I am a master electrician. Over the years I've wired a few home theaters and many new homes with entertainment centers, hifi systems etc. I also have a system at home with a pretty powerful amp. I generally would run #10 dedicated lines to spec grade receptacles. Multiple circuits if necessary, depending on the equipment being powered. Breakers should be sized according to the load served. Breakers are for overload/short circuit protection, putting on a larger breaker has no effect on available voltage, just available current. (I mention this because people ask about a larger breaker and also voltage drop concerns).The max breaker allowed on a standard receptacle is 20amps and that's what I would install. You are still at the mercy of the source (power co) unless you have a UPS and or line conditioners to keep the voltage constant and steady. I'm good with my two 20amp dedicated lines, one for my amp, one for everything else. BTW, the larger your service is, the less voltage drop you will see on the entire system and you will get better performance on your individual branch circuits with the system under load. In my dumbass opinion.
Not only audiophiles: I worked for a major oil company in their research laboratory, supervising one of the analytical labs. Many of the analytical instruments needed clean/stable power in order to make measurements of the the highest precision. For one in particular, the stable isotope mass spectrometer we went to great lengths to filter and regulate the incoming power and yes it had a dedicated line back to a main distribution panel, one that was not also powering motors and other equipment with high amp start-up loads. I wonder; would a Power Block have made it better? Cheers, Mark
A real strong solid ground would be my first recommendation for AC power design - lots of floaters out there. You don’t seem too old to entertain new concepts and ideas and then to change your mind - I love lifelong learning and i ain’t dead yet. Thanks for the chat - often a prelude to a nap.
Back in Canada, we had electric baseboard heaters on their own circuits, I disconnected the heaters, convert the circuit back to "single phase" (110v) and that worked much better than the regular circuit(much thick gauge cables)! In Hong Kong, we have dedicated lines to each room for the AC units. when I was living by myself, I just unplug the AC from that line and used it for my HiFi. The amperage on either one of those was usually pretty good too! That's how I did it for years until I got married........ thanks Paul!
I have three separate circuits: one for digital equipment, one for the preamp and turntable, and one for the power amps. I live in the UK, so was able to have a three phase supply installed. One phase feeds the hi fi, so no other equipment can interact. I used 4mm square twin and earth cable, with an additional earth wire so that the earth conductor is the same size as the line and neutrals. Each item of equipment is supplied from its own outlet. Pins on the plugs are polished and cleaned with alcohol afterwards. I noticed that even using 12 volt halogen lamps in the hi fi room, even though they are supplied froma separate circuit, degrades the sound slightly. The supply transformers in equipment work best when "looking into" the lowest supply impedence possible, so all connections must be clean, and make excellent contact. I use a fair bit of Nagra equipment. They solve the problem elegantly in their preamp by supplying it via batteries, connected via a charger. This effectively isolates the preamp from the incoming AC supply.
Your dead on Paul because I work in commercial construction and when we frame hospitals the most important lines for computers, MRI equipment or whatever is dedicated lines and top of the line wiring . I'm not an electrician but I see what your talking about.
they are building my new apartment, and I asked them to put some extra power line on a dedicated group to the spot where my audio system will be :) costed ~400Eu extra I think its a bit of a rip of but then again I think its a good upgrade to have
10 gauge wiring and Spec. grade sockets will absolutely benefit the listening experience in a noticeable way for any decent system. 14 gauge wiring can expose the deficiency of higher source impedance when called upon to deliver tight, deep bass and the receptacle is typically the weakest link in the power delivery chain. Always use the either Federal Specification grade or Hospital Grade receptacles for best listening. Hospital grade receptacles pay special attention to ensuring a quality ground at all times.
If that was to me, I'm a electrical engineer by trade focusing on design of building automation and multimedia presentation systems these days, but I've worked as an electrician in the past. My take is that at 60Hz there's absolutely zero difference other than flexibility for installation because the skin effect is frequency dependant. At 60 Hz, the skin effect depth in copper for a round conductor is 8.4 mm so if you're using 10 gauge wire which has a diameter of only 2.5 mm there's no way the skin effect will be in effect and all the copper will be reduced to the simple values of cross section area and resistance per foot. If you want to go high end, the most important points IMHO are always the junctions. Use non-ox on all junctions, slowly torque all screws to maximum allowed in the datasheet, retorque 1/2 hour later to ensure value because copper is ever so slightly plastic under pressure, use top of the line Fed.Spec. Hospital Grade (both standards together) receptacles, and always use slightly "oversized" cable. The recommended size comes from the diameter required to pass X amount of power with a temperature rise of a max of Y, and not what will deliver the cleanest power for audio so going up a standard gauge or two is very worthwhile.
@ Peter S. Yes it was directed at you. I failed to follow proper protocol. Sir. So maybe the person that said to me that was referring to a DC circuit? But in those cases, mostly non residential, so that possibly the person that mentioned that was trying to trick me or was too vague. That statement seemed to be far fetched for me also. Thank you for responding so soon, my excuse is my data ran out today cause I'm on Paul's channel too much.!! Thank you so much for your opinion, Sir.
I think Paul is talking about the impedance. If the output impedance of an isolation transformer is too high, it can limit dynamics due to current starving. But just use a larger transformer to fix that - more easily said than done! Isolation transformers are not necessarily bad for an audio system, they just have to be properly matched and that is not always practical in a home system. A good compromise is to put all your source gear and preamps on an isolation transformer and keep your power amps on raw AC. A primary benefit of an isolation transformer is the filtering of spikes and many forms of noise (not all) on the AC line. Destructive sharp rise time spikes can't get through the transformer and unlike MOV's, transformers are very rugged against damage by spikes. MOV's can be rendered ineffective after just one high voltage spike event.
@@andydelle4509 I think you also have a valid point. I helped build a real Pro Recording Studio back in the late 80's. My friend the electrical engineer kept complaining about the Iso-Trany's taking so long to arrive because they were a special order . I think there were two just for the audio equipment in one studio. Its a different thing a pro recording studio, they can't have noise making its way to back then it was tape now its Protools to HD or SSD , which you can go back and remove noise, but that still takes time. As with HI-Fi you only care about accurate reproduction .
@@lroy730 Yes isolation transformers are fairly common in recording studios, at least the older ones that were once all analog. Some even go for a balance 60-0-60 power system. Back before the onslaught of computer based systems which now need UPS protection, large isolation transformers were also a part of many technical installations to isolate the technical load from the rest of the building loads.
I have the same AC outlet concerns , I ended up getting a 7 dollar nylon copper terminal outlets at Home Depot and they are so tight to plug stuff in which is ideal for current flow. It does make a difference, the law of electrons applies here guy from NJ lol good concern
Paul, it’s interesting that you didn’t mention the Dectet. I recently purchased the Dectet and I did notice a minor change in SQ. frankly, at first, I wasn’t sure whether I liked the change but, after swapping the device in and out, I’m happy. Even though I use high-end Ayre devices, regenerator is far in my future. A dedicated line comes next (after I score your Directstream DAC!)
Hello Paul, what about Hi-End fuses, I'm using hi fi tuning supreme fuses, in all my equipment & powercords, I believe they have made subtle changes, but with most audio tweaks, they only make subtle changes, what do you think, also I agree with you on put a dedicated line in, that a excellent way of improving your electric source.
Tweaker man good to see you here! You need my stand alone over unity power conditioner coming out 2019! Maybe I can send you one? Do a review on it? :-)
Whatever Paul thinks of isolation transformers, I use a power filter with an isolation transformer for my main headphone system. The sound becomes fuller. As much as I want one of PS Audio regenerators, their earlier versions are famous for unreliability; an isolation transformer is MUCH cheaper and it will work LONGER time
I wonder if the problems you seem to have in the US with your power may be due to the way you do things? Here in the UK each socket has two parallel connections. This is because we ring main our domestic electrical supplies, starting at the fuse box then looping into and back out of each socket then eventually back to the fuse box. This means that even if upstream you are pulling some current from one socket there is still an alternative route to power the next socket in the loop from the opposite side of the ring main. So having largely solved the issue of voltage drop in cables the only other issue is noise and a decent filter will sort that out. We also split circuits up floor by floor and put heavy appliances such as oven and water heaters on their own separate circuits, again ring main'd though.
Paul, What if you use any A/C source to charge a battery bank via a charger,, then run the batteries through their own dedicated inverter, would this give you a very clean A/C signal then? Not an opinion, only a question.
yep make sure you dont have open ground before plug in ...smoke electronics real fast. also theres specific breakers you can get and lines for audio power
Just what's on that breaker not the entire house. And that is only if you want to simulate the effect of a dedicated line. Lol or you can just turn it on and enjoy.
Paul you must be joking saying home theater people aren’t looking for imaging and soundstaging? You may have never heard a proper theater with the right content. My JBL Horns image like crazy and a good mix has a soundstage much wider and deeper then my walls.
What about isolated grounds (not connected to the panel's neutral)? What you said about the ground introducing noise is interesting because all of the grounds are ultimately connected to the neutral bar in the electrical panel, which I presume would be quite noisy anyways. So wouldn't isolated grounds help by completely eliminating noise in the ground? Thanks
Wow, this is a crazy place..we have people who can hear the difference between different 120vac outlets, people who think the president is a paid actor, people spraying us with aluminum dust, then to top it all off, we have a narrator sitting in an electronics shop talking about AC power and also his power plant product while never connecting a scope to show us actual data ??? I love it "hear" 😁
You have forgot to mention shielded power supply cables (each power supply cable for each audio device has to be shielded in your audio setup) and isolation transformers
I can imagine a lot of recording equipment, especially live performances, not plugged into mains conditioners, special mains cable, or dedicated lines. What would make the playback chain more imprtant than the recording chain?
Isn't why we use big transformers who also filter the power ? Also we use giant caps to filter the power before it goes to the speakers right ? (not an engineer maybe i'm wrong but why do we need giant caps then)
Ok, I actually watched the video. I heard years ago that stranded wire of the same gauge can carry more current than the same of solid type. This whole year of watching Paul and other channrls, I have not heard this mentioned. Also if you have a dedicated line, the rating for wire is per 100 feet. Lets say you have a power amp drawing 12amps at 120volts. Is it not important to check your voltage at the wall outlet compared to at the breaker at full load? (if your an audiophile) There's got to be some voltage drop, right? I say run a hundred amp wire to a box near your listening room and then put a breaker there and come inside to your outlet. Over kill makes near zero voltage drop. Or am I just a burned out ex leaf blower? Trolling here is fine with me.
PAUL, WHY DO YOU GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE NAYSAYERS?! I hear the difference in speaker cables, interconnects and conditioned power. Some people say it’s in the mind, well, ,as Paul said, it’s all in the mind anyway. If covering all bases gives me peace of mind for one or two grand then I’ll take it. Maybe it’s placebo but then placebo has been shown to work! Strange place the human mind!
about your world view comments, in audio, you verify or change your views depending on the real world results that you can hear and sometimes measure. World views have to include the nature of the human being that is to be impacted if a particular world view is taken to it's logical conclusion.
Regardless of noisy output, can a Sprout100 run on power inverter (500+ watt Radio Shack, or kumquat laugesta)? Void warrenty, make Paul mad at me or any other concerns? Because that's exactly how I plan on using The Sprout100 ocassionaly.
@@sbtrnfla I needed one to specifically clean up the power going into the TV, my specific issue was the backlight was pulsating a bit, just enough to be annoying. Also, I chose the battery backup to keep the DirecTV DVR running during power outages. I would definitely recommend at least getting a UPS. Just look for one that can handle the load you plan on putting on it. The Specific one I have is an APC NS-1080. It is not one of the "pure" sinewave models, though it works great for my purpose. I certainly cannot afford a big Power Plant right now, so the UPS solution works great for me. Of course, I was not experiencing any problems with my sound quality, just the sensitive TV.
Paul, what's your take on countries like Japan---a source of some truly outstanding audio components, such as Esoteric---that don't include grounds in their wiring?
I agree about the benefits of a dedicated line for an audio setup, it just removes the concerns about what something else sharing the circuit might put on the power line. About a decade ago I mounted a 2kva transformer on a floor joist that has a 240v input and a 115v output. That big chunk of iron has very low impedance and all that iron makes a pretty good low pass filter. i bought a perfect wave dac last week and a new preamp as well, the combo sounds damn good. Maybe some day I'll spring for a power plant but I have other fish to fry first.
I live in a rural setting and there is a power-line running near my house. There is transformer on the pole and power comes from that - to my house only. How lucky am I?
I've often wondered if nicking the electric ovens dedicated line would be good. Here in the UK it's a 30A 240V supply. There's no way I'd ever even stress that line. Theres a few power units starting to appear on eBay from China these days too. I have no idea how well they preform though.
FWIW, with the advice of an electrician (and I'm an electrical engineer myself, but not up on the funky requirements that building code sometimes forces on us), I wired my basement dedicated lines using one phase of a 10-gauge (30A) two phase wire that had been run by the previous homeowners with the intention of putting either a kitchen or laundry in the basement (I don't know, since I got the home after the previous owners had passed so they weren't around to ask), though I ended up putting another breaker box at the end of the line in the basement and a 20A breaker to turn it into 12 gauge for wiring into the outlets themselves. Either way, double check with an electrician how to do it per local code, but it's definitely phyiscally possible to use the existing wire run and likely also the breaker.
Your socket wiring has a 32A fuse rating and is a ring main configuration. I don't think you need to worry about voltage regulation issues on the average UK domestic socket circuit. Just get a decent filter for spike suppression (any arcing in a socket switch for example can cause spikes) and your supply should be fine. If you use a vacuum cleaner on the same ring main your HiFi gear is on you may get some issues but really who listens to high end audio with a vacuum cleaner running? I cannot speak for electrical supplies in the USA, perhaps they are shite but here in the UK they are well regulated to tight tolerances. Another tip is to run your microwave oven (assuming you have one) from the oven electrical switch socket in your kitchen. Microwaves can cause problems so keep them away from your ordinary socket ring main.
Line with only one plugin on the breaker is a good Idea; somewhat cheaper than power plants. Thanks. As for your "world view" I share many of your views. I like your honesty, and humor. This is why you find me here, although I will never afford any P S Audio products. In the past, I have built several speaker boxes. Sine I have moved several times since then, I no loner have them. Enjoyed the topic. Peace and health to all.
Watch this video and see for yourself: th-cam.com/video/2CEhucgqen4/w-d-xo.html It's really quite grim. The generator will be extremely dirty by comparison in terms of frequency stability, voltage regulation, and waveform distortion. Variable current demands are not what generators like to see because the current being drawn will translate directly to the load on the engine. A Honda EU2000 driving a Power Plant on the other hand should be quite decent.
@@Peter_S_ if you stored a bunch of power in 12v batteries then ran a good inverter to 120v you could maybe listen to a couple of CDs before the music died?
@@JohnDoe-np3zk Absolutely, but the quality of the inverter is still central. Just running the EU2000i's unregulated 12V output to an average car sized battery and then to a good quality inverter will go a long way to delivering very stable power. With a very good quality inverter that solution should be just fine for even somewhat critical listening and a gallon of gas should be good for hours. The thing to always ensure is that you have what could be considered a silly amount of reserve current capacity available. Adding large electrolytic capacitors across the battery will help even more but may present their own issues because of leakage current and thus the need to disconnect the battery when not in use, as well as the current surge experienced when charging those caps from zero at power-on. The Battery will charge the caps with a snap just fine, but the generator will see the discharged caps as dead shorts until they take some charge so power sequencing in such a setup is important. The kids with cars that go boom use these capacitors to enable deeper bass than would be possible from a regular car battery but they work for French horns and timpanies just as well as synth bass and drum machines. Think of the PS Audio Power Plant as essentially one of the world's nicest inverters with a really nice power supply built in. Keeping the primary voltage higher than you find in a typical battery situation allows for a much high power density than would be possible at 12V. Touring Hammond organ players had to deal with poor power issues before almost anybody else because the tone generator is synced to the 60Hz line frequency, in fact, we have Larry Hammond to thank for having stable 60Hz power in the United States because he made synchronous clocks before making organs. He sent free clocks to every power generating station and told them that they would always be in perfect time if the station maintained 60Hz. If you were on generator power at a festival or touring Europe with 50Hz power and a 60Hz organ, you had problems. The hacked solution used by several was to use a 60Hz sine oscillator from a engineer's test bench to generate a sine wave into a large 2 channel amplifier set to bridge mode (giving a pair of out-of-phase outputs and thus twice the voltage). The organ's power cord was then spliced into the amp's outputs and volume increased to a stable 115VAC out. Worked like a charm then and still today.
There isn't. AC lines will always be a noisy sinewave. Just don't buy a shitty amp that cant filter it out. If you have to buy a "power plant" that recycles the AC wave form to a clean sinewave the amp itself is horribly built with horrible filtering and should be thrown out instead.
"I don't normally pitch our products on these videos." Yes you do! While sitting in the PS Audio premises, usually alongside a pile of PS Audio products, and while wearing a shirt with a PS Audio logo. And in this case, while strongly suggesting that the only thing one can do to improve the AC supply (other than a dedicated line) is to buy a PS Audio product. I doubt that the latter is true. You are clearly suggesting that all other types of products than those made by PS Audio, and in particular those using isolation transformers such as those made by Torus Power, are fraudulent. I have never used isolation transformers or a power regenerator, so I do not know which is more effective. I have used power filters such as those produced by Isol-8 and ifi and, curiously, PS Audio. They did make a difference, although the PS Audio Dectet was the least effective.
Two dedicated 20 amp circuits to 2 Richard Gray Power Company power supplies for me. One for my power amps and subwoofers and one for all of my processing and video equipment. Many ways of doing it but it's extremely important. If I could afford it Paul, I would buy your power supplies...
This guy built a business on producing consumer electronics based on psuedo-science. Is it a surprise at all that he swears up and down there is a difference to be heard, but claims it to be scientifically undetectable?
I really can’t understand this video. 1. Any formal professional sound engineering school will educate it’s student about “power supply “ for audio. If you know sound engineer that is clueless or indifferent to that issue - please encourage him to look for one of maaaany sound engineering schools / academies / seminars. Not for the reason of shaming or under estimating but THAT SOUND ENGINEER have a hole in his knowledge and it is “ off pro standards “. 2. Even 30 years ago when I started the sound engineer phase of my life - 3 phase supply to the studio , well separated grounding, rack of power stabilizers, conditioners, spike protection etc were the first thing that my studio owner did before even getting into rooms treatment and the sexy load of shiny electronics. Nope, it wasn’t a top league high profile music legends and stars studio. Just a pro audio level commercial recording studio. Further more, also i was recording studio oriented i did get out couple of times to outdoor/ locations sessions in which EVERY time I noticed who much resources and care went into “Power supply “. From the National radio classical music devision mobile unit and their state of the art mobile power generator to local small sound reinforcement companies and sound technicians/ engineers that find solutions to power supply as a 1st thing to establish before every thing else. And i am from a small country with small/super local oriented / small money market for culture... 3. Sound engineer is a service giver. Rarely he will make the majority of decisions that will determine how the final version actually sounds like. It was like that from the first recording studio ever to be built. Musical producers, the records company management and some other factors are the final sound quality decision making in the music industry, period. True that in the last couple of years the decision makers/ big money target have absolutely nothing to do with art, overall sound experience etc. In the last 20 years the only thing that matter in the industry is MAKE IT LOUD, MAKE IT LOUDER, MAKE IT LOUDEST!!!!!! it killed most of the art, common sense,sound experience and fun out for us - THE MUSIC LOVERS AND QUALITY/SOUND EXPERIENCE listeners. Sad but true. After putting that enormous factor first on the table first - I can’t understand nor expat your false, uneducated and make no sense perception of sound engineers world of depth, sound stage , tonal balancing, dynamics, details, transitions, transients response ,know how, listen to and process capabilities. Furthermore, i have met some mastering engineers in my life, all of them are no name/ small local market and very far from the EU and Americans big markets mastering scene and NOT ONE OF THEM had so many uneducated, untrained, narrow, lack of experience remarks / question marks / need to be enlightened like your buddy / business partner Mastering engineer that you are commenting frequently. I hope you are doing to him good service with all those remarks of yours regarding him, but honestly I talked about it with some of my critical listening $$$$$ playback system educated friends and some guys from our small local pro audio industry/ market and they all share the same strange buzz that cone out of your remarks on that mastering guy. Be blessed, good luck with the new High Res / Def recording studio, the new listen room and setups* and truly prosperity in business * a collective massage from my audio clan - “Ohhhhh he finally put the rare unobtainable monsters in a proper dimensions room” -
The question was about ac power supply. Paul addressed it. He also addressed about peoples views is that why your getting emotional in that as far as Paul is concerned your view is irrelevant to him . wow . Here's a tip for ya to help you get through life .Take everything that is said with a pinch of salt or if required truck loads of it
I don't think the power source is is much of an issue. As long as the source is stable I would count on the power supply components in my audio system to clean it it. Perhaps a high quality TRUE UPS (non switching) with pure sign wave output would help if you experience brownouts or interruptions. With this type of UPS The batteries are ALWAYS the source of power and the line merely charges the batteries. Before the 1980s this was the definition of a UPS. A good one will be expensive.
