Am I hearing things?


I just an extra  new dedicated line run beside the other one. with 10 gauge wire, 30 amp breaker and a 20 amp rated outlet. I don't think it sounds as good!!! What the hey. A little shrill in both vinyl and CD. I'm comparing from what it sounded like last night. Does electricians wire, breaker and outlet have to burn in? Am I alone in this. I'm have a whole system AC but in and the temp got up to 80. Maybe that is why. Also I'm listening at 11 am EST. So the power grid may have an affect. Did I just answer my own question or have other people experienced this. The original dedicated line was put in in 03 with 12 gauge wire, 20 amp breaker and a 15 amp outlet. Are these 2 lines picking up interferrence? 
128x128blueranger
blueranger,

I have not seen very plausible looking arguments to establish that all those things need "burn in" and change sound.

But it is very well established that our perception alters readily.

On an anecdotal level: I often play around with the positioning of my speakers, distance, angling, height, tilt, just to test stuff out.

I notice that some times I’ll do something like raise and tilt the speakers a bit, and it may result (due to acoustics) in an alteration of the sound that I find a bit good, a bit bad. Say, a little more emphasis in the presence region, a bit less warmth down low.

But over time, I adapt. A week later, I may either find myself MORE cognizant of the things I don’t like, or LESS so. For instance, I may no longer perceive a lack of warmth, and now it sounds "right" to me. Nothing has changed physically about my system; my brain has adapted,  changed my perception.

In fact, it’s been a subject of discussion at various points on here and other forums that the way we perceive our systems can seem to change even daily. What was "wow" yesterday may seem "Meh" today.

Maybe you do have some issue on your AC line causing what you hear.But in terms of "break in" being the issue:


Consider the elasticity of our perception, against whether there is really good technical reasons to think your new AC line needs "break in."




Is it possible that this is a warm-up effect?

Electronics can perform better with warm-up. I find that my amps improve for about 16 hours, my preamp for about 4.

So, if you plug into one outlet and let everything warm up for ages, it will sound very good. When you power it down, change outlets, and power it back up, it won't sound good for some time, until it has warmed up for an equivalent period. 

That is, if your equipment is subject to the same limitations as mine. Could this be the source of your observation?

General contractor here. You can NOT use a 30 amp breaker with a 20amp rated outlet. It could over heat and cause a fire. 
Fix that ASAP and stick with a 20amp outlet and you should be good. You shouldn’t need more than 20 for audio. 
Agree with mickeyb

I had a licensed electrician install a 20 amp circuit for a 4bSST2  (thinking I might later run a pair of 7 monos.) It has the 20 amp circuit breaker. The remainder of the system runs via a 15 amp circuit. No problem

My home is 100% electric, and the major sources of use are the cooktop, water heater and dual  heat pumps/air handlers.