Santaduck
08-23-2002, 12:29 AM
Anyone out there do a lot of AC Line tweaking?
And I don't mean 1) Power Line Conditioners, 2) AC transient current enhancers (Like the $800 Richard Gray Power Company device), nor 3) AC-DC-AC devices like the very very very nice new model by PS Audio... (takes typically contaminated home AC lines, converts it to DC, then converts it back to smooth AC. Not to be confused with similar $100 power inverter devices for car batteries, which produce very choppy but workable AC-- good to drive the hairdryer, but very bad for A/V applications). This PS Audio device would work wonders in home audio as well as home theatre...
but Tweaks are "cheap" but noticeable.
1) $15-20 Industrial Specification Grade or even better: Hospital Grade AC Duplex Outlets. Why buy many $K of electronics, all wired into a $3.95 AC outlet? The hospital grade tends to be bright orange, so if that isn't okay by the wife, the Spec grade performs almost as well in A/V applications and come in white & beige I believe.
2) $3-5 Ferrite Clamps on AC lines... at plug end and at device end. Can possibly use on digital lines, but keep off of audio lines. Especially put on "noisy" AC polluters, like your refrigerator, air conditioning, and in my home I have one on every single lightbulb device.
3) $12 Industrial Specification grade AC plugs for your power cords (for both stock cords and expensive exotic cords). Kimber cable makes a $120 version called "Wattagate", but it is only barely better than the Leviton Industrial Spec Grade (angled {Part 5266-CA} & straight {Part 5266-C} versions) ... other Leviton plugs, and other brands like Hubble do not fare well.
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~uyeyama/photos/plugpackaged3.jpghttp://www2.hawaii.edu/~uyeyama/photos/plugclose3.jpg
4) $80 ea. Bybee Rare-earth Ceramic filters. Tremendous effect on video clarity if put in high voltage outputs of your DVD's power supply. Tremendous effect on same (B+ High Voltage outputs) of your preamp. Thereafter, noticeable differences in other locations (signal path or power supply of all components, from source to speaker), but the law of diminishing returns kicks in, and at $80 a pop, it's not a tweak if you buy too many. http://www.bybeetech.com This is more a power supply & signal path mod, rather than an AC mod.
5) For ultimate tweakers out there, another non AC mod, but rather an internal power supply mod is to: disconnect every LED light in all your components. Yeah, they won't shine all high-tech midfi in the dark, but your images and sound will be clearer, given that all your gear is of high quality.
And I don't mean 1) Power Line Conditioners, 2) AC transient current enhancers (Like the $800 Richard Gray Power Company device), nor 3) AC-DC-AC devices like the very very very nice new model by PS Audio... (takes typically contaminated home AC lines, converts it to DC, then converts it back to smooth AC. Not to be confused with similar $100 power inverter devices for car batteries, which produce very choppy but workable AC-- good to drive the hairdryer, but very bad for A/V applications). This PS Audio device would work wonders in home audio as well as home theatre...
but Tweaks are "cheap" but noticeable.
1) $15-20 Industrial Specification Grade or even better: Hospital Grade AC Duplex Outlets. Why buy many $K of electronics, all wired into a $3.95 AC outlet? The hospital grade tends to be bright orange, so if that isn't okay by the wife, the Spec grade performs almost as well in A/V applications and come in white & beige I believe.
2) $3-5 Ferrite Clamps on AC lines... at plug end and at device end. Can possibly use on digital lines, but keep off of audio lines. Especially put on "noisy" AC polluters, like your refrigerator, air conditioning, and in my home I have one on every single lightbulb device.
3) $12 Industrial Specification grade AC plugs for your power cords (for both stock cords and expensive exotic cords). Kimber cable makes a $120 version called "Wattagate", but it is only barely better than the Leviton Industrial Spec Grade (angled {Part 5266-CA} & straight {Part 5266-C} versions) ... other Leviton plugs, and other brands like Hubble do not fare well.
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~uyeyama/photos/plugpackaged3.jpghttp://www2.hawaii.edu/~uyeyama/photos/plugclose3.jpg
4) $80 ea. Bybee Rare-earth Ceramic filters. Tremendous effect on video clarity if put in high voltage outputs of your DVD's power supply. Tremendous effect on same (B+ High Voltage outputs) of your preamp. Thereafter, noticeable differences in other locations (signal path or power supply of all components, from source to speaker), but the law of diminishing returns kicks in, and at $80 a pop, it's not a tweak if you buy too many. http://www.bybeetech.com This is more a power supply & signal path mod, rather than an AC mod.
5) For ultimate tweakers out there, another non AC mod, but rather an internal power supply mod is to: disconnect every LED light in all your components. Yeah, they won't shine all high-tech midfi in the dark, but your images and sound will be clearer, given that all your gear is of high quality.