Mains supply finally sorted
Posted by: JeremyB on 11 May 2003
I know this is a well worn subject and a lot of people are aware of it already but I thought it may be helpful to share my experience. I finally got my mains sorted and am staggered by the improvement!
Prorities were:
1. Safety
2. More music
3. Sound better than before
4. Minimise pops and clicks from other appliances
5. Looks cool or at least neat
6. Minimise transformer buzz
After 3 weekends and 3-4 hours work and some advice from a few people it's done.
Some details (they're important)
- 2 x 20A breakers fitted in main supply panel
- split (red and black) phases via 30 ft of AWG10 Romex to 3 duplex 20A recepticles. This means you have a maximum of one link wire in the wall box for any given socket, and a maximum of 3 link wires joined together.
- 3/8" 8 ft ground rod pounded into wet ground with 8lb hammer
- ground rod connected via 6AWG 8 ft bare wire to recepticles (isolated ground)
- TT ground connected to pre-amp ground post (not stageline ground post)
This arrangement now gives good PRaT as well as round earth stuff. I can't get rid of the very occasional click when operating the record cleaner, but those transformers are now completely silent. Bass is the most powerful and detailed it's ever been. Initially the sound was a little shrill, this was easily fixed by rearranging furniture although I think replacing the 135s with a new 250 may be a better solution.
This type of work seems well worth it, whether you have some one else do it or do it yourself as I did. I think the key is to avoid any "silly" or unsafe arrangements (I admit I did try all of these which were all worse sounding than what I have now):
- excessive guage wiring or circuit ratings - 10 or 12 guage/20A is more than enough
- multiple circuits with a sub-panel - one dedicated circuit is all that is needed, straight back to the main panel
- I read somewhere that power strips and the like are considered temporary solutions. If you own your house shouldn't you have a proper permanent arrangement for the Hi-fi?
Electricians know all about dedicated circuits and isolated grounds, just ask for this and you won't get a "silly" price for the job. I included a few pics which are self-explanatory.
(These files are quite large, sorry)
New Mains
[This message was edited by JeremyB on MONDAY 12 May 2003 at 04:22.]
[This message was edited by JeremyB on MONDAY 12 May 2003 at 08:04.]
Prorities were:
1. Safety
2. More music
3. Sound better than before
4. Minimise pops and clicks from other appliances
5. Looks cool or at least neat
6. Minimise transformer buzz
After 3 weekends and 3-4 hours work and some advice from a few people it's done.
Some details (they're important)
- 2 x 20A breakers fitted in main supply panel
- split (red and black) phases via 30 ft of AWG10 Romex to 3 duplex 20A recepticles. This means you have a maximum of one link wire in the wall box for any given socket, and a maximum of 3 link wires joined together.
- 3/8" 8 ft ground rod pounded into wet ground with 8lb hammer
- ground rod connected via 6AWG 8 ft bare wire to recepticles (isolated ground)
- TT ground connected to pre-amp ground post (not stageline ground post)
This arrangement now gives good PRaT as well as round earth stuff. I can't get rid of the very occasional click when operating the record cleaner, but those transformers are now completely silent. Bass is the most powerful and detailed it's ever been. Initially the sound was a little shrill, this was easily fixed by rearranging furniture although I think replacing the 135s with a new 250 may be a better solution.
This type of work seems well worth it, whether you have some one else do it or do it yourself as I did. I think the key is to avoid any "silly" or unsafe arrangements (I admit I did try all of these which were all worse sounding than what I have now):
- excessive guage wiring or circuit ratings - 10 or 12 guage/20A is more than enough
- multiple circuits with a sub-panel - one dedicated circuit is all that is needed, straight back to the main panel
- I read somewhere that power strips and the like are considered temporary solutions. If you own your house shouldn't you have a proper permanent arrangement for the Hi-fi?
Electricians know all about dedicated circuits and isolated grounds, just ask for this and you won't get a "silly" price for the job. I included a few pics which are self-explanatory.
(These files are quite large, sorry)
New Mains
[This message was edited by JeremyB on MONDAY 12 May 2003 at 04:22.]
[This message was edited by JeremyB on MONDAY 12 May 2003 at 08:04.]