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The quiet grid


"The Grid", as we audiophiles refer to it is the power in our neighborhood. You may or may not have what we call "clean" electricity. We have add on boxes that clean up your electricity if there is a problem.

Those very expensive two box units with separate power supplies solve the problem of clean electricity at a price.

I am a keen observer of "The grid"; I notice when there is a remarkable improvement in my audio for no apparent reason. The last time I noticed this, I listened to music all night long. It was on a Christmas Eve, and there was a foot of snow outside; that's when I determined this remarkable improvement was the result of a quiet "grid"; that's when there is almost no commercial or industrial activity on the "electrical grid" near you, and residential use is quiet as well.

Normally this only occurs for a short time, but it's been like that for days; this has never happened before. Our present COVID 19 lockdown condition has given us a super quiet grid. That means our modest rigs are equivalent to much more expensive rigs that have expensive power supplies.

I am going to take advantage of this by doing a lot of recording. (when my reel to reel gets out of the shop) It's extremely unfortunate that we have this super quiet grid as a result of COVID 19, but there it is.
orpheus10

Showing 4 responses by asmith99

asmith99
26 posts
 
C Miller   The wake up call is in..  Heavy dependence on MADE IN CHINA isn't a good thing and never has been.  Whittling suppliers down to a bare minimum is ridiculous and having one major supplier for the multitude of products we depend on for our pharmaceutical needs is more than ridiculous, it's dangerously myopic. Cheaper isn't always the 
appropriate decision.. as we're finally realizing.  I hope it's not business as usually IF we escape this pandemic reasonably intact.. It's time to re think where we place our priorities and that applies to our hobby as well.
asmith99
26 posts
 
Isn't that the point ? !! The wake up call is resonating world wide as is spread of this virus.. Hel-loo !
asmith99
26 posts
 
Well, the cart carries the DRIVER.. so the direction of the HORSE is determined by the driver and in this case it's the consumer.  That's the point you're missing.  Everyone understands WHY these products are manufactured offshore but it's still the CART DRIVER that makes the decisions for the direction of the horse.  If he's wakes up long enough to give the horse direction.  
asmith99
26 posts
 
That's not true..  unless you're deceased.  You're still in it Orpheus and you still have control of where you decide to spend even if there's limitations on how much you have to spend.  My point is … well, I think you know exactly what my point is.  We, as audiophiles, music lovers and people who appreciate innovative, elegant engineering in the components we purchase need to reassess our priorities and make a concerted effort to establish and maintain a diversity in our options towards these suppliers.  We're learning (or should be learning)  a  lesson right now.  We need to open our eyes, not just our ears. 
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