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What's 10 Volts between friends?

Moving into a new house 3 1/2 years ago really re-kindled my interest in music and audio because it was a move that put me about 5 minutes from work and greatly reduced my out-of-town travel time, meaning that I had a lot more opportunity to listen. It also meant going from "perfect" power to both a power grid that isn't as good and a house that is wired like crap. Watching the volt readings on my surge protector, it dips as I turn more gear on, quite regulary running below 110 volts. Way too much stuff on one circuit.

Yesterday, I finally had the wiring reworked and some dedicated circuits brought down (of course, this is all at the complete opposite end of the house from the breaker box, so it wasn't just a couple hundred bucks). Now, turning on the gear only barely fazes the volt reading (it still does somewhat), and CRIMINY! what a difference! To say that everything is crisper, cleaner, etc. only begins to describe the improvement.

If you have problems with your power and have not yet run dedicated power lines to your system, do so as your next upgrade - you won't regret it. -Kirk

kthomas
7 responses Add your response
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
John,

IMHO If you run dedicated neutrals (One per hot) this will eliminate any noise that could bleed over from the other bus in the panel. I would also much rather use an isolated ground all the way back to the main service rather than lifting the ground completely. This brings up a safety issue, which is also a code violation (National Electrical Code)

I admit we do some wacky things in the name of Hi Fi but lets not get to carried away.

Most Electricians would never lift the ground like that. And if they would, I wouldn't use them in my house :^)
stehno
1,453 posts
 
Yes, the dedicated lines is perhaps the most significant and inexpensive (depends on who does it) tweak. While yer at it, pick out the best 10 gauge OFC romex for the power and try lifting/floating the ground which are the second/third most significant tweaks.

One last electrical tweak. Make certain all audio circuits are running off the same phase of 115 volts. This will eliminate/minimize any dirty AC line noise generated as a result of the opposing phases if some components are on one phase and others are on the opposing phase.

-John
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
You lucky guys. I live in an apartment and have to over condition to get 1/2 of what you all get.
hi5harry's avatar
hi5harry
185 posts
 
im considering it as my next tweek,what is the best brand & type wire to run?
garfish
1,840 posts
 
Well said Kirk, and I totally agree-- and with Glen and Albert too. I had five 20 amp dedicated lines and good quality outlets put in two years ago and consider them the foundation of my system. Cheers. Craig
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
I second those emotions stated above.

My belief is so strong that I ran fourteen dedicated 120 volt runs and four dedicated 240 volt runs. This is exclusively to my two channel and HT system, and all in one room.

Regardless of the components used, the voltage change cannot be read on my digital meter. My performance gains were like Glen and Kthomas as well. Previously tried several power conditioners with mixed (compromised) performance.
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
Amen to that brother. I still insist that dedicated power was my best tweak to date.
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