I have been a stickler about keeping power cables away from signal cables...on equipment ?


What I am finding very interesting, and to some extent, disturbing, is how close the power IEC inlet or power cable, is designed so close to the speaker or input / output terminals of amplifiers / gear. Many of my Hafler, Bryston and Citation amplifiers had / have this arrangement, and many of these newer and smaller chassis class d amplifiers have this arrangement. I have actually rewired ( or had rewired by a tech ) a different path separating the power line to the audio line within the chassis, and hearing a cleaner background when listening to music through these products afterwards. I am finding this to be the case, looking at photos of some other gear as well. I also believe, power switches and it's wiring, should be designed at the rear of a component, for the reduction of ac related noise, even though it might be an inconvenience with it's daily operation. Just as an aside.....I keep my gear on 24 / 7, unless I am on an out of town trip. Your thought ? Enjoy, be well and stay safe. Always, MrD.
mrdecibel
I toss em this way and that, until I get some hum, then it's a chase, sometimes a long one.

but only had hum from power twice in all the years, and way back when, fm antenna hum (college days, t shaped twin leads taped to something this way or that. coax to real fm antenna solves that.
Some people have endless problems with noise of all types.  Others seem remarkably lucky in never or rarely experiencing such issues.  I have worked in several fields where power cabling in proximity to signal cabling is an unavoidable fact.  No matter the industry or issue the basic rules and guidelines appear to be universal.  I will throw together a list of some of the most basic procedures I have come across.  Any updates, edits or clarifications gratefully accepted.

1. Cables carrying different types of energy or very different levels can and do interfere with each other debating that is counter productive
2. Distance can attenuate interference as effectively and perhaps more reliably than shielding, anything that helps helps
3. Twisted pair data cables are common as unshielded UTP or shielded STP but are all designed to cancel noise via the 'twist' so shielding is considered to be 'as needed' rather then a general panacea 
4. In the cable and broadcast worlds shielding for co-ax serves functions beyond the audiophiles concerns so yes foil, braid, foil and braid, double foil and braid and solid shell co-ax all perform differently but maybe not in ways familiar to the audiophile
5. Cables running in parallel present the greatest risk of interference those lying perpendicular the least, remember this when you are forced to have different types of cables near each other. Sometimes a tricky routing problem can be gotten around by simply dropping a speaker cable across a power cable at precise right angles instead of killing yourself trying to keep them apart. Not actually recommending this, keep them apart if at all possible but that's a slippery phrase as we all know
6. RFI can be so difficult that people have moved because of it but there is a clue.  Strong RF fields in one spot can often be hard to detect a short distance away and even standing nearby can make a change.  When you hear a local FM station through your phono stage the cables usually get the blame and they are usually guilty but sometimes they get help.  I had a MC phono stage that always played a local station whenever the input cables were connected.  Disconnecting the TT end, changing cable orientation, changing cables all made changes but nothing got rid of it.  When I swapped out the phono stage it was GONE!  Tried the cables that were worse earlier, moved them around etc. NO RFI.  So, lets blame the phono stage.  Except, the phono stage picked up no RFI unless cables were connected to the input so it looks like the kind of complex interaction that can drive you nuts (yes I know:))
Yes some people have problems..
I have this year built a new upper floor on a new house (2012). (So new wires)
Have installed proper fuzes and so on.
My power amps is off grid and driven by a 12v car battery.
I use a passive preamp (do not need power)
Beside that the TT motor get power from the wall the RIAA preamp is the ONLY thing that in the signal chain that is connected to the wall/mains.

And of course I get all the clicks and pops when someone is turning off/on the lights or appliances somewhere in the house if they are on the same phase. As my system.

And a vinyl rig do not need additional clicks/pops!

So I am thinking of how to get the RIAA stage offline somehow.. (?).. But the PCB wants ±15v.
Hello,
I think it boils down to your cables and the resolution of the system. When I started getting into better components and cables I figured out the difference in recordings. 1/2 of my CD collection was from BMG. Horrible sounds came through my new system. Luckily I was able to trade all of my BMG for the regular/ better recordings since a friend owned a used cd store. I can’t even fathom listening to some of your systems in your properly treated rooms. It’s a double edge sword that’s worth it if you can afford it. If I can make it to Seattle someday I can finally listen to Michael’s record collection. He might make me clean some of his records for the right to do so. JK. Bottom line, If you raise or separate your cables like in MC’s picks and you hear the difference, do it. If it doesn’t move on to the next suggestion.