New Dedicated Line - Almost No improvement


Hello,

Newbie here and electrical idiot. Just moved to a new to us house in Tampa. Before we moved in I had an electrician put in a dedicated line (has it's own breaker switch) which is 10 gauge and two Furutech GTX-D outlets - Rhodium.

When I hooked up the EMI meter in my old house, which didn't have a dedicated line, the reading was usually around 26 or so IIRC. At the new house the outlets are 89 usually and the dedicated line is usually around 82 - so not much help for the cost of the "project" and pretty noisy.

Also, when the ac /hvac is running the meter reads about 100 points higher (!) for both the regular outlets and the dedicated Furutechs. Not good.

Thoughts? Does the dedicated line need it's own breaker box? 

I'm also considering a line conditioner but wanted to see what could be done here. Thanks.

laynes

@riley804 do what I did and order one from a source that has a liberal return policy. I had one in my system for 30 days, no significant improvement and back it went. I also have dedicated lines feeding my system juice. 

LOL...ahhhh, Tampa in the summer. 

 

Get an Isolation transformer, an upper end Shunyata conditioner or a PSAudio Regenerator like a PP15 or PP20 (adds to the noisefloor of really good AC...but you don't have really good AC). What is your noise level at the box? What is the noise level after midnight? Depending on your home, your in wall wire either rejects noise, is agnostic or it acts like an antenna. I would also consider asking the best local audio shop for their recommended electrician. Its most likely that an excellent electrician familiar with high end audio needs will be able to improve things considerably.

Hi OP, many good thoughts here!  I formerly used an Inakustik 3500p power conditioner.  It did not throttle power and worked great.  I then installed dedicated 20 amp circuits (first two and then I liked them so much I installed another.  I need one duplex for the mono amps, one for the preamp and DAC, then I needed one more for the new streamer, and had other junk so oh well now I have three lines and six outlets.  I removed the power conditioner and found it sounded the same, so it is on the sidelines now.  I guess I am luckier about the noise as my background is dead quiet.  But I do wonder about the Rhodium Furutechs.  My friend got them and did not like them at all.  Sounded harsh and grainy.  I agree they many need burn in.  But how about an easy experiment?  Change one of them to a quality outlet but not Rhodium.  Something like a PS audio outlet (I have them everywhere) or Hubble if you can find one.  They are about 5 for $200 so much less expensive, and grip like nothing else (the PS Audio ones anyway).  These may sound much smoother in your system.  I have a spare outlet pm me if you want to try it!  

I'd add better sound staging and imaging to @steakster list of improvements. I too use isolation transformer type of conditioning  on everything with exception of amps, amps always go straight into their own dedicated 10AWG line.

 

@laynes In the end you'll just have to try various PC in order to arrive at your own conclusion. I went through an audition period over a couple years and many PC, a variety of effects, transformer based PC best for me. I'd suggest amps never go on pc based on my auditions.

You did not listen to your system before and after the install. Based on my experience and that of many other people dedicated lines always improve the sound. I think you need to believe it very likely your system sounds better than it would have without it. Moving into a new space means everything has changed. Room acoustics power… etc. I wouldn’t pay attention to the meter.

 

Second, I would while you move is new, have another line put in. Typically one for the amp and one for the rest of the equipment. All direct lines tend to make a big difference.

Next, power conditioner… yes. Very occasionally they don’t do anything… but that is very seldom. After I had my second direct line installed I swapped my 20 year old power conditioner for a high quality power distribution strip (Cardas). That lasted 30 seconds and the power conditioner went back in.

Separate breaker box: No.

 

It would be great to see your system in its new location. There is a place to put it under your UserID. It is not a fashion show… this is a bunch of audio geeks… so we like to see the equipment and venue.