Pterodactyl
pfm Member
Was your SQ good before you did your radials? So was it getting rid of a background problem, or adding to something that was already v good?it's either neutral or a benefit.
Was your SQ good before you did your radials? So was it getting rid of a background problem, or adding to something that was already v good?it's either neutral or a benefit.
This isn't actually going to make a significant difference, it's not physically possible. Mains voltage is fixed in law and has a tolerance that may not be exceeded. You then step this down inside your kit so any variation is multiplied down by the transformers converting 240V ac to (say) 40-0-40 Vac. This is rectified to dc and smoothed by the reservoir capacitors. You probably then have regulators that stabilise the voltage again, so even if there were a positive variation on the mains supply it would be ironed out by the regulators. In any case it's easy to test your mains voltage and establish whether you have indeed got any variation, a multimeter costing £10 will do it. I will stake money on it being within a couple of volts for the whole 24h. A 6 x stepdown transformer (240 to 40 is dividing by 6) will mean that a 1V variation at the input will be 1/6 of this on the secondary. Even an unregulated circuit is not going to notice this, if it were so sensitive to input voltage it would sound dreadful as the rail voltage will rise and fall by fractions of a volt on any amplifier according to amplifier load. Yours is a reasonable hypothesis but it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. Don't just take my word for it, get a tester and measure it.I can definitely detect a change in sound quality after round 11pm on my system. Firstly it plays slightly louder and the resolution seems to improve. I think this is due to the mains voltage slightly increasing due to decrease in load.
This isn't actually going to make a significant difference, it's not physically possible. Mains voltage is fixed in law and has a tolerance that may not be exceeded. You then step this down inside your kit so any variation is multiplied down by the transformers converting 240V ac to (say) 40-0-40 Vac. This is rectified to dc and smoothed by the reservoir capacitors. You probably then have regulators that stabilise the voltage again, so even if there were a positive variation on the mains supply it would be ironed out by the regulators. In any case it's easy to test your mains voltage and establish whether you have indeed got any variation, a multimeter costing £10 will do it. I will stake money on it being within a couple of volts for the whole 24h. A 6 x stepdown transformer (240 to 40 is dividing by 6) will mean that a 1V variation at the input will be 1/6 of this on the secondary. Even an unregulated circuit is not going to notice this, if it were so sensitive to input voltage it would sound dreadful as the rail voltage will rise and fall by fractions of a volt on any amplifier according to amplifier load. Yours is a reasonable hypothesis but it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. Don't just take my word for it, get a tester and measure it.
+1. I very rarely enjoy listening to music early in the day. I put this down to the fact that this is when my ears are most sensitive to sound. My hifi kit INVARIABLY sounds it best late at night, this is when I'm most able to suspend my disbelief and become fully immersed in the music and forget that it's being replayed through a chain of electronic devices.Incidentally my system sounds louder - for a given volume setting - first thing in a morning after I've got up compared to later in the day.
A glass of red is always going to help! I am prepared to believe that there is less crud on the mains late at night. In the early evening everyone is at home cooking, turning kettles and central heating pumps on and off, and so on. I have first hand experience of frdiges and CH pumps putting audible clicks and farts on the mains as they come in and out, and I do know a friend who lives down a long lane with only one supply cable in for about 20 houses and is into car DIY is cursed by his neighbours every time he fires up a welder or the compressor. It messes up their TV picture.I've always put a system sounding better late at night to a combination of alcohol and lower ambient noise.
That makes a lot of sense. Ears are not the linear devices that we like to think. Brains even less so, after you have spent 8 hours in near silence it is bound to sound louder.Incidentally my system sounds louder - for a given volume setting - first thing in a morning after I've got up compared to later in the day.
This isn't actually going to make a significant difference, it's not physically possible. Mains voltage is fixed in law and has a tolerance that may not be exceeded. You then step this down inside your kit so any variation is multiplied down by the transformers converting 240V ac to (say) 40-0-40 Vac. This is rectified to dc and smoothed by the reservoir capacitors. You probably then have regulators that stabilise the voltage again, so even if there were a positive variation on the mains supply it would be ironed out by the regulators. In any case it's easy to test your mains voltage and establish whether you have indeed got any variation, a multimeter costing £10 will do it. I will stake money on it being within a couple of volts for the whole 24h. A 6 x stepdown transformer (240 to 40 is dividing by 6) will mean that a 1V variation at the input will be 1/6 of this on the secondary. Even an unregulated circuit is not going to notice this, if it were so sensitive to input voltage it would sound dreadful as the rail voltage will rise and fall by fractions of a volt on any amplifier according to amplifier load. Yours is a reasonable hypothesis but it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. Don't just take my word for it, get a tester and measure it.
