Building a Power Strip, any advise?

Well, I’ve got the power strips completed and I have posted some pictures of them on “my system".

Because the outlet tabs need to be bent over to fit in my aluminum cases I did not place the Oyaide and Maestro in them. Those outlets were placed into single DIY outlet strips? To perhaps better understand as to what that is, please look at the pictures. Both of these "single" strips are used before my Audience aRtp2-TO power conditioners using separate dedicated circuits.

So, far the only strip still burning in is the aluminum 8 outlet strip.

So here are my impressions of the outlets in the system thus far.

The Oyaide R1 sounded a little thin and ragged when first plugged in after just a few days on the cable cooker, so I put it back on the cooker for another 9 days. Once reinstalled into my system it has blossomed into a great sounding outlet that is currently in use with my digital equipment.

The Maestro outlet was also cooked, but only for a few days. It sounded very nice right away and is being used with my Analog equipment.

Yesterday, after about 5 days of burn in, I tried the 4 outlet Aluminum strip with Synergistic Tesla SE outlets with my Pass Labs Preamp and my BSG Qol unit. Quite an improvement over what I had been using. (A cheapo 3 way tap)

As stated previously, the 8 outlet aluminum strip with all Audience Cryoed outlets is still burning in and should be ready this week end for audition.

So far I can conclude that each step has improved the sound quality, in such ways as more dyanmics, better bass quality and a general smoothness that is so very nice.
After I get the final 8 outlet burned in I will be able to move all of these units around and see how they perform on my various pieces of equipment.

A bare bones approach to a "power strip," perhaps, but being a DIY-solution in all its simplicity I find it very worthwhile:

I use non-shielded, twisted 16AWG solid-core copper installation wires(ground-wire twisted in the opposit direction) as powercables on all my components - i.e. poweramp, DAC, HTPC, and from the wall outlet to the "connection-point"(normally a power strip) where the three powercords meet. Instead of a power strip per se I simply bundle the bare positive wires, return and ground dittos in their respective screw terminal where they meet the wall outlet wires, and hereby avoid connectors in the opposit end of the components - something I believe of importance. Arguably not a very practical approach if one is in the need to completely unplug the powercords regularly, but other than that a simple and indeed sonically "sound" solution which has sat in my system for a few years now. The whole shebang is star-grounded, BTW.

If nothing else this solution is very cheap($15-20) to try out, but I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't worth it - sonically speaking. Though the PVC insulator on the wires is not ideal(the insulator material here is arguably not as important as with speakercables and IC's) the copper quality is beyond resproach, and very important is that they're solid-core wires. To me solid-core wires in general simply sound more right than the multi-stranded alternatives, providing cleaner/purer and better resolved highs, more organic and physical mids, tighter and subjectively deeper/weightier lows.

Ozzy, how would you compare the sonic signature of the Oyaide R1 vs the Maestro?

Mikey8811, I really like the Oyaide R1. It has more dynamics and in my system a more deeper sound that sounds purer.
Figures that the more expensive one is the better sounding...

Ozzy - just saw your power strips - looks great

Where did you get that case?

Some things I did with mine (if you are interested)

- I have a 15 amp pushbutton breaker for protection of the unit/devices - good fuses get expensive and may still impact sound

- I used crimped spade connectors for connection to the breaker - I don't like solder joints for power

- I used Furutech mains conductors for the internal wiring

- I wired all outlets in a star configuration to prevent cross-outlet contamination - not in parallel as you have. For this I used a termination block to accomodate all the wires.

- I also added a couple of switches to control 2 of the three outlet/pairs.

My initial cut at this was without switches and breaker, but after signficant testing I found neither the breaker or switches detracted from the sound.

The switches are good quality 20 amp SPST and the breaker is a quality 15 amp thermal model

Better quality magnetic/thermal are available for aroud $40, which may prove to be better, but since I did not nitice any sonic degredation I stopped there :-)

My power distribution box only powers source components - the amp goes into the wall outlet

My outlets are Pass and Seymour MRI grade 15 amp outlets ($25). The MRI rating means they have no ferous materials in their construction.

I found these to be superior the regular 20 amp hospital grade outlets I have tried in the past and they clamp even better - more like a vice, which eliminates the need for additional support of heavy cables. I also have these at the wall outlet.

Regards...