Oh boy, nope. Paul, you mention your products quite often actually or at least allude to them, but there is nothing wrong with that inherently. After all, you make them, don't you? I would only disagree that they are not the only or best answer no matter what. There are many good products out there as you also occasionally say. I don't get into a tizzy with the talk of things audiophile because I deal in real science and common sense and it has never failed me. I believe with proof that there is no way to make the power feeding into your house "audiophile power". It comes from the generating plant down the line to the switch station, etc, then feeds into your house. Can you clean the power signal after the outlet? Yes, one can clean it up a bit with a decent conditioner, but there is no degree of "audiophile" to it. I use a good conditioner / surge protector that is pricey to me, but won't break the bank and it has done its job a couple of times, thank you very much. It is at that point one realizes the value. The only way to get the mythical power you seek is to have the power stations make special power just for you and send down special lines, etc. Guess what will never happen? Now, as to power cords, which I throw in here because I recently did battle with proponents of "high-end audiophile" power cords and won. It is common sense. You have a piece of gear lets say that has a 5 year warranty. All warranties come with stipulations one must follow. The gear comes with the proper power cord one would assume correctly I would think. Now go and swap out that cord for some fancy (and often times not tested or rated for safety I might add) audiophile power cord and stick it on the piece. Guess what, you have just voided your warranty! To me that is what expensive audiophile power cords are solely designed for, void people's warranties. That makes them bad in my book along with not being tested. Also power cords make no difference in sound because there is no audio signal being sent through them! If that where the case they would look and be built and be tested far differently. I'll take my chances with the cords that come with the gear, thanks and worry more about the things that can matter like set up, room, proper shielded interconnects, speaker cable, etc. Also, I am apolitical, I like none of them and not of any party and not a full US citizen anyway. I don't want to be involved because it only encourages them, but mixing business (especially audio) and politics never ends well. Mixing politics with anything is evil.
I watch for the entertainment value and the occasional bits of engineering facts (as opposed to intrinsic opinion). Plus the fact that Paul oft times plugs the products that his company (and by default the company's channel), it is easy to see that even though this is based on "Ask Paul," it is still aimed toward the company's visibility. Marketing 101. Even though he is passionate about high end audio, he is still a business owner and this is a good way to build trust and brand recognition (he stated this in an earlier video). If he had a problem with us, it is well within his right to boot us off. If it doesn't bother him, then he's a better man than most.
Cali Coast At least those of us enjoying life at the west coast listening to all the music we make here are far away from the madness and noise in the WH.
scarabeo500gt You are waisting your time the political system is a hoax. The real rulers of this world are not the actors you see on television. If you were awake you would see that.
So why do high end audio need good power and not a computer? If anything I'd say that all those bits and bytes which are sent back and forth on small nanometer wide lines some billion times per second are WAY more sensitive than those in comparison very simple sine waves that we listen to. So even thou we have this "dirty" AC power sent into our computers they still don't do anything wrong. Kinda amazing, don't you think? Yet apparently in audio there is a BIG difference between good and bad power? No sorry, I have a really hard time believing this. Maybe if you could provide some blind test results with and without your power plants in a system? If not, why should we believe someone that wants to sell their extremely expensive gear (which no other company even bothers to make)?
You are correct! Computers are far more sensitive to power problems than any analog audio gear. After all the commercial market for UPS systems and power conditioning started in the 1960s computer era, not the local HiFi shop.Yet probably 95% or more of the worlds home computers work just fine on raw wall power. So yeah, we have to ask, as you did, just how bad is the average wall outlet in terms of power quality?
You should do the blind tests for yourself. Instead of arguing against something that you clearly didn't test, try a dedicated line for your audio system, try high quality cables and see how that affects the sound. There is nothing on this world that would change your opinion about this matter, except for you, by allowing yourself to make these tests with an open mind. Good luck!
@@andru2625 A good way to test if a dedicated line will help is to identify the circuit your audio system is on, then unplug everything else on that circuit and turn off any hardwired lamps. That will get you very close to a dedicated circuit. Otherwise having one installed on faith will be expensive. Nothing wrong with a dedicated circuit, I believe in them too. But you may want to check first before making that investment. As for expensive cables, sure try them if you want. Just make sure they can be returned for a full refund if they do not produce the advertised result.
In my old house I used the unplug everything method Paul mentioned. The only thing we sometimes plugged in was the alarm clock upstairs in the bedroom. When we started a listening session downstairs we (my wife and i) could hear if the alarm clock was plugged in or not. I don't know why or how it works but we could hear it.
The simple answer is that computers operate differently than sound systems. For one thing, they use regulated power supplies that provide perfectly managed power. Regulated PS's are a bad thing on power amps because of transient power demands. Computers are insensitive to jitter. Computers produce massive amounts of noise and RFI, but it has little effect on processing for reasons too complicated to enumerate here. You can test this easily enough if you have a decent system. Just plug a standard wall wart into the same power strip your amplifier is plugged into. Even a moderately resolving system will sound worse, and a good system will sound like hell.
Clean AC power works in the hi end audio... only about 3%... and that's it... very important to us ''audiophiles''... but, the only savior is Jesus Christ, without changing anybody!
I am a master electrician. Over the years I've wired a few home theaters and many new homes with entertainment centers, hifi systems etc. I also have a system at home with a pretty powerful amp. I generally would run #10 dedicated lines to spec grade receptacles. Multiple circuits if necessary, depending on the equipment being powered. Breakers should be sized according to the load served. Breakers are for overload/short circuit protection, putting on a larger breaker has no effect on available voltage, just available current. (I mention this because people ask about a larger breaker and also voltage drop concerns).The max breaker allowed on a standard receptacle is 20amps and that's what I would install. You are still at the mercy of the source (power co) unless you have a UPS and or line conditioners to keep the voltage constant and steady. I'm good with my two 20amp dedicated lines, one for my amp, one for everything else. BTW, the larger your service is, the less voltage drop you will see on the entire system and you will get better performance on your individual branch circuits with the system under load. In my dumbass opinion.
Not only audiophiles: I worked for a major oil company in their research laboratory, supervising one of the analytical labs. Many of the analytical instruments needed clean/stable power in order to make measurements of the the highest precision. For one in particular, the stable isotope mass spectrometer we went to great lengths to filter and regulate the incoming power and yes it had a dedicated line back to a main distribution panel, one that was not also powering motors and other equipment with high amp start-up loads. I wonder; would a Power Block have made it better?
Cheers, Mark
A real strong solid ground would be my first recommendation for AC power design - lots of floaters out there.
You don’t seem too old to entertain new concepts and ideas and then to change your mind - I love lifelong learning and i ain’t dead yet. Thanks for the chat - often a prelude to a nap.
Back in Canada, we had electric baseboard heaters on their own circuits, I disconnected the heaters, convert the circuit back to "single phase" (110v) and that worked much better than the regular circuit(much thick gauge cables)! In Hong Kong, we have dedicated lines to each room for the AC units. when I was living by myself, I just unplug the AC from that line and used it for my HiFi. The amperage on either one of those was usually pretty good too! That's how I did it for years until I got married........ thanks Paul!