Yes, exactly, which is why I said "Mains voltage is fixed in law and has a tolerance that may not be exceeded".Not quite true, it's 230V +10% to -6%, so does change. However, not sure if this will make much difference.
What, including my fridge and CH pump and the audible clicks and farts? No it's not. That's measurable and repeatable. Get a 'scope on the mains and you can see it. Same goes for my mate and his massive inductive load every time he fires up his welder and the neighbours curse the TV going funny.I'll repeat what I just said in a similar thread... EVERYTHNIG said about mains quality effecting sound quality is total bunkum and entirely a product of expectation bias.
What, including my fridge and CH pump and the audible clicks and farts? No it's not. That's measurable and repeatable. Get a 'scope on the mains and you can see it. Same goes for my mate and his massive inductive load every time he fires up his welder and the neighbours curse the TV going funny.
Really? I certainly do! I noticed it when I started buying "proper" hifi, I bought a Quad 33/303 and that was very sensitive to the crud on the mains. Probably because it is a simple circuit with no filtering and a straightforward (unregulated AFAIK) PSU. I had to fit a suppressor to the fridge, which helped, and I got a fault fixed on the CH because it would have 3 or 4 goes at switching off the pump when the 'stat clicked off, and each one was accompanied by a fart through the speakers. After I'd had it fixed there was only the one fart per thermostat operation, but fart it did and it was a pain that I had to live with until I got a 44-405 that was more tolerant.Yes it's measurable and repeatable and makes no difference. I would happily power up my system from the dirtiest mains around. I don't regard the odd click from a fridge etc as an issue personally.
I think you are confusing RFI with dirty mains. Its not the same thing.Really? I certainly do! I noticed it when I started buying "proper" hifi, I bought a Quad 33/303 and that was very sensitive to the crud on the mains. Probably because it is a simple circuit with no filtering and a straightforward (unregulated AFAIK) PSU. I had to fit a suppressor to the fridge, which helped, and I got a fault fixed on the CH because it would have 3 or 4 goes at switching off the pump when the 'stat clicked off, and each one was accompanied by a fart through the speakers. After I'd had it fixed there was only the one fart per thermostat operation, but fart it did and it was a pain that I had to live with until I got a 44-405 that was more tolerant.
Really? I certainly do! I noticed it when I started buying "proper" hifi, I bought a Quad 33/303 and that was very sensitive to the crud on the mains. Probably because it is a simple circuit with no filtering and a straightforward (unregulated AFAIK) PSU. I had to fit a suppressor to the fridge, which helped, and I got a fault fixed on the CH because it would have 3 or 4 goes at switching off the pump when the 'stat clicked off, and each one was accompanied by a fart through the speakers. After I'd had it fixed there was only the one fart per thermostat operation, but fart it did and it was a pain that I had to live with until I got a 44-405 that was more tolerant.
Was your SQ good before you did your radials? So was it getting rid of a background problem, or adding to something that was already v good?
And what about separate earthing? In my new house, I could install a separate earth rod straight into clay soil without much hassle, anyone ever tried that?
No idea, Jim. Whereas I've had modern dedicated mains here for nearly 2 decades, I installed them in previous houses going back to the late eighties, though with fuse boxes and (by modern standards) archaic fittings, I wonder if it made much difference with hindsight but it was something which just made sense at the time and since. Never suffered from clicks and pops though, despite old wiring and 23 rooms (but incl. cellars and loos!!!)
Suggest you read my posts on previous page where I covered that scenario. If you mean NEW house (as in recently built), you may have a PME earthing arrangement. If so, and you stick an earth spike on it, you can potentially create a dangerous situation, I understand, where a major fault down the road on the same phase could come back to bite you, as it were.
Nobody so far has mentioned one of, and possibly the most important aspect of having a proper dedicated circuit as opposed to domestic rings, and that is in lowering the impedance, which can also be aided by an earth spike, grid or whatever (if safe). On some kit (Naim again, but probably other stuff), lowering impedance increases dynamics (or s.q. by another name). In theory (as I understand it), each connection, especially if dirty, increases impedance.
Whilst a technical ground can be a good idea if done well enough,
Can you expand on this, Jez ? What is a 'technical ground' and if it's a good idea, then what benefits can it bring ? All I know in domestic grounding is TT and PME earthing bonds or are we at angry porpoises * here ?
* (Sorry, cross purposes).