Power Cord Upgrade

[jmg]

I want to upgrade my power cord on my STF-1 sub, any recommendations?

[BradJudy]

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=15325

[bacobits]

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=15325

That is exactly what I use except it is cryoed.Throughout my whole system. I built my own.

Den

[jmprader]

JMG:

A preivious post went awry... but forget the tweak...

Snake oil is expensive. You cannot control AC garbage before it enters your home. Once it's in, a passive power cord will do virtually nothing.

If you do not believe me, at least aske for a little science before jumping in..

You are better off selling your existing sub and upgrading (to the next bigger HSU) than buying some snake-oil power cord for a few centi-bucks that handles the last 6 feet of your power input.

Hope this helps.

I welcome all scientifi/reasearched backed (and published) abuse from whatever source.

[Lwang]

Snake oil is expensive. You cannot control AC garbage before it enters your home. Once it's in, a passive power cord will do virtually nothing.
What do you think much of those line filterings boxes are? You think there are actually active components in those mid priced power line filter? Most of them has active circuitry in them to display line voltage, floating ground, current being used, and has nothing more than coils and caps in them for power line filtering.

Have you thought what's in a power cord besides some wires? Do you think they have passive low pass build into the IEC? Or shields that prevent excess EM from eminating from it, espcially when it will be bunched up with a pile of other cables?

[jmg]

jmprader-
I was thinking that its 150 watt amp with a little power cord, what inexpensive power cord would give better current delievery. I have upgraded the power cord on my Jolida and it improved the sound. I bought the power cord used for less than half of orginal retail. I think upgraded power cords can sometimes make an improvement on sound.

Also I wanted one with a good shield.

[jmprader]

JMG:

Don't know what's imbedded in your response, but it drove my browser/reply nuts 4x!
I misunderstood the purpose of your initial post.

If it's AC current sag due to your cord, BradJudy's post ought to cure it and an economic "no snake-oil" cost.

You might also want to see if your AC circuit has voltage sag due to load (not just your equipment, but everything else that might be sucking from the same circuit)...it happened to me when I went to big SS amps and HSU's 500w A/B am for my HT. Two dedicated 20A circuits cured the problem and eliminated noise from my home office computers and flourescent lights on the original circuit.

I'll believe the centi/kilobuck AC cord claims when someone hands over some science and at least 4 of my 5 hi-fi cronies buy in to boot....all bets are off when they can't confirm hearing over 15k...

Cheers.

[lradden]

I'm inclined to agree with jmprader. Sorry I'm just not a believer in expensive power cords. I beleive the money spent on a new cord would be better spent on equipment than a cord. I do beleive that all cables and cords should have good build qaulity and good shielding though. Hsu test their equipment with these cords in place and achieve better then rated specs. For instance the VTF-3 MKII with a stock cord can achieve 16Hz in room while Hsu specs say 18Hz. If the sub can achieve better performance than Hsu specs show then the stock cord is already good enough.

[jmg]

I am also not a believer in expensive power cords. There are some cords on Audiogon, used, for over 2K dollars, which is waaay more then I would ever think of spending. I was looking at spending less than 50 dollars.

Thanks for the input.

[Lwang]

If you are not a believer, then why do you want to upