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Power Filtering vs Power Regeneration?

About two years ago....I began experiencing the dreaded power supply vagaries which seem to attack my system every two or three weeks...πŸ‘€πŸ˜±β“
The analogue soundstage collapses with a loss of transparency and bass whilst the high frequencies become grating, strident and brittle.
This makes the experience of listening to records, worse than the truly bad days of CD playback...and it can last two or three days before gradually settling down...πŸ˜₯
So frustrating had this new phenomenon become that I bought a Shindo Mr T transformer based power filter into which I plug both turntables and the Halcro DM10 phonostage/preamp....πŸ‘€
Unfortunately it hasn't solved the problem...πŸ˜₯
I'm wondering if a power regeneration circuit like the PS Audio P3 would be more likely to succeed....❓
128x128halcro
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
No tube gear...all SS..😎
The reason I think it might be the effects of a varied supply voltage is that two years ago, the power company was working on the cables in our street for three weeks (substation is only 1/2 mile away).....and for that whole time, the sound was diabolical..😱
Watching the supply voltage as shown by the P3....it went down to 245V last night and this afternoon went up to 255V for 10 minutes. It generally hovers around 250V although the electrical gear is designed for 240V❓👀
tonywinsc
583 posts
 
I didn't realize that you were down in Sydney. Don't the records want to spin counter clockwise there? 😊
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Of course.....what way do they spin where you are......❓😎
lewm
12,875 posts
 
Tony, Can you say what "tube gear" would be more affected by humidity than SS gear? I don't think so.

The symptoms Henry describes do not at all sound like anything that can be caused by poor grounding. RF, maybe. Henry, what did your PS Audio do when the wall voltage varied up and down? Did you notice any change in sound quality? If it happens again, you may try momentarily bypassing your PS Audio, in order to determine whether AC voltage instability might in fact be causative. If you are close to a power station, there may be very high voltage lines somewhere near your house; those can certainly radiate RF garbage.
tonywinsc
583 posts
 
RFI is what I was thinking about when asking about the grounding. Poor grounding could allow RFI to muddy things up. Also, I was recalling that in the 80s a buddy of mine had some old (50s vintage) tube mono amps. I remembering him remarking that humidity affected the sound. Now that I am thinking about it, he also had Quad Electrostats. So that might have been why humidity mattered. On a not so related note: I notice that my system sounds better when the air temp in the living room is around 68F. In the summer when temps are in the mid 70s in the living room the sound is not quite as perfect or astonishing.
One last thing- I have no idea which way the records spin. I listen to records in the dark.
Ok, one more last thing: wide variations in line voltage is a big issue, Have you complained to the power company about it? I'm sure that the wide variation in voltage will impact life/durability of electronics, motors and lights.
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