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

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.

I agree with @ghdprentice including the adding of another line (same length cable as the others).

Regarding power conditioners, I have (2) 20A dedicated lines and use power conditioning to lower the noise-floor. I live in an old neighborhood in Philly. EquiCore + DeepCore have been very effective. A very important point about power conditioners is not to use them for your amp, unless specifically designed for high-current components. The sonics of an amp can be affected. Only my preamp and sources are plugged into mine.

@laynes , I did not see anywhere where you indicated you have a specific noise issue that you hear?  I disagree with Steakster in terms of what electrical noise will sound like in an all analog system. Noise does not enter an all analog system and cause the issues that were described. If you are hearing nothing in silent passages with an all analog system, then you do not have a power issue. Power noise does not create distortion in an all analog system. It creates noise that is not correlated to the signal.

erik makes a good point. A dedicated line does not prevent noise that appears on your electrical box from getting to your equipment. All those items on their own dedicated lines, which is most of the high power are not helped by a dedicated line. They have benefit when to avoid items like dimmers.

I see many people suggesting multiple dedicated lines. This is more often than not a bad idea. The most important connection for a single piece of equipment is normally line and neutral. The most important connection when several pieces of equipment are hooked together is the ground connection. If you run multiple dedicated lines with separate grounds you have just made grounds loops worse.

You are running a tube integrated, so most of your connections are a single box. It is a good brand, likely with a well designed power supply. If you can't can't hear noise that appears to be power related when silent, then it is unlikely you have a power issue. If the AC is on, the sound noise of the AC is probably much worse than electrical noise.

I do not know what the obsession is with Rhodium in connectors. Audiophiles have some crazy ideas about how things work. If it was better, the military\aerospace would use it in all their connectors. I started out working on military\aerospace electronics. Rhodium is rarely used as a surface material. There are two properties you typically want in a connector interface material. Corrosion/oxidation properties are good, and it is malleable so that is maximizes the contact surface lowering resistance. Two other properties to consider are self lubrication (related to malleability) and wear resistance and impact resistance. You will notice I did not says electrical resistance. The coatings are so thin, 10-200um, that conductivity does not matter much. For any low power connection, gold is a great choice. High corrosion resistance, malleable, some self lubrication. For most power connections, silver is a good choice. Malleable, self lubricating, good corrosion resistance. Only concern is it oxidizes but that oxide is very thin and conductive. Connector wiping action removes typically. Palladium is the next used. It is corrosion resistant, but hard. The hardness in this case is a plus as it can be used when connector ends may be easily damaged. Alloys are also good in arcing conditions (anywhere you plug in live). Rhodium was used in one and only one application. Very rough service, i.e. field items where the contacts could be easily scratched/damaged. If I remember it was always plated on nickel, not for metal diffusion, but because it is brittle and could literally crack off.  There is nothing about a connection anywhere in audio where Rhodium makes sense.

I hope you fix your noise issue if you have it. Erik seems to be on a good low cost path.

 

We had our home built in Tampa and I could see the inexpensive electrical wire used.   Asked the builder about a dedicated line and had never done one and refered me to an electrician.  He asked if I was going to keep a large server needing dedicated power.  When I mentioned audio, he laughed and said to keep my money.  If you aren’t worried about voltage drop when the ac or refrigerator cycles, your at the mercy of the power grid.

OP make sure the sparky that did the work used a full space breaker, not a tandem breaker. You can Goggle that to see the difference, if you were out of empty spaces he or she may have had to us a tandem or split breaker in which case you could be tied partially to another circuit, best!