I truly believe various componentry will differ in sound from one person's equipment to another (based upon the question you asked). In my system I prefer all equipment plugged into my Equi=Tech 2Q, (which is powered from a 20 amp dedicated circuit and a high grade 20 amp female wall outlet). I have four dedicated 20-amp outlets and have extensively tested all combinations. |
I think a combination of both techniques yields the best results. I have a dedicated line that I plug my Chang into, which in turn feeds power to my whole system.
I do not, however, believe in expensive power cords. I don't think they make a difference at all... |
With respect to part of your question, I have had equipment fried by power surges twice. Both times were over 15 years ago; lost a Pioneer receiver and a CM Labs amp. I know at least once, the surge was associated with a nearby (not at the house) lightening strike. |
dmailer: there's another thread going simultaneously with yours that has much useful information. title:
AC Conditioners: Must Have Tweak or More Voodo
-cfb |
My best-results experience:
whole house lightning arrestor
decicated line
line conditioner w/ intergal surge protection
upgrade AC cords |
Bob gives some good advise. Get it all and use it all. I especially like the "whole house surge protection" as your first line of defense. If you plug your amps in direct this could be a lifesaver.
I had the Power Company over to the house the other night when my outlets were reading 132volts. Wouldn't you know they were back to around 122volts as soon as the guy pulled up. Think I'll leave the power conditioner in the system :~) |
Bob speaks wisely because Bob speaks from experience. Much like Sugar, he has "felt the heat" from lightning strikes / surges first hand. Ask him about the $4K amp that went "bye-bye" last summer....
Glen, out of curiosity, do you or other members have some type of voltage monitoring device running at all times ? If so, what are you running ? I have randomly ( VERY randomly ) checked voltages here and found that it hovers right around 122 - 123 volts most of the time. Since i typically leave multiple systems plugged in and running most of the time, i probably should pay more attention to such things.
As to the original thread, the answer is "YES". Use both but experiment to see what works best plugged in where. While the dedicated lines do produce a "buffer zone" of isolation from other electrical noise generators within the house, they are all tied back into a common feedpoint. Besides that, there will still be noise coming in from the outside line feeding your service entry.
The obvious considerations when using some type of PLC is current draw and current limitation. As such, most PLC's can limit current, especially on brief but intense peaks. Besides that, anything that uses a switching power supply or digital circuitry is putting noise back into the line. If you can isolate those from the "non digital" devices, you may also help things out. Since digital gear is typically pretty power efficient, you may not need a PLC rated for much power at all to get the job done with those specific devices. Sean
> |
I agree the answer is a combination of everything. This includes using parallel filters like those made by Audio Prism, Richard Gray and Blue Circle. You need to figure out for yourself using your own ears what that combination is. I don't have a dedicated line (yet) but the only thing on the circuit with my main system is the outside porch, garage and inside front foyer lights. Since these lights are never left on, the audio system is the only thing running on that circuit. The other wall in that room has outlets on another circuit, so my lights in that room, etc and are plugged in there. |
Hey Sugarbrie I'll bet your electronics get a real jolt when you trigger the 1/2 hp garage door opener. |
Sean,
I just put my fluke meter on the breakers last weekend after I finished running some dedicated circuits. Everytime I do it reads off the chart. I'm thinking of rigging a meter that would plug into one of my dedicated outlets to give me a constant reading. I swear the power is totally wacked around here. |
I think that Rat Shack used to offer some type of voltage monitoring device that was designed to be plugged in at all times. Had an LCD display that was easily visible and was housed in a little "project box" type cabinet. Anyone know of something similar and reasonably priced ? Sean
> |
Sean, my Radio Shack plug-in AC meter is genuine plastic, not the fake kind, and is pure analog with a pointer, green and red zones and everything! Cost me almost $10 about twenty years ago and it is plenty accurate as it was the cherry picked audiophile version......Good news here is that the fifty year old transformer on the pole in my back yard finally blew up a couple months ago and now the power doesn't dip below 110v when I run the air conditioning here (yep, it has been on already this year as it was 86 ten days ago)........
Back to the original question, I think a couple dedicated lines, one for digital and the other for analog, will do more than most any line filter......Homeowner's insurance will pay for lightning damage to gear so see little reason to do much other than turn it up during a storm......It really depends upon where you live if a line filter would be appropriate as most are set up for worst case and beat the poor AC to death.....Those in metropolitan areas will need a box full of lots of little caps to null out the nasties and those on the outskirts of metropolitan areas or those in rural areas just don't have the same sorts of problems with their AC......No clear cut solutions other than it is really easy to overdo things.........
Bob Crump
TG Audio/CTC Builders/DDR Mfg |
My voltage runs 122-123-124. |
Nope, garage door thing on circuit with laundry room next to garage. |
What I have done is to connect all my source (Table/per-amp/phono-amp) to a Chang lightspeed...then I conected the Chang to a Richard Grey along with my power amps......the Grey is then feed into a dedicated line.....works well for me |