That thing your friend did that’s smart. I’m gonna do the same 😊
I have three separate circuits: one for digital equipment, one for the preamp and turntable, and one for the power amps. I live in the UK, so was able to have a three phase supply installed. One phase feeds the hi fi, so no other equipment can interact. I used 4mm square twin and earth cable, with an additional earth wire so that the earth conductor is the same size as the line and neutrals. Each item of equipment is supplied from its own outlet. Pins on the plugs are polished and cleaned with alcohol afterwards. I noticed that even using 12 volt halogen lamps in the hi fi room, even though they are supplied froma separate circuit, degrades the sound slightly. The supply transformers in equipment work best when "looking into" the lowest supply impedence possible, so all connections must be clean, and make excellent contact. I use a fair bit of Nagra equipment. They solve the problem elegantly in their preamp by supplying it via batteries, connected via a charger. This effectively isolates the preamp from the incoming AC supply.
Your dead on Paul because I work in commercial construction and when we frame hospitals the most important lines for computers, MRI equipment or whatever is dedicated lines and top of the line wiring . I'm not an electrician but I see what your talking about.
they are building my new apartment, and I asked them to put some extra power line on a dedicated group to the spot where my audio system will be :) costed ~400Eu extra I think its a bit of a rip of but then again I think its a good upgrade to have
I would genuinely love to a Blind test on the IRS with and without power plant
You can benefit from using 12 ga vs. 14 ga. wire and buy some nice receptacles too. It all helps.
10 gauge wiring and Spec. grade sockets will absolutely benefit the listening experience in a noticeable way for any decent system. 14 gauge wiring can expose the deficiency of higher source impedance when called upon to deliver tight, deep bass and the receptacle is typically the weakest link in the power delivery chain. Always use the either Federal Specification grade or Hospital Grade receptacles for best listening. Hospital grade receptacles pay special attention to ensuring a quality ground at all times.
what about stranded wire verses solid. Your an electrician right?
If that was to me, I'm a electrical engineer by trade focusing on design of building automation and multimedia presentation systems these days, but I've worked as an electrician in the past. My take is that at 60Hz there's absolutely zero difference other than flexibility for installation because the skin effect is frequency dependant. At 60 Hz, the skin effect depth in copper for a round conductor is 8.4 mm so if you're using 10 gauge wire which has a diameter of only 2.5 mm there's no way the skin effect will be in effect and all the copper will be reduced to the simple values of cross section area and resistance per foot. If you want to go high end, the most important points IMHO are always the junctions. Use non-ox on all junctions, slowly torque all screws to maximum allowed in the datasheet, retorque 1/2 hour later to ensure value because copper is ever so slightly plastic under pressure, use top of the line Fed.Spec. Hospital Grade (both standards together) receptacles, and always use slightly "oversized" cable. The recommended size comes from the diameter required to pass X amount of power with a temperature rise of a max of Y, and not what will deliver the cleanest power for audio so going up a standard gauge or two is very worthwhile.
@ Peter S. Yes it was directed at you. I failed to follow proper protocol. Sir.
So maybe the person that said to me that was referring to a DC circuit?
But in those cases, mostly non residential, so that possibly the person that mentioned that was trying to trick me or was too vague.
That statement seemed to be far fetched for me also.
Thank you for responding so soon, my excuse is my data ran out today cause I'm on Paul's channel too much.!!
Thank you so much for your opinion, Sir.
I have run a 12 ga wire to my system. It is still hooked up to a 15 amp breaker would a 20 amp be of any benefit?
isolation transformers "muck up the sound."
please splain, Lucy.
this sounds like a good subject for a video.
I think Paul is talking about the impedance. If the output impedance of an isolation transformer is too high, it can limit dynamics due to current starving. But just use a larger transformer to fix that - more easily said than done! Isolation transformers are not necessarily bad for an audio system, they just have to be properly matched and that is not always practical in a home system. A good compromise is to put all your source gear and preamps on an isolation transformer and keep your power amps on raw AC. A primary benefit of an isolation transformer is the filtering of spikes and many forms of noise (not all) on the AC line. Destructive sharp rise time spikes can't get through the transformer and unlike MOV's, transformers are very rugged against damage by spikes. MOV's can be rendered ineffective after just one high voltage spike event.
@@andydelle4509 I think you also have a valid point. I helped build a real Pro Recording Studio back in the late 80's. My friend the electrical engineer kept complaining about the Iso-Trany's taking so long to arrive because they were a special order . I think there were two just for the audio equipment in one studio. Its a different thing a pro recording studio, they can't have noise making its way to back then it was tape now its Protools to HD or SSD , which you can go back and remove noise, but that still takes time.
As with HI-Fi you only care about accurate reproduction .
@@lroy730 Yes isolation transformers are fairly common in recording studios, at least the older ones that were once all analog. Some even go for a balance 60-0-60 power system. Back before the onslaught of computer based systems which now need UPS protection, large isolation transformers were also a part of many technical installations to isolate the technical load from the rest of the building loads.
I'm confused too. Most components already have what essentially functions as an isolation transformer as part of their power supply.
@@gotham61 , well, he certainly wasnt speaking of those.
Thanks Paul good Information as usual! I would like to have a power plant. Someday...
I have done both, dedicated 20 amp line plus a P10. Truly a world of difference. 👍🏾
I have the same AC outlet concerns , I ended up getting a 7 dollar nylon copper terminal outlets at Home Depot and they are so tight to plug stuff in which is ideal for current flow. It does make a difference, the law of electrons applies here guy from NJ lol good concern
Make sure to clean your equip ac cord terminals
Paul, it’s interesting that you didn’t mention the Dectet. I recently purchased the Dectet and I did notice a minor change in SQ. frankly, at first, I wasn’t sure whether I liked the change but, after swapping the device in and out, I’m happy. Even though I use high-end Ayre devices, regenerator is far in my future. A dedicated line comes next (after I score your Directstream DAC!)
Hello Paul, what about Hi-End fuses, I'm using hi fi tuning supreme fuses, in all my equipment & powercords, I believe they have made subtle changes, but with most audio tweaks, they only make subtle changes, what do you think, also I agree with you on put a dedicated line in, that a excellent way of improving your electric source.
Tweaker man good to see you here! You need my stand alone over unity power conditioner coming out 2019! Maybe I can send you one? Do a review on it? :-)
@@esotericaudiophile3884 Hello, I'm happy to do a review on it, let me know when its ready, cheers.
@@tweakerman Sounds like a plan...
I respect this man! And I appreciate not getting too political
It's refreshing that you have no animosity toward anyone despite your political affiliations. We could all try harder to achieve that.
