Nemesis,
I am not familiar with the conditioner/distributor you mention but in
general, for those using non-current limiting power distributors (those that
do not limit instantaneous impulse current)-- the power cord running from
the box to the wall is often the most critical in the system.
The reason for this in general terms is that this one PC is responsible for
feeding the current load for all upstream electronics. The more electronics,
the higher the current load, the more important the quality and measured
impedance, reactance, conductance and gauge becomes.
In essence, the design characteristics that _should_ be a part of a proper
cords construction are magnified because it will affect every component's
interface with AC upstream.
The simple analogy to consider would be plugging class A bias mono amps
into a passive conditioner or power strip with massive 7 gauge cords while
out the back is a 16 gauge belden to the wall. That is an extreme example of
folly, but there are many cases where several line components with good
cords are plugged into a box with a stock cord for eval and the conditioner
gets the blame when the bottleneck is actually the inferior feed cord to the
wall. That will always be the potential weak link in any single AC line power
system. In other words, the more dedicated lines the better.
A small digression --
Separating high-current (amps) from low current electronics on dedicated
lines is by far the best gift you can give to the potential performance of your
system. Digital and analog are _not_ the worst system mates per
longstanding audiophile mythology. It is high current and low current that
benefit the most from AC separation.
Some people make the mistake of taking amps off their own dedicated line
when the buy a conditioner so that they also benefit from
protection/conditioning and this always spells disaster. Amps pull very hard
on an AC line and off the crest of the sine wave. The more electronics you
have on a shared line the more difficult it is for electronics to draw current
efficiently--especially amps off a single 20A breaker shared by low current
source and line level electronics. Whenever possible find a separate line for
the amps and their performance will increase dramatically.
In my experience, the best power cord--or equal to the best cord on
electronics should be running to the wall from any power strip or passive
conditioner. Transformer, choke, coil and regenerator based power
distributors have also proven to benefit from better cords but probably to a
less obvious degree because of their internal current management.
Regards,
Grant
Shunyata Research
I am not familiar with the conditioner/distributor you mention but in
general, for those using non-current limiting power distributors (those that
do not limit instantaneous impulse current)-- the power cord running from
the box to the wall is often the most critical in the system.
The reason for this in general terms is that this one PC is responsible for
feeding the current load for all upstream electronics. The more electronics,
the higher the current load, the more important the quality and measured
impedance, reactance, conductance and gauge becomes.
In essence, the design characteristics that _should_ be a part of a proper
cords construction are magnified because it will affect every component's
interface with AC upstream.
The simple analogy to consider would be plugging class A bias mono amps
into a passive conditioner or power strip with massive 7 gauge cords while
out the back is a 16 gauge belden to the wall. That is an extreme example of
folly, but there are many cases where several line components with good
cords are plugged into a box with a stock cord for eval and the conditioner
gets the blame when the bottleneck is actually the inferior feed cord to the
wall. That will always be the potential weak link in any single AC line power
system. In other words, the more dedicated lines the better.
A small digression --
Separating high-current (amps) from low current electronics on dedicated
lines is by far the best gift you can give to the potential performance of your
system. Digital and analog are _not_ the worst system mates per
longstanding audiophile mythology. It is high current and low current that
benefit the most from AC separation.
Some people make the mistake of taking amps off their own dedicated line
when the buy a conditioner so that they also benefit from
protection/conditioning and this always spells disaster. Amps pull very hard
on an AC line and off the crest of the sine wave. The more electronics you
have on a shared line the more difficult it is for electronics to draw current
efficiently--especially amps off a single 20A breaker shared by low current
source and line level electronics. Whenever possible find a separate line for
the amps and their performance will increase dramatically.
In my experience, the best power cord--or equal to the best cord on
electronics should be running to the wall from any power strip or passive
conditioner. Transformer, choke, coil and regenerator based power
distributors have also proven to benefit from better cords but probably to a
less obvious degree because of their internal current management.
Regards,
Grant
Shunyata Research