Mains cables...
- Thread starter Bigmoonface
- Start date
Whatever your motivation, it doesn't matter to those who know better.
Not having gear that can use IEC based cords definitely poses a challenge for evaluating them!
If possible, I would run digital sources (DAC, CDP, etc.) through a conditioner to prevent them from affecting the AC line. I use several Tripp Lite units for that purpose. "Power strips" are just multi-outlets.
David_NC
Super Member
LOL OK. One man's humor is another man's ridicule, I suppose. What I thought was humor, you took to be ridicule. I think I go out of my way to attempt to help others as often as I can, and throw in a bit of humor here and there, that it should be pretty obvious that I don't post maliciously.
Oh, I know power strips are multi-outlets. I have a 2U rack-mount Smart-UPS 1500 that filters, smooths, reduces, and boosts when needed, supposedly. It's a smaller version than the ones we use at work on servers, but it's still pretty big. I don't have a real test of its filtering, though I'd like an EMI meter to find out what effect it has.
APC says it does /has the following:
- Filtering: Full time multi-pole noise filtering, 0.3% IEEE surge let-through, zero clamping response time, meets UL 1449
- Brownout and surge protection
- Power factor correction
I would not recommend running the receiver or any power amp through a *power strip* nor conditioner unless it's something by Nordost or Shunyata Research. That's where a shielded power cord would show benefits. I use a DIY Belden sourced cord with the Emotiva XPA-5 amplifier used in my HT. Click here for the recipe. 12 gauge, double shielded with good quality components readily available from sources like Parts Express. Running everything else through the APC should be fine.
Definitely agree! Especially with stiff cords like the Harmonic Tech model I use for the upstairs power amps which holds its shape.
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Audiofreak71
Boerboelicious
I agree about not plugging an amp/receiver into a power strip or conditioner , in my case it grossly degraded sound quality, so I plug my amp straight to the wall and my dac, source and TT are plugged into the power strip, works excellent this way .I would not recommend running the receiver or any power amp through a *power strip* nor conditioner unless it's something by Nordost or Shunyata Research. That's where a shielded power cord would show benefits. I use a DIY Belden sourced cord with the Emotiva XPA-5 amplifier used in my HT. Click here for the recipe. 12 gauge, double shielded with good quality components readily available from sources like Parts Express. Running everything else through the APC should be fine.
Definitely agree! Especially with stiff cords like the Harmonic Tech model I use for the upstairs power amps which holds its shape.
Audiofreak71
twiiii
Lunatic Member
I would be more concerned about how many junction boxes with spliced connections are between the cheap wall out let and the circuit breaker box. Then there are the connection in the box and the line that is at least spliced two or three times or many more between your circuit breaker box and the old tired power transformer on the power pole. Once you know they are all alright then I might be concerned about a 6 ft long power cord. How many splices and what size of wire are between you and that transformer on the power pole. If your amps, pre-amps and other components have decent power supplies with a wide margin, you really don't need to be wasting your money on power cables. Lets get our priorities in the right order first.
Another modest upgrade is to use hospital grade outlets like you find from companies like Hubbell. They provide a tighter connection that the typical builder grade crap. I use them everywhere my audio gear is plugged in.
You don't need to go crazy with $200 cryo-ed Oyaide models.
Sorry you haven't experienced better. The first meter does make a difference even when using dedicated lines.
As a point of reference, your C34 has a one joule power supply (9400 uf @25V). One?
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Audiofreak71
Boerboelicious
I’m in the works of upgrading my outlet my amp is plugged into to a dedicated 20a line , my neighbor is an electrician and we’ve already laid it out , luckily where the circuit is that my amp is plugged into runs straight from the wall back to the garage in one run so it will be easy to upgrade it all .
Audiofreak71
loopstick
Lunatic Member
Most if not all of the harness noise mitigation in the noisy electromagnetic environment under the hood (think ignition) is done at / near the connectors. Shunt capacitors, "series" ferrite beads. Shielding is very rare IIRC. Conducted interference way dominates over radiated interference. So although I'm not a big fan of "MIT" audio, their patented "network" of series-resonant shunts (I worked for a company which collected junk patents) does seem to address this.
Johnny B
Well-Known Member
You and my wife. I’ll stick with the poutine.
Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
David_NC
Super Member
I'd be interested to know if many use nice locking plugs and outlets. Something like a L5-20R is what I'm thinking. Our standard 120V outlets are a pretty poor design, in my opinion, for two reasons. Friction on the prongs is what keeps the plug in the outlet, and the prongs are not particularly heavy duty. Here's what a L5-20R looks like:
I think that when I run isolated circuits for my audio systems, I'll go with something like this. Especially seeing how stiff some of the power cables many use, something that actually locks in place would seem to be better rather than depending on friction to hold the plug in place. Plus, movement doesn't loosen them. If one wants an even heavier outlet, a L5-30R would do it.
I know that the servers' power strips and UPS's at work use twist-locks. I'm sure this is so one doesn't accidentally knock a plug out of an outlet, but I've noticed that they seem far sturdier than the regular 5-15 or 5-20 outlets and plugs. I'd also connect all new circuits to the same leg in the breaker panel.
Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
Tripp Lite ISO Bar, are very effective and well built.
Recently had to use one in the kitchen to filter a HP laptop`s brick PS that was interfering with a X10 Timer/controller that`s plugged into the same circuit for controlling various lights in, and outside my house.
Some Tripp Lite ISO Bar & 120 volt 20/15 amp regulators have been in continuous operation in my house since the early nineties, and of the 15 or so of their power products installed have never had any failures, to themselves, or the equipment plugged into them.
Well built & very effective power products IME.
Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
Why no love for the Tripp Lite 20 amp regulator/conditioner/surge/spike combo power units E-Stat ? They use 12ga windings on the triac, or relay switched autoformer taps.
I bought my first rack mount Tripp Lite in 1993, and it has successfully powered & protected my living rooms A/V rack, which included 3 mono`d Crown DC-300 II`s at one time, and a bunch of lower amperage draw, but sensitive analog, & digital electronics, and not one equipment failure, or electrical noise heard during that whole period.. The rack mount version has specific levels of power line filter/isolation sockets on the rear, with a total of 12 sockets available, and 2 lessor filtered mounted on the front panel..
I was so impressed, that I purchased another Tripp Lite 20 amp non rack mount version in 1999, and it happily power`s/protects my Sunroom`s Mac C 27, MC 2205 driving the pair of inefficient DQ 10`s, and 2 Velodyne ULD 15 400 watt servo subwoofer amps, with ease, and with no apparent power starvation/compression, even when that system is cranked up very loud while I sit on the back porch..
Of course, having them each plug into a 10ga 20amp circuit breaker dedicated service did hurt either.
Those Tripp Lite line regulator`s/conditioners/protectors, are really earning their keep this time of year, when during the day, with the temperature climbing as high as 98` F, and the line voltage dropping as low as 113, or lower volts during the day.
No, their not fancy looking for bragging, or very expensive, but their good unwavering solid solder`s, at least they`ve been on my watch.
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
It's a preamplifier, so the filter capacitor only really needs to eliminate supply hum. It takes very little reserve capacity to drive a relatively high-impedance load with a roughly maximum 2 volt peak-to-peak swing at low current.
CruzBay
Super Member
These are used all over the professional world to connect racks to AC mains, the racks themselves use standard AC plugs, many with safe wires that prevent the plugs from pulling out. To admit- in just under 20 years in the tech field working in installations having MANY racks in differing locations (some in the White House, Senate, State dep't and UN) I can't remember more than 2 or 3 devices coming unplugged, and all of those racks had standard receptacles.
The twist-lock devices are excellent receptacles, but in a home environment- a bit impractical.
You'd have to cut all the standard plugs off and install the correct twist-lock on all your equipment you plan to use there, and the outlet would be no good for the day you needed to plug in a clock or a lamp.
I'm also cognizant (and occasionally guilty) of "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."
I'm taking the half-step of what others have written; replace outlets with the Hospital Grade (green dot) models of the correct amperage.
Aside- I'm having some 20A circuits put into a listening space, (probably 3) and will be asking for what you've written; same phase. I use a lot of classic and tube stuff and don't want 240v to show up on a chassis. Double breakers will dumb-proof 2 circuits, the 3'rd I'll have to trust the electrician. (Or I may have to move the 3'rd breaker down one.) Smart money would be to install another double breaker and have the option of a 4'th circuit somewhere on the same phase.
I'm separating this as it's not exactly audio related (it is- to an extent) but it shows of real-world limitations of the standard plugs.
My family gets cold easily and the house we lived in was 2 stories, but a single zone. There was also an unheated glassed in porch on the back we wanted to open up for more living space.
I bought 2 of the standard 15A electric wall heaters, and plugged one in where our nanny stayed, the other on the porch.
Within one winter, the porch outlet started getting loose and sparky. I moved the heater (a relay click to 1500 watts, another to pure off, so not similar to an audio load, all on and all off only) to the bottom plug, where the next season I had the same problem. The outlet was being worn by continuous minor arcing.
Replaced the outlet with a good quality outlet, using the push-in (back-stab) method, not the screws- the backstab's failed. A friend admitted that the 'backstabs' are only good for about 8 amps. Good to know...
Ordered and installed Hospital grade outlets and didn't have ant more problems with them (admittedly, we moved out 2 years after.)
Basement is similar, I replaced every location we used the heater with HG outlets.
Further, my father's brickyard has a modest coffee maker that's been connected at one location for 50 years. There are 4 outlets there, and every 10 or so years the outlets get worn out by the cycling of the heating element.
They just plug the thing into the best one. I noticed this some time ago, and when I had the occasion to get an electrician in there, had him check all the outlets and change out the CM quad.
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The British don't brag! We leave that to our American friends!!
Well alrighty then....... bragging that you don't brag it is
loopstick
Lunatic Member
Once when starting a vacuum cleaner I lost 1/2 of a mains circuit cuz upstream from the outlet I was using was another outlet which had a back-stab as part of the daisy chain. The surge current in the vacuum cleaner burnt out the kiss contact in the back-stab, breaking the daisy chain (see solder thread re: mechanical vs. electrical connections). So I redid that circuit and a few others with clean snug screw-terminal connections.