Whatever Paul thinks of isolation transformers, I use a power filter with an isolation transformer for my main headphone system. The sound becomes fuller. As much as I want one of PS Audio regenerators, their earlier versions are famous for unreliability; an isolation transformer is MUCH cheaper and it will work LONGER time
I wonder if the problems you seem to have in the US with your power may be due to the way you do things? Here in the UK each socket has two parallel connections. This is because we ring main our domestic electrical supplies, starting at the fuse box then looping into and back out of each socket then eventually back to the fuse box. This means that even if upstream you are pulling some current from one socket there is still an alternative route to power the next socket in the loop from the opposite side of the ring main. So having largely solved the issue of voltage drop in cables the only other issue is noise and a decent filter will sort that out. We also split circuits up floor by floor and put heavy appliances such as oven and water heaters on their own separate circuits, again ring main'd though.
Paul,
What if you use any A/C source to charge a battery bank via a charger,, then run the batteries through their own dedicated inverter, would this give you a very clean A/C signal then? Not an opinion, only a question.
Paul is a good person and very respectful
I really enjoy listening to you and learning. Also I find your approach really intersting.
yep make sure you dont have open ground before plug in ...smoke electronics real fast. also theres specific breakers you can get and lines for audio power
Now I remember to unplug everything in my house. Except for my stereo when I decide to do a listening session 😂
Just what's on that breaker not the entire house. And that is only if you want to simulate the effect of a dedicated line. Lol or you can just turn it on and enjoy.
Paul you must be joking saying home theater people aren’t looking for imaging and soundstaging? You may have never heard a proper theater with the right content. My JBL Horns image like crazy and a good mix has a soundstage much wider and deeper then my walls.
What about isolated grounds (not connected to the panel's neutral)? What you said about the ground introducing noise is interesting because all of the grounds are ultimately connected to the neutral bar in the electrical panel, which I presume would be quite noisy anyways. So wouldn't isolated grounds help by completely eliminating noise in the ground? Thanks
Wow, this is a crazy place..we have people who can hear the difference between different 120vac outlets, people who think the president is a paid actor, people spraying us with aluminum dust, then to top it all off, we have a narrator sitting in an electronics shop talking about AC power and also his power plant product while never connecting a scope to show us actual data ??? I love it "hear" 😁
You have forgot to mention shielded power supply cables (each power supply cable for each audio device has to be shielded in your audio setup) and isolation transformers
Correctly sized isolation transformer should be fine, especially on source components.
I can imagine a lot of recording equipment, especially live performances, not plugged into mains conditioners, special mains cable, or dedicated lines. What would make the playback chain more imprtant than the recording chain?
I use power conditioners but you lost me on this one long before you got to the point.
Isn't why we use big transformers who also filter the power ? Also we use giant caps to filter the power before it goes to the speakers right ? (not an engineer maybe i'm wrong but why do we need giant caps then)
Ok, I actually watched the video. I heard years ago that stranded wire of the same gauge can carry more current than the same of solid type. This whole year of watching Paul and other channrls, I have not heard this mentioned.
Also if you have a dedicated line, the rating for wire is per 100 feet. Lets say you have a power amp drawing 12amps at 120volts.
Is it not important to check your voltage at the wall outlet compared to at the breaker at full load? (if your an audiophile)
There's got to be some voltage drop, right?
I say run a hundred amp wire to a box near your listening room and then put a breaker there and come inside to your outlet.
Over kill makes near zero voltage drop.
Or am I just a burned out ex leaf blower?
Trolling here is fine with me.
PAUL, WHY DO YOU GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE NAYSAYERS?! I hear the difference in speaker cables, interconnects and conditioned power. Some people say it’s in the mind, well, ,as Paul said, it’s all in the mind anyway. If covering all bases gives me peace of mind for one or two grand then I’ll take it. Maybe it’s placebo but then placebo has been shown to work! Strange place the human mind!
about your world view comments, in audio, you verify or change your views depending on the real world results that you can hear and sometimes measure. World views have to include the nature of the human being that is to be impacted if a particular world view is taken to it's logical conclusion.
Regardless of noisy output, can a Sprout100 run on power inverter (500+ watt Radio Shack, or kumquat laugesta)?
Void warrenty, make Paul mad at me or any other concerns?
Because that's exactly how I plan on using The Sprout100 ocassionaly.
I can say my Sony XBR900E certainly got much happier when I plugged it in to a regenerating UPS.
Craig Spurlock would you recomend one?
@@sbtrnfla I needed one to specifically clean up the power going into the TV, my specific issue was the backlight was pulsating a bit, just enough to be annoying. Also, I chose the battery backup to keep the DirecTV DVR running during power outages. I would definitely recommend at least getting a UPS. Just look for one that can handle the load you plan on putting on it. The Specific one I have is an APC NS-1080. It is not one of the "pure" sinewave models, though it works great for my purpose. I certainly cannot afford a big Power Plant right now, so the UPS solution works great for me. Of course, I was not experiencing any problems with my sound quality, just the sensitive TV.
Why not plug the noice harvester? That is just what he would need.
Paul, what's your take on countries like Japan---a source of some truly outstanding audio components, such as Esoteric---that don't include grounds in their wiring?
Why PS power plant cost so much?
I agree about the benefits of a dedicated line for an audio setup, it just removes the concerns about what something else sharing the circuit might put on the power line.
About a decade ago I mounted a 2kva transformer on a floor joist that has a 240v input and a 115v output. That big chunk of iron has very low impedance and all that iron makes a pretty good low pass filter. i bought a perfect wave dac last week and a new preamp as well, the combo sounds damn good. Maybe some day I'll spring for a power plant but I have other fish to fry first.
I live in a rural setting and there is a power-line running near my house. There is transformer on the pole and power comes from that - to my house only. How lucky am I?
You are very lucky indeed. I envy you...
I've often wondered if nicking the electric ovens dedicated line would be good. Here in the UK it's a 30A 240V supply. There's no way I'd ever even stress that line. Theres a few power units starting to appear on eBay from China these days too. I have no idea how well they preform though.
FWIW, with the advice of an electrician (and I'm an electrical engineer myself, but not up on the funky requirements that building code sometimes forces on us), I wired my basement dedicated lines using one phase of a 10-gauge (30A) two phase wire that had been run by the previous homeowners with the intention of putting either a kitchen or laundry in the basement (I don't know, since I got the home after the previous owners had passed so they weren't around to ask), though I ended up putting another breaker box at the end of the line in the basement and a 20A breaker to turn it into 12 gauge for wiring into the outlets themselves. Either way, double check with an electrician how to do it per local code, but it's definitely phyiscally possible to use the existing wire run and likely also the breaker.
Your socket wiring has a 32A fuse rating and is a ring main configuration. I don't think you need to worry about voltage regulation issues on the average UK domestic socket circuit. Just get a decent filter for spike suppression (any arcing in a socket switch for example can cause spikes) and your supply should be fine. If you use a vacuum cleaner on the same ring main your HiFi gear is on you may get some issues but really who listens to high end audio with a vacuum cleaner running? I cannot speak for electrical supplies in the USA, perhaps they are shite but here in the UK they are well regulated to tight tolerances. Another tip is to run your microwave oven (assuming you have one) from the oven electrical switch socket in your kitchen. Microwaves can cause problems so keep them away from your ordinary socket ring main.
No Scientific evidence, no buy.
Larry Niles using science, as should everyone.
@Larry Niles EE's help you get through life every day.
