced power solution to mains common mode noise inherent in unbalanced mains supply. Just a word of caution though to all aspiring DIY'er, please get assistance from a good qualified electrical worker if you're not one yourself, and understand the NEC regulation fully before any attempt to proceed!! I'd do the same in my country with the correct electrical authority. Even better, buy it from the prof. equipment manufacturer for best assurance. Happy listening.