Power, power supply upgrades, grounding

[JohnMichael]

Rereading an article in Stereophile, September 2015 by At Dudley regarding tweaks caused me to reconsider my system. I had already adhered to the first two tweaks of having my source and amplification on the same shelf if not the same rack. The other was to remove spiked footers from equipment. The third having to do with power strips instead of power conditioners.

My audio rack is a solid Amish built, horizontal maple rack with my SACD/cd player and turntable on the top shelf. My integrated amp is on the next shelf. When it was first delivered I was amazed at the increased quietness of the components.

I had no metallic spiked feet under any components so I easily met the second tweak.

Reading about the third tweak and the idea of plugging in all the components into a 15amp power strip so the system had but one ground point made me think. Since I did not have a power strip without surge protection or filtering I unplugged my SACD player and plugged it into a different outlet. My components and speakers are on the short wall and there are outlets at both corners of the room. My Krell is plugged into the outlet on the right side and the Sony is plugged into the outlet on the left.

I have to say the sound has improved greatly and the former power strip limited what the Sony was capable of with current and filtration limitations. The sound is now more focused, powerful and delicate. The Krell had always been plugged directly into the outlet but this was a first time for the Sony. Damn, damn, holy sh!t it sounds so much better. No limitations.

I did have a 15 amp power strip but it has surge protection but I am using it with my turntable, phono preamps, Marantz SA 8001 and power supply upgrades. I will be ordering the power strip that Mr. Dudley recommends to see if all components in the same strip is an improvement. Right now I am happy he made me think and try a different way of powering the system.

I will share my reactions of the new power strip when it arrives.

[thekid]

Interesting read JM - thank you for sharing.
What is the power strip that was recommended?

[JohnMichael]

The Wiremold L10320

Wiremold - L10320 - 9 outlets 6 foot cord Power Strip - Allied Electronics (http://www.alliedelec.com/wiremold-l10320/70091760/)

Naim who promotes star grounding of it's components in England did not think it sounded as good in the US. They distributed this power cord for use here. It has no power switch, filtration, surge protection or anything else that might interfere.

[Dual-500]

I never think much about grounding in discussions, just figure everyone knows what to do. My system has a steel rack on a UPS that's on the other side of the wall behind it. I ran a #8 copper wire from the water faucet (hose bib) at the patio in through the wall to the rack. Star power distribution is the only way to keep thinks quiet. In some cases, as my setup additional grounding was necessary.

[JohnMichael]

I am still having problems logging in since I do not think the spammers liked me deleting so many posts but I wanted to talk about the Wiremold power strip.

First let me say I have no idea why it improves the sound the way it does but it has been a good tweak. I should say I was not having any ground issues to begin with but Art Duddley wrote about the benefits of a common ground.

The first thing I noticed was hearing a singers tongue against the roof of her mouth during a song. The detail had been increased but no brightness or change in balance. I could almost say the sound was sweeter. Better focus, detail and more space between instruments.

In the past I had the Krell plugged into an outlet and the Sony SACD player plugged into one accross the room and then a small power strip for the Ttable, phono pream and the Marantz SA8001.

I am not sure if it is having everything plugged into one strip including the Krell but either the timing is better or some inaudible ground noise was interfering but the sound is much improved.