@Larry Niles How do you get through life
believing outrageous unverified claims that are demonstrably bullshit?
@@DescartesRenegade I guess that most of your decisions during the day are not done because of science but because of your experiences.
@@oysteinsoreide4323 my experiences are brought forth by making decisions based on reason as I hope are yours.
Line with only one plugin on the breaker is a good Idea; somewhat cheaper than power plants. Thanks. As for your "world view" I share many of your views. I like your honesty, and humor. This is why you find me here, although I will never afford any P S Audio products. In the past, I have built several speaker boxes. Sine I have moved several times since then, I no loner have them. Enjoyed the topic. Peace and health to all.
Spoiler alert: Actual video begins at 5:33. Sorry Paul (and all due respect), but this was too much, even for you......
Would a Honda EU2000 generator be cleaner or less clean than typical AC power out of the wall?
Watch this video and see for yourself: th-cam.com/video/2CEhucgqen4/w-d-xo.html It's really quite grim.
The generator will be extremely dirty by comparison in terms of frequency stability, voltage regulation, and waveform distortion. Variable current demands are not what generators like to see because the current being drawn will translate directly to the load on the engine. A Honda EU2000 driving a Power Plant on the other hand should be quite decent.
@@Peter_S_ if you stored a bunch of power in 12v batteries then ran a good inverter to 120v you could maybe listen to a couple of CDs before the music died?
@@JohnDoe-np3zk Absolutely, but the quality of the inverter is still central. Just running the EU2000i's unregulated 12V output to an average car sized battery and then to a good quality inverter will go a long way to delivering very stable power. With a very good quality inverter that solution should be just fine for even somewhat critical listening and a gallon of gas should be good for hours. The thing to always ensure is that you have what could be considered a silly amount of reserve current capacity available. Adding large electrolytic capacitors across the battery will help even more but may present their own issues because of leakage current and thus the need to disconnect the battery when not in use, as well as the current surge experienced when charging those caps from zero at power-on. The Battery will charge the caps with a snap just fine, but the generator will see the discharged caps as dead shorts until they take some charge so power sequencing in such a setup is important. The kids with cars that go boom use these capacitors to enable deeper bass than would be possible from a regular car battery but they work for French horns and timpanies just as well as synth bass and drum machines.
Think of the PS Audio Power Plant as essentially one of the world's nicest inverters with a really nice power supply built in. Keeping the primary voltage higher than you find in a typical battery situation allows for a much high power density than would be possible at 12V.
Touring Hammond organ players had to deal with poor power issues before almost anybody else because the tone generator is synced to the 60Hz line frequency, in fact, we have Larry Hammond to thank for having stable 60Hz power in the United States because he made synchronous clocks before making organs. He sent free clocks to every power generating station and told them that they would always be in perfect time if the station maintained 60Hz. If you were on generator power at a festival or touring Europe with 50Hz power and a 60Hz organ, you had problems. The hacked solution used by several was to use a 60Hz sine oscillator from a engineer's test bench to generate a sine wave into a large 2 channel amplifier set to bridge mode (giving a pair of out-of-phase outputs and thus twice the voltage). The organ's power cord was then spliced into the amp's outputs and volume increased to a stable 115VAC out. Worked like a charm then and still today.
Move to a country with proper mains power
There isn't. AC lines will always be a noisy sinewave. Just don't buy a shitty amp that cant filter it out.
If you have to buy a "power plant" that recycles the AC wave form to a clean sinewave the amp itself is horribly built with horrible filtering and should be thrown out instead.
Cool crap, well said Paul
Just get a surge protector. Done.
"I don't normally pitch our products on these videos." Yes you do! While sitting in the PS Audio premises, usually alongside a pile of PS Audio products, and while wearing a shirt with a PS Audio logo. And in this case, while strongly suggesting that the only thing one can do to improve the AC supply (other than a dedicated line) is to buy a PS Audio product. I doubt that the latter is true.
You are clearly suggesting that all other types of products than those made by PS Audio, and in particular those using isolation transformers such as those made by Torus Power, are fraudulent. I have never used isolation transformers or a power regenerator, so I do not know which is more effective. I have used power filters such as those produced by Isol-8 and ifi and, curiously, PS Audio. They did make a difference, although the PS Audio Dectet was the least effective.
Yes! Pay the bill is n#1...😂😂😂
Two dedicated 20 amp circuits to 2 Richard Gray Power Company power supplies for me. One for my power amps and subwoofers and one for all of my processing and video equipment. Many ways of doing it but it's extremely important. If I could afford it Paul, I would buy your power supplies...
💪
This guy built a business on producing consumer electronics based on psuedo-science. Is it a surprise at all that he swears up and down there is a difference to be heard, but claims it to be scientifically undetectable?
Let your party get control again and watch the economy tank along with your customer base and sales :-)
I really can’t understand this video.
1. Any formal professional sound engineering school will educate it’s student about “power supply “ for audio. If you know sound engineer that is clueless or indifferent to that issue - please encourage him to look for one of maaaany sound engineering schools / academies / seminars. Not for the reason of shaming or under estimating but THAT SOUND ENGINEER have a hole in his knowledge and it is “ off pro standards “.
2. Even 30 years ago when I started the sound engineer phase of my life - 3 phase supply to the studio , well separated grounding, rack of power stabilizers, conditioners, spike protection etc were the first thing that my studio owner did before even getting into rooms treatment and the sexy load of shiny electronics.
Nope, it wasn’t a top league high profile music legends and stars studio.
Just a pro audio level commercial recording studio.
Further more, also i was recording studio oriented i did get out couple of times to outdoor/ locations sessions in which EVERY time I noticed who much resources and care went into “Power supply “. From the National radio classical music devision mobile unit and their state of the art mobile power generator to local small sound reinforcement companies and sound technicians/ engineers that find solutions to power supply as a 1st thing to establish before every thing else.
And i am from a small country with small/super local oriented / small money market for culture...
3. Sound engineer is a service giver. Rarely he will make the majority of decisions that will determine how the final version actually sounds like.
It was like that from the first recording studio ever to be built.
Musical producers, the records company management and some other factors are the final sound quality decision making in the music industry, period.
True that in the last couple of years the decision makers/ big money target have absolutely nothing to do with art, overall sound experience etc.
In the last 20 years the only thing that matter in the industry is MAKE IT LOUD, MAKE IT LOUDER, MAKE IT LOUDEST!!!!!!
it killed most of the art, common sense,sound experience and fun out for us - THE MUSIC LOVERS AND QUALITY/SOUND EXPERIENCE listeners.
Sad but true.
After putting that enormous factor first on the table first -
I can’t understand nor expat your false, uneducated and make no sense perception of sound engineers world of depth, sound stage , tonal balancing, dynamics, details, transitions, transients response ,know how, listen to and process capabilities.
Furthermore, i have met some mastering engineers in my life, all of them are no name/ small local market and very far from the EU and Americans big markets mastering scene and NOT ONE OF THEM had so many uneducated, untrained, narrow, lack of experience remarks / question marks / need to be enlightened like your buddy / business partner Mastering engineer that you are commenting frequently.
