Power cords

[stevieboy]

After having spent the first 1/2 of this year and a lot of money on solving what ultimately came down to be a power problem, I highly recommend the use of Balanced power. IMHO it will do more for your setup than any power cable can dream off and does not cost much.

My power issue was related to a dirty/noisy neutral. I had a Balanced Power Transformer custom made to input 2 Phase and output Balanced Power 115V-0-115V. There is no neutral now coming to my setup. Both sides (hot and neutral) show 115V when one end of the multimeter is connected to either with the other end to ground. The multimeter shows 230V between both.

The 0V is the ground. If you dont have a clean ground, you can use this 0V as a derived ground with no home ground connected to the setup.

Balanced power reduces AC noise by upto 12db (measureable). I have tried PS Audio, Purepower, DIY filters and various others but nothing came close.

I completely agree awedeophile. Balance iso power has cleaned up, given sound a good foundation and the one power regenerator I tried in my system, I prefer the iso. There's no sort of 'holding back' of the music. Music just exploded on a much wider enveloping stage. Just became more present which the regen didn't match. Although that regen was more for source digital components. Maybe a higher powered regen might have been diff, but from all that I've read, I doubt it till I hear it personally.

Regards

 

[keith_correa]

I had a Balanced Power Transformer custom made to input 2 Phase and output Balanced Power 115V-0-115V. There is no neutral now coming to my setup. Both sides (hot and neutral) show 115V when one end of the multimeter is connected to either with the other end to ground. The multimeter shows 230V between both.

The 0V is the ground. If you dont have a clean ground, you can use this 0V as a derived ground with no home ground connected to the setup.

Do you not have any other filtering? Just the transformer?

does not cost much.

May I ask how much this cost you?

 

[prem]

Rethm makes balanced power conditioners. You can check with them the price.

 

[awedeophile]

This is exactly the path I am taking with my next "upgrade". Transcendent Sound Power Supply
Just waiting to finish my other projects that are pending.

--G0bble

I use a 5kVa transformer. The cable from the transformer to the setup is shielded and the shield + ground are connected to a dedicated technical ground as well as the derived ground. The receptcales have EMI/RF reducing Caps.

 

[ajay124]

Thad.E.Ginathom

Quote: However, if I was to pay greater attention to power cables, I would worry about buying American. I find the considerably greater chunk of copper on the prongs of both British and Indian designs more comforting than the tiny ones of the American design. I wonder, also, that it is designed for 110v and not 220v (although that should make it capable of carrying greater current?). I am not an engineer: it is easy for the non-technical to have ill-informed opinions about technical matters.

My experience with American power cords auditioned with the CD Player, Pre Amp or Power Amp has not been very satisfactory. After more than a dozen auditions lasting from a few hours to a few days, I always wind up with the same conclusion. That US connectors/110v power cords rob something from the music. I cannot define what is lost but music begins sounding plainer and less involving. The colors, tones and hues of the recording which provide subtle cues that seduce the senses, become watered down and duller.

Listening impressions are subjective, and I can only comment about what I experienced in my system.

 

[odyssey]

There are a few things here -

the contact/surface of the power plugs into the socket - very important. Generally, I don't find the Indian ones to be very good in this area

Copper content - the Indian plugs - not sure how much is copper vs brass. THe finolex wire that some people rave about nowadays has sufficient impurity of brass/other material in it. The finolex wire as of 10 to 15 years back was much better.

Ajay, what you experienced works in your system, doesn't matter what the specs say, it just means, this coloration is better suited/or not suited (depending on how you see it).

Talking about tweaks - expensive power plugs, power conditioners, cables, etc, the best tweak though expensive that I have come across is "Spatial Computer" it can take a system to a factor that is multiple times higher.

cheers

 

[captrajesh]

This is exactly the path I am taking with my next "upgrade". Transcendent Sound Power Supply

Even I'm looking for one for my source and pre but, $549 for kit and $679 for fully built up unit!!

May be one is better off with Audire stuff; 1.5KVA costs about Rs. 25K. If you buy several pieces, pricing may be even less.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Copper content - the Indian plugs - not sure how much is copper vs brass. THe finolex wire that some people rave about nowadays has sufficient impurity of brass/other material in it. The finolex wire as of 10 to 15 years back was much better.

Copper is a constituent of brass ... how can brass be an impurity in copper?

the contact/surface of the power plugs into the socket - very important. Generally, I don't find the Indian ones to be very good in this area

Whether it is for a hifi or a mixie, contact and grip is all. It might or might not affect sound ... but it could burn your house down!

If the contact is bad enough, even the most sceptical amongst us might find it easy to accept that that is not good for sound. It might even endanger the equipment itself

 

[captrajesh]

Copper is a constituent of brass ... how can brass be an impurity in copper?

