Power question - plug placement

[IBSTORMIN]

I have been of the mind set that due to the wires coming a long way to get to my equipment, the last few feet of the power cord can't make any difference. I have now tried different power cords and was surprised!! Now I wonder as I finish an area of my basement for my audio equipment if the wires in the wall generate a magnetic field that can interfere with the equipment. Which has more advantage for my money: the plug directly behind the equipment with a short (higher quality for the same money)power cord or off set the plug to one side away from the components with a longer (lesser quality for the same money) power cord?? I guess I should also say that the offset plug would put the plug closer to my Maggies tweeters which are less than three feet from the wall. Electrical Engineering or Audiophile question??

[IBSTORMIN]

I guess my question really becomes: does an AC wire in the wall generate a magnetic field or does the pulsing of the two wires negate themselves as they are going in opposite directions?

[Mr Peabody]

Power wire inside your wall is insulated and shouldn't be a concern to my knowledge, what usually makes your power "dirty" are artifacts injected in from other appliances and things plugged into your home's circuits. As well where you live depending that the electric coming in may contain noise and artifacts as well. I personally would locate the outlet in a close convenient area and clean the power as it comes from the wall.

[Smokey]

Mr Peabody have good points :)

I think the best one can do with power cord is using a shileded power cord as to protect audio cables that run approximately close to it. Most of nasty stuff that is contain in AC wiring will get filtered out in component's power supply circuit where AC is converted to DC.


Does the pulsing of the two wires negate themselves as they are going in opposite directions?

Their magnetic field don't cancel each other out as much as repelling each other, causing the magnetic field strenght to differ in the cross section of parallel wires.

[IBSTORMIN]

I personally would locate the outlet in a close convenient area and clean the power as it comes from the wall. Thanks for your response. What do you think of upgrading outlets?

[bfalls]

This mind set is a slippery slope. If you start worrying about the power cord, then the outlet... Pretty soon you're installing cryo-treated inline fuses, isolation transformers and Shakti Stones. If you're concerned about dirty AC source, purchase a line conditioner which is a signal re-generator. It takes the incoming AC signal, filters out all the nasty artifacts and re-generates a new AC signal. Should be less money in the long run.

[Mr Peabody]

I have not replaced outlets, I think some of the PS Audio and similar may contain some basic filtering but to my understanding the important thing with outlets is a tight connection.

If you are running new wiring I have heard a dedicated power line for amps does a lot. I had one ran when some work was being done but can't say for sure as to how much it helped since I was not able to A/B. My X250 is feeding off a dedicated 20 amp line so it should be getting fed nicely :)

[IBSTORMIN]

This mind set is a slippery slope. If you start worrying about the power cord, then the outlet... Pretty soon you're installing cryo-treated inline fuses, isolation transformers and Shakti Stones. If you're concerned about dirty AC source, purchase a line conditioner which is a signal re-generator. It takes the incoming AC signal, filters out all the nasty artifacts and re-generates a new AC signal. Should be less money in the long run. Already have a Panamax conditioner and noticed quite a difference. That led me to buying a mix of three different power cords and noticed a difference. A guy on another sight suggested that his outlet made a bigger difference than power cords, soo.......I asked here what people thought. Can't afford the rest you mentioned, although I have wondered about tuning fuses...........:)

[IBSTORMIN]

If you are running new wiring I have heard a dedicated power line for amps does a lot. I had one ran when some work was being done but can't say for sure as to how much it helped since I was not able to A/B. My X250 is feeding off a dedicated 20 amp line so it should be getting fed nicely :) Already have the dedicated line, just don't have the finished wall in my basement. That's why I was wondering where to screw it down:)

[E-Stat]

I have been of the mind set that due to the wires coming a long way to get to my equipment, the last few feet of the power cord can't make any difference.
Actually, there are some engineers like Ole Christensen from GamuT who look at the power cord as the first few feet (http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=general&n=117899&highlight=power+Ole+Lund+Christensen&r=&session=). I would use shorter shielded cables to help prevent RFI radiation from other components, especially digital ones that happily generate all sorts of hash. I would not run a power amp through a conditioner either. I use a pair of dedicated circuits for the amps.

[Glen B]

Pretty soon you're installing cryo-treated inline fuses, isolation transformers and Shakti Stones. If you're concerned about dirty AC source, purchase a line conditioner which is a signal re-generator. It takes the incoming AC signal, filters out all the nasty artifacts and re-generates a new AC signal. Should be less money in the long run.

You seem ready to pooh-pooh isolation transformers. Have you tried any ? Balanced AC power, which employs balanced isolation transformers is a proven, measurable technology, used by professional recording studios/industry, and recognized by the NEC. Many users of balanced power, myself included, have realized noticeable benefits.

AC regenerators are fine. I would buy one if I have not had such great results with balanced power over the past 9+ years. No line conditioning, including regenerators will completely eliminate all power line noise. The regenerators you tout are not perfect, not to mention the inefficiency losses, since these units are basically amplifiers that output alternating current.

[E-Stat]

You seem ready to pooh-pooh isolation transformers. Have you tried any ?
Most likely he is another non-experiential theorist like others I've encountered here before. My favorite was an old radio repairman whose thinking was limited to a very small box.

Woodie on power cords (http://forums.audioreview.com/audio-lab-tweaks-mods-diy/golden-ears-fail-again-9347.html#post68359)

The problem with using theory alone is you frequently fail to acknowledge all the factors involved. The ongoing canard presented is that you are simply trying to "fix" the incoming AC signal. The villains are not located miles away at the sub station - they are located in your house and nearby your amplifier.

As for Shakti stones, they address a different issue. I have told bfalls that bfore. (http://forums.audioreview.com/general-audio/emaidel-right-about-hi-fi-tuning-fuses-31879-4.html#post300546) Speculation only gets you so far. :)