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Fundamental importance of power management

I have two systems, one is a fairly simple low power computer-based system in an office building environment.  The other is a bit more elaborate home theater system used for mostly 2 channel listening.  I have recrntly focused on upgrading the power management and delivery to both with great rewards.

I have been struck repeatedly by the effect of different power cables in my system, but I was astonished recently by the effect of putting my laptop source, all computer peripherals including external hard drive and sub on a low cost power conditioner strip I had laying around the office for multi media presentations.  Sound was always a little edgy with this system, even though the Audio Engine desktop amp was on a modest Belken power conditioner.  The effect of putting the computer set up and the sub on a separate conditioner in this noisy environment sounded like a major, major equipment upgrade.  

This increased my interest in cleaning things up powerwise ahead of my home system, even though I have a dedicated 30 amp breaker and 10 gauge supply line, and I would not think home power would be as dirty as an office building.  Each step including an upgraded power strip, conditioner and supply cable, replacing switching power supplies with linear supplies, and trying different power cables for gear has increased my enjoyment greatly, and seems to be allowing the character of each component to shine out, reinforcing the positive attributes of each and the whole.  Because this is a home theater, I have more equipment in a relatvely small area compared to an analog only set up, so some of the benefit may be mitigating self inflicted wounds.

So in my experience, power management seems critical, and the foundation all other “solutions” to getting the best sound must be built.  Down with plug and play.


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knownothing OP
1,651 posts
 
@sleepwalker65 that’s fundamentally good advice on breaker.  Sounds good but will replace immediately.

On the 18 guage cable.  Maybe.  I have heard very few modern amplifiers with 18 guage cables.  I think my old Kenwood amp from the 70s had a lamp cord.

I have only heard one stock power cable that performed on par with an aftermarket cable, and that was versus one I built myself with hardware store parts, and it was not necessarily worse, just different.  In every other case and with every other after market cable either purchased or assembled by me out of parts, the aftermarket cord sounded better.  Wondering what others have experienced?
erik_squires
16,447 posts
 
I've put together a blog post on my thoughts here:
https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
18 gauge power cables were just one example for a modest amplifier. If you have an amplifier that draws 10 amps, 18 AWG won’t do, and you’ll need to step up to 16 AWG, above that, to 15 amps use 14 AWG, then up to 20 amps use 12 AWG. Minimum ampacity with a tiny bit of headroom is what you should be aiming for. All cables need to be routed away from fields of alternating magnetic flux to mitigate inductively coupled noise. Remember though, all noise is generated externally to your analog equipment, and that’s where you want it to stay.
williewonka
3,083 posts
 
18 gauge power cables were just one example for a modest amplifier. If you have an amplifier that draws 10 amps, 18 AWG won’t do, and you’ll need to step up to 16 AWG, above that, to 15 amps use 14 AWG, then up to 20 amps use 12 AWG.

While I agree that the gauge of cables should be tailored to the component... 

From my own personal experience and observations....
  • I consider my amp to be "modest" 
  • It is solid state -  - NAIM 5i MKII integrated - 50 watts per channel
  • I have tried 14, 12 and 10 gauge power cables on it
  • The best it sounded is with the 10 gauge cable
  • The cables used were "home grown" - so
  • they all had identical plugs, geometry and wire quality
  • the biggest improvements was satisfying the high current demands  of very dynamic transient spikes.
I'm sure that 18, 16 and 14 gauge would be adequate for tube amps/components because they use voltage to do the "heavy lifting", but from my observations it would appear that Solid State gear requires a heavier gauge power cable to handle the high current draw.

Just another opinion  :-)
 
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knownothing OP
1,651 posts
 
@blindjim 

Nice post. I agree with pretty much all of it.  Theory is a fine place to start, but I think folks just need to try different solutions for themselves.  Results might surprise you, and then you can try to figure out why it works while enjoying great music!

Side note to power discussion but mentioned by you: I have put equal effort recently on vibration control for my analog front end which has been a real eye opener.  I like results.

@erik_squires

Thanks for the link to your blog, great advice there.  

Side note: I am all in on your focus on room acoustics first.  I abandoned trying to get good sound in my living room with lots of glass, plaster and tile, and retreated to put my energy into a purpose built space in my basement described in some detail on my system page.  I put all my money and effort initially on the AC service and the room design, and have been building around carefully selected main components ever since with focus on synergy.  Benefits of recent power management easily realized with decent listening space as a backdrop making it possible to hear even subtle effects of each change.

@williewonka

Interesting conjecture on tube versus solid state power cable requirements.  Off the top, what gauge wire would you recommend for linear power supply for tube phono preamp?  Also, shielded versus non shielded as a place to start?
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