Brass is an alloy of copper and Zinc. So the impurity is Zinc, technically speaking; However, Odyssey is probably speaking of impurity on account of brass getting mixed with copper during the the manufacturing process because both metals are likely to be used by the manufacturers of copper strands for cables and metal components of the plugs.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Come to think of it... The plug prongs are brass, aren't they? I don't know... but they certainly look more like brass than copper.

Heresy here... As long as it conducts electricity, who cares! For anyone who has real doubts, I suggest the touch test: plug in wire with bared ends, take one bared end in each hand... switch on. It works on the same principle as the medieval test for witches: tie them to a chair and lower them under water, leave for five minutes; if they don't survive, they were innocent, if they do, they must be a witch so burn them :lol:

The cables that feed my house are aluminium.

 

[captrajesh]

For anyone who has real doubts, I suggest the touch test: plug in wire with bared ends, take one bared end in each hand... switch on. It works on the same principle as the medieval test for witches: tie them to a chair and lower them under water, leave for five minutes; if they don't survive, they were innocent, if they do, they must be a witch so burn them :lol:

ROFTL:clapping::yahoo:hyeah:

 

[venkatcr]

The cables that feed my house are aluminium.

Exactly. The 220 volts comes to your house through miles of bad wiring over which you have no control. And, you tell me a few meters of wires kissed by some virgins will magically improve your power supply?

Conditioning you power supply by active electronics and then using simple and dependable cables such as Finolex are more than enough. I have Finolex from my meter to all my points. I have an Audire Zephyr conditioning the power to my systems, and I am very happy. I will never use the US plug in India. It just does not make sense to me at all. I have snipped off all power cords and replaced them with plugs from MK and they work exceeding well. Solid connection and they sit very well in my MK sockets. If you see MK plugs, the ends are bare copper, so there is no coating there.

Bad mouthing Indian products should really not be taken too far. Companies such as Finolex have a reputation to worry about. They make more cables than many European companies put together. They have also done well to ensure there are no duplicates being sold. Sometime ago I visited some 20 shops and just could not get Finolex in small quantities. And the prices across all the shops were the same. A few shops I know sell genuine stuff and are ready to pay back in full if I even say I suspect the stuff is duplicate.

Cheers

 

[venkatcr]

May be one is better off with Audire stuff; 1.5KVA costs about Rs. 25K. If you buy several pieces, pricing may be even less.

I have using one for a year, and I can vouch for it unhesitatingly. The technology has been borrowed from power conditioners they made for hospital equipment such as heart and lung machines where a life depends on it's accuracy. Sharath and his father are very knowledgeable people.

Cheers

 

[Rajiv]

Bad mouthing Indian products should really not be taken too far. Companies such as Finolex have a reputation to worry about. They make more cables than many European companies put together. They have also done well to ensure there are no duplicates being sold. Sometime ago I visited some 20 shops and just could not get Finolex in small quantities. And the prices across all the shops were the same. A few shops I know sell genuine stuff and are ready to pay back in full if I even say I suspect the stuff is duplicate.

Hi,

Finolex and Cadence are part owners of Siltech cables.

6moons industryfeatures: Siltech's Pantheon 25

Regards
Rajiv

 

[GeorgeO]

I fully endorse and subscribe to Venkat's views on this subject.

 

[GeorgeO]

So Rahul

Your'e going back to dealing with Bruce R at Transcendent Audio? He does make great gear-I can vouch for it, since my Grounded Grid pre continues to delight me! At $499 kit and 799 assembled it is, to my mind one of the best values out there. I dont know enough about the BPS unit though, it does look a bit pricey, as Rajesh observed..

 

[suresh lalwani]

Used Audience AU24E & Furutech Power cords. THE FIRST PURCHASED IN THE , THE SECOND FROM JAPAN. Apparantly made for USA & Japan. Both these countries run on 100/110V. I am very happy with both of them No Issues WHATSOEVER

 

[digitalv]

I fully endorse and subscribe to Venkat's views on this subject.

+1 to above.

Finally glad to see some sense prevailing after pages of heresy and black magic of magical power cords.

 

[hydra]

...
May be one is better off with Audire stuff; 1.5KVA costs about Rs. 25K. If you buy several pieces, pricing may be even less.

Group Buy?

I'd be interested to join if the price is right

 

[Hiten]

Power cords effects on SQ :
Cable debates are never ending debates. We trust each others listening impressions and recommendations don't we? And it would be few years since all major cities had HFV meet. So if possible it would be great to see a blind test of power cables making a difference to a high resolution audio system in some HFV meet. Since this is a subjective thing and lots of thing can go wrong and out of respect to our fellow member/s (who believes power cables makes difference) his/her identity should not be disclosed as this would not be who is right or wrong just exchange of personal listening impressions. Ofcourse one could post results in our forum which would help many. Any volunteers ?
Regards