Electricity "Smart Meter" degrades audio quality?

"Some things are worth believing in, but for me this is not one them, as there is no real need for a smart meter. I do not need a box to tell me how stupid I am - I already know this and accept it. Smart meters are really aimed at giving providers more flexibility rather than consumers - but they can't say that, so they invent reasons why it is good for consumers - all in my opinion of course!"

Spot on Gary. Smart meters give the consumer nothing  apart from a bit of eco-waffle, but it reduces the supplier's maintenance costs considerably.

Some time ago I printed off a sign which states 'DO NOT FIT A SMART-METER' and stuck it in my outside meter cupboard.

John.

Darke Bear posted:

I really don't believe there will be any SQ consequences, and certainly not for kit like Naim which is properly designed.

That may be true or not. I have found a lot of things that were supposed to be fine actually were not - and others were fine. There is just no way to be sure. Naim equipment is sensitive to some types of mains-borne noise - I wish it was not, but it is.

+1

I totally disagree that there cartainly won't be SQ issues with Naim equipment. Naim even point out in their manuals that transformer noise can be heard and recommend the use of a separate mains spur. Mains quality is outside the control of designers and often to incorporate filtering or other palliatives into designs compromise sound. Best to have equipment installed in as noise free an environment as possible, something we as end users can control. I have invested a lot of time and effort into ensuring my in house mains quality is optimised, including installation of a separate dedicated consumer unit with low impedance spurs for the individual components. I would say the best and cheapest upgrade ever. I still have no control over the quality of mains before it reaches the consumer unit but I can control whether or not I allow a device which may further pollute the mains and thus undermine my efforts from being fitted

It be of interest to note that my system sounded better with an old analogue meter which for safety reasons had to be replaced with a digital one. Also RCD's degrade audio quality, I'm not sure of the science but they add something undesirable to the mains. We need to retain the older MCB's for an audio application and eventually I found a sympathetic electrical engineer who was willing and able to do this and still comply with regulations.

As someone else has pointed out things that we think shouldn't have an effect often do. And we are often told these things won't have an effect by people who have no knowledge or understanding of the science of High Fidelity audio reproduction.

@Ricard2000, I think you vastly overestimate the degree to which most people are in control of their mains wiring. 

When having wiring redone, yeah fine; people are in control. Assuming your sparky does what they were supposed to (I recently found my extensive dedicated radial is anything but dedicated).  But most people find having floors and walls torn up to install new wiring a nonstarter.

Then there are the growing majority who are renting homes. Zero chance there. Most of Naim's customers have very little control over their mains.

Hi feelingzen

I think you underestimate how much people can control their environment. Yes, I take your point that how far people are prepared to go will be a matter of personal choice and domestic circumstance. However, in my view if you are prepared to spend several thousand pounds on a quality music system and then further outlay on fancy cables, equipment supports and other audiophillia to ensure it performs well. Then it shouldn't be considered prohibitive to consider the effect of mains supply on audio performance, and take measures to improve it as far as, and/or wherever possible. Whether one chooses to do so is a moot point, it is a measure we CAN control, with a few exceptions as you point out.

You don't necessarily need to go through the upheaval of lifting floorboards or channeling into the walls. A decent skilled electrician should be able to lift and replace floorboards without too much difficulty. Alternatively, as in my case, the electrician ran the radials from the consumer unit via quality decorative trunking which blended well with my wooden floor and barely noticeable.

Just because your electrician apparently got it wrong should not be a premise to suggest others will.

I expect most people would view someone spending a small fortune on a high performance sports car and then try to run it on dirty fuel to be a fool wasting their money.

The point I have gone round the houses to try and make is that we can make choices and where companies try to impose potentially degrading gadgets on us we should have a right to choose and say no if we wish.

I think this is a somewhat simplistic view based on the nature of older homes in the UK where each room is basically 4 walls with a hollow space under floor boards that can be pried up and nailed down again.

Bring in more modern homes with underfloor heating, marble tiling, different building regulations etc, and it is a very different story. Last estimate I had for putting in a new radial was closer to 25K. About 600 quid for the wiring and 24K for tearing up all the other stuff and put it back again. So yes, it is in my control but given that the cost is as much as the system, it is not really meaningful. When the cost of control starts to equal the cost of the hifi, you need to put a question mark on the endeavor.

On the other hand, if you think the majority of Naim users are UK-based home owners with older homes, then yes I would concede that there is a great deal of realistic control. Certainly when I lived in the UK, adding spurs, and radials was fairly painless. Partly due to the older construction methods used, and partly (no offense) the fact that things were a bit older and dinged up anyway where no one would notice a newly scuffed bit of boarding, mismatched grouting, or a bit of trunking.

And as time goes by, home owning Naim users are going to become rarer.

And  many yet older houses/cottages tend to have solid floors on the ground floor with slate damp proof if any at all .. Not something you want to rip up .. but there are more nooks and crannies in older properties to run new wiring if required.

Simon

Not to mention the constraints on development of listed buildings!