2. cables
  3. 1034995232

Power Conditioning done by IC's & Speaker Cables

Can proper power conditioning be addressed in the middle and at the end of the chain by some of these new technology ic's and speaker cables?

I have about $5k retail tied up in 3 excellent in-line power conditioners from Foundation Research and the rest of the $5k tied up in interconnects and speaker cables.

I've been quite pleased with my power conditioners and cabling. But I'm also all for simplicity. If I could have superior cables and no need for line conditioners, I'd do in a heart beat.

To rephrase the question: Can some of these new ic's and speaker cables act as passive line conditioners and do as good or better job than active or passive power conditioners that you plug you components into?

I did have one manufacturer tell me that his cables would do exactly that.

For several reasons I don't buy it, but I'm all ears if anybody has had first hand knowledge or experience at this.

I would think that even if his cables did exactly that, one would still benefit from leaving the power conditioners in place.
stehno
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,242 posts
 
Speaker cables would be one of the least effectives places to attempt the type of filtering accomplished by power line conditioners. If your problem is 60Hz line hum, then you've already run it through your power amp thereby wasting precious headroom. If its some sort of ultra sonic hash, then it will have already done its damage in your CD player or preamp. I use Versalab Red Rollers at the speaker end of my cables to filter out radio frequency interference that may be picked up by the cable, it's no substitute for dedicated, active power line conditioning.
stehno OP
1,453 posts
 
Twl, you truly are a 'purist'. And in more ways than one. You are to be commended for some to many of your choices.
sean
6,231 posts
 
Audioengr: As i've stated before, there is nothing wrong with shielding a power cord. You've probably based your opinions of this matter on the commercially available models that are out there. I don't think that any of these do it "right", especially for high current devices like a power amp.

Other than that, i agree that power cords should be as low in inductance and series resistance as possible. If it sounds like i'm "dodging" specific design criteria, you are right. I am trying to say something ( as i have tried to do in the past ) without giving away the whole bag of marbles. Sean
>
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
TWL - I believe that the reason that you like the Bybee filters is because they eliminate some of the sibilants caused by wire in your IC's and speaker cables that has jumbled crystal lattice. If you replaced this with wire that has organized crystal structure, you could probably eliminate the filters.

This is the reason why so many folks believe that stranded wire is worse than solid wire. It's because cold-working the wire to braid or twist it into stranded bundles damages the crystal structure and sibilants are the result.

This is also why direct-immersion cryo damages the sound of the wire - the crystal structure is then helter-skelter, not well-organized. This causes reflections and current-bunching in the conductor.
stehno OP
1,453 posts
 
Audioengr, so are you an advocate of single crystal wiring such as Harmonic Technology's, Acoustic Zen, Audience, etc.?

I ask because I have Harmonic Tech cabling (single crystal) in my system and when I removed my amplifier's in-line power conditioner and connected the 10 gauge 99.95% OFC romex to a cryo dipped Hubbell 20 amp IEC and plugged that into my amp, the most immediately noticable difference was the increase in sibilance.

I'd be interested to get your opinions on the results of my experiment?
More to discover