I saw the meter reading and demodulated noise from the meter speaker on a dedicated line running from a very expensive dedicated subpanel. There was still, somewhat high level of noise, that was substantially reduced by a powerline conditioner. The system had no audible noise, as such, without conditioning, but the sound did improve with conditioning—particularly with respect to creating a soundstage that seemed to float in space. The meter being used was an Isotek meter, which is not cheap (about $1,000), but, $100 meters seem to work the same way.
How noisy is my line? Audio Prism Noise Sniffer
A friend and audio journalist had this Prism device, and he plugged it into various outlets when I visited him. It gave a clear sense of which outlets were noisy and how effectively his conditioners were helping with noise.
He said these were not made any longer. Does anyone know of another tool like this?
It seems like it could save someone with clean power (or a quiet outlet) a lot of money from conditioners/regenerators which would not necessarily help.
- ...
- 25 posts total
@hilde45 , Glad to hear it. Still using the Quicksilver pre? How do you rate those Salks against the Carbon7? Sorry for all the off topic questions, but you’ve got a lot of gear I’m curious to hear about! I had the Carrera’s but could never tame that beryllium tweeter. |
Thanks to posters about the meter. Yes, it's crude. It's probably enough for me to get a very general impression of my various lines. The idea that I need a much more elaborate meter is based on uses I have not contemplated and are likely irrelevant. I got rid of the Quicksilver Pre in favor of a DIY based around the DeHavilland Ultraverve III. 6SN7 tubes are preferable to my ear. I like the Carbon7 better than the Salks, not least because of the Be tweeter in the Salks. The Carbons have a really gentle and musical (that word!) touch. I have noticed a couple video reviews on the Carbon 7 recently. |
- 25 posts total