I hope you are doing to him good service with all those remarks of yours regarding him, but honestly I talked about it with some of my critical listening $$$$$ playback system educated friends and some guys from our small local pro audio industry/ market and they all share the same strange buzz that cone out of your remarks on that mastering guy.
Be blessed, good luck with the new High Res / Def recording studio, the new listen room and setups* and truly prosperity in
business
* a collective massage from my audio clan - “Ohhhhh he finally put the rare unobtainable monsters in a proper dimensions room” -
The question was about ac power supply. Paul addressed it. He also addressed about peoples views is that why your getting emotional in that as far as Paul is concerned your view is irrelevant to him . wow . Here's a tip for ya to help you get through life .Take everything that is said with a pinch of salt or if required truck loads of it
Paul, FOCUS!!!
I thought the " Noise Harvester " will ensure good AC power .
@Mike Glavin I'm just happy to know I'm not alone....😎
I don't think the power source is is much of an issue. As long as the source is stable I would count on the power supply components in my audio system to clean it it. Perhaps a high quality TRUE UPS (non switching) with pure sign wave output would help if you experience brownouts or interruptions. With this type of UPS The batteries are ALWAYS the source of power and the line merely charges the batteries. Before the 1980s this was the definition of a UPS. A good one will be expensive.
I know in Real Top Notch Recording Studio's have Extreme Filtering and Isolation. Including Iso Transformers and filtering caps.
GET TO THE POINT.
Heres how,
Read question
short answer.
Then go on with the long version.
Conclude.
Oh boy, nope. Paul, you mention your products quite often actually or at least allude to them, but there is nothing wrong with that inherently. After all, you make them, don't you? I would only disagree that they are not the only or best answer no matter what. There are many good products out there as you also occasionally say. I don't get into a tizzy with the talk of things audiophile because I deal in real science and common sense and it has never failed me. I believe with proof that there is no way to make the power feeding into your house "audiophile power". It comes from the generating plant down the line to the switch station, etc, then feeds into your house. Can you clean the power signal after the outlet? Yes, one can clean it up a bit with a decent conditioner, but there is no degree of "audiophile" to it. I use a good conditioner / surge protector that is pricey to me, but won't break the bank and it has done its job a couple of times, thank you very much. It is at that point one realizes the value.
The only way to get the mythical power you seek is to have the power stations make special power just for you and send down special lines, etc. Guess what will never happen?
Now, as to power cords, which I throw in here because I recently did battle with proponents of "high-end audiophile" power cords and won. It is common sense. You have a piece of gear lets say that has a 5 year warranty. All warranties come with stipulations one must follow. The gear comes with the proper power cord one would assume correctly I would think. Now go and swap out that cord for some fancy (and often times not tested or rated for safety I might add) audiophile power cord and stick it on the piece. Guess what, you have just voided your warranty! To me that is what expensive audiophile power cords are solely designed for, void people's warranties. That makes them bad in my book along with not being tested. Also power cords make no difference in sound because there is no audio signal being sent through them! If that where the case they would look and be built and be tested far differently. I'll take my chances with the cords that come with the gear, thanks and worry more about the things that can matter like set up, room, proper shielded interconnects, speaker cable, etc.
Also, I am apolitical, I like none of them and not of any party and not a full US citizen anyway. I don't want to be involved because it only encourages them, but mixing business (especially audio) and politics never ends well. Mixing politics with anything is evil.
1st view and 1st comment.
Gotta laugh along with your shameless plug bit. You wouldn't do that, would you? Lol
With the channel named PS Audio, what else would you expect?
I watch for the entertainment value and the occasional bits of engineering facts (as opposed to intrinsic opinion). Plus the fact that Paul oft times plugs the products that his company (and by default the company's channel), it is easy to see that even though this is based on "Ask Paul," it is still aimed toward the company's visibility. Marketing 101. Even though he is passionate about high end audio, he is still a business owner and this is a good way to build trust and brand recognition (he stated this in an earlier video). If he had a problem with us, it is well within his right to boot us off. If it doesn't bother him, then he's a better man than most.
Patriot American Trump Supporter here, Thanks for exposing your views and that you do not care about me.
scarabeo500gt you don't care enough about yourself if you voted for Trump.
Let’s not forget that Trump is the greatest president ever for comedians and coal miners.
Cali Coast At least those of us enjoying life at the west coast listening to all the music we make here are far away from the madness and noise in the WH.
scarabeo500gt You are waisting your time the political system is a hoax. The real rulers of this world are not the actors you see on television. If you were awake you would see that.
Mike Glavin At the moment it’s Trump first. This embarrassment will end sooner or later.
So why do high end audio need good power and not a computer? If anything I'd say that all those bits and bytes which are sent back and forth on small nanometer wide lines some billion times per second are WAY more sensitive than those in comparison very simple sine waves that we listen to. So even thou we have this "dirty" AC power sent into our computers they still don't do anything wrong. Kinda amazing, don't you think? Yet apparently in audio there is a BIG difference between good and bad power? No sorry, I have a really hard time believing this.
Maybe if you could provide some blind test results with and without your power plants in a system? If not, why should we believe someone that wants to sell their extremely expensive gear (which no other company even bothers to make)?
You are correct! Computers are far more sensitive to power problems than any analog audio gear. After all the commercial market for UPS systems and power conditioning started in the 1960s computer era, not the local HiFi shop.Yet probably 95% or more of the worlds home computers work just fine on raw wall power. So yeah, we have to ask, as you did, just how bad is the average wall outlet in terms of power quality?
You should do the blind tests for yourself. Instead of arguing against something that you clearly didn't test, try a dedicated line for your audio system, try high quality cables and see how that affects the sound. There is nothing on this world that would change your opinion about this matter, except for you, by allowing yourself to make these tests with an open mind. Good luck!
@@andru2625 A good way to test if a dedicated line will help is to identify the circuit your audio system is on, then unplug everything else on that circuit and turn off any hardwired lamps. That will get you very close to a dedicated circuit. Otherwise having one installed on faith will be expensive. Nothing wrong with a dedicated circuit, I believe in them too. But you may want to check first before making that investment. As for expensive cables, sure try them if you want. Just make sure they can be returned for a full refund if they do not produce the advertised result.
In my old house I used the unplug everything method Paul mentioned. The only thing we sometimes plugged in was the alarm clock upstairs in the bedroom. When we started a listening session downstairs we (my wife and i) could hear if the alarm clock was plugged in or not. I don't know why or how it works but we could hear it.
The simple answer is that computers operate differently than sound systems.
For one thing, they use regulated power supplies that provide perfectly managed power. Regulated PS's are a bad thing on power amps because of transient power demands.
Computers are insensitive to jitter.
Computers produce massive amounts of noise and RFI, but it has little effect on processing for reasons too complicated to enumerate here.
You can test this easily enough if you have a decent system. Just plug a standard wall wart into the same power strip your amplifier is plugged into. Even a moderately resolving system will sound worse, and a good system will sound like hell.
Hmm..., Unplugging everything on the line that you have your rig on... Wife acceptance factor of what?😆😆
Clean AC power works in the hi end audio... only about 3%... and that's it... very important to us ''audiophiles''... but, the only savior is Jesus Christ, without changing anybody!