Mains spurs

*One* dedicated AC line sounds better than multiples with an all-Naim system. However, it usually doesn't cost that much extra to drop another line since the electrician is there. You could also have him place each line on a different phase to determine which one sounds best due to load differences caused by other household appliances.

Ken

A mains spur is fundamental to optimising a system. I found it was like adding both a powerline and hiline.

Enjoy

Don

I agree, it is a fundamental upgrade to get you audio equipment off the same spur as the rest of your household electrical equipment.

Hi Ken,

I had the electrician run a 100 amp capacity cable directly from the mains board to 4 plug outlets on the wall.The electricity company also had to run a far more substantial cable in from the street due to having three ovens in the house.The difference the spur makes is huge in my opinion.Just the 100 amp spur without the larger cable feed from the street(which came later)was like going from a $50 moving magnet cartridge to a Linn Akiva.I only run a passive system with a NAP 250 Amp (olive series) and everyone who has heard my system is amazed at the dynamics especially in the bass weight and control of my Naim Arriva speakers.

All the best
Paul

Hi Ken

I am having a 10mm armoured cable feed installed over the weekend. The cable will come from the electric meter, thus bypassing the fuse box for the house.

The cable will go into a single 45amp consumer unit wit 6 double unswitched mk sockets.

I will report when it is all in.

Rgds

Trevor

quote:

Originally posted by Trev:
Hi Ken

I am having a 10mm armoured cable feed installed over the weekend. The cable will come from the electric meter, thus bypassing the fuse box for the house.

The cable will go into a single 45amp consumer unit wit 6 double unswitched mk sockets.

I will report when it is all in.

Rgds

Trevor

there a thread in padded cell, Spur and hydra. I put a bit about mains on there.

Ray

quote:

Originally posted by ray davis:

quote:

Originally posted by Trev:
Hi Ken

I am having a 10mm armoured cable feed installed over the weekend. The cable will come from the electric meter, thus bypassing the fuse box for the house.

The cable will go into a single 45amp consumer unit wit 6 double unswitched mk sockets.

I will report when it is all in.

Rgds

Trevor

there a thread in padded cell, Spur and hydra. I put a bit about mains on there.

Ray

I've just installed a 10mm spur but to only 1 switchless socket for use with a Grahams Hydra as this seemed the neatest solution in terms of minimising connections.

A very worthwhile and cheap investment - £35!

Graeme

Dave told us: ‘However, it usually doesn't cost that much extra to drop another line since the electrician is there. You could also have him place each line on a different phase to determine which one sounds best due to load differences caused by other household appliances.”

Yes. While I’m not that sure of the reasons (you know we are talking about audio...), choosing phase is a most important but unfortunately neglected field.* For a listening test, presence of the electrician is advisable but the difference may be so pronounced that decision can be made in minutes. In some cases you may find one (or two) of the 3 phases as something that you could hardly live with.

graphoman
*Because not in every flat or block possible.

if i coudl have athree phase supply i would love it, but we have overhead two wire. When i joint services onto cables its a total geussing game on older cables as you do not know the phase loading at the sub station. total geussing game. The worst cable in the Ground is called Consac and theres loads of it. The cable has a alloy Neutral if water gets in then you got problems the Neutral will corrode away. Then your volts go up and down as the retirn path is lost as the neutral goes.

Best cable ever put in the ground is the Steel tape armoured with lead sheath for earthing.

New stuff Wavecon has been going in for a few years, the true extent of its holding will be in a few years time when the water gets in.

quote:

Originally posted by graphoman:
Dave told us: ‘However, it usually doesn't cost that much extra to drop another line since the electrician is there. You could also have him place each line on a different phase to determine which one sounds best due to load differences caused by other household appliances.”



Yes. While I’m not that sure of the reasons (you know we are talking about audio...), choosing phase is a most important but unfortunately neglected field.* For a listening test, presence of the electrician is advisable but the difference may be so pronounced that decision can be made in minutes. In some cases you may find one (or two) of the 3 phases as something that you could hardly live with.

graphoman
*Because not in every flat or block possible.

Load balancing is very much worthwhile and easier if he installs two dedicated lines (one on each phase) even though he'll only end up using one of the lines for the hifi. Here in the US all modern homes have two incoming phases which are combined to provide 220V for major appliances like ovens, etc as well as load balancing for the increasing number of electrical devices with today's lifestyles. It's simply a matter of rearranging breakers on each phase to balance the household's loads and minimize the number of problematic devices (washer, dryer, furnace blower, etc.) on the same phase as the hifi's AC line.

to get an extra single phase service in the UK on under graound mains is expensive at a rough geuss £750 plus.

We get two phases for free here in the US in homes;-)

quote:

Originally posted by dave simpson:
We get two phases for free here in the US in homes;-)

We only put two phases in if the cable is over a very long run to keep the voltage up. Split phase as it is called still gives say 235-240 volts. Voltage on a three phase cable is not always the same on all three phases as load can be different and there may never be the same amount of consumers on each phase. Having two phases is a bonus if one ever goes faulty.

In Hungary, we usually have three phases though not every flat of blocks does have access to all of them. Certain electric equipments do need more than one phase for their functions.

From the generator side, the three phases are totally equal, the only difference between them is a voltage shift by 120 grade. (Sorry if I am amateurish - I’m not a technician.) Sound quality of the three is, however, usually very different. Among others, I discussed it with the Naim dealer Longtone, Vienna, and they concurred with this finding as regard to the high importance of phase choice. Unfortunately, there is no other capital city around :-)

The most usual explanation of this phenomena is that electric customers in the neighbourhood make use of the 3 phases in unequal measure. This explanation is more than doubtful.

My friends in the Electric Institute for Quality Control, Budapest (funny but true, now owned by the German TÜV) once told me that they had ‘dedicated’ cables directly from the supplier and that still they were able to measure quality differences between the phases.

graphoman

Yep you can get your own direct mains from any supplier. Here in the UK that is expensive believe me, it can take months of planning.

Ray,

I don’t think the matter can be arranged by irony. I had the three phases just before my door so it was relatively simple for me to choose the best one. The difference - in my case - was enorm.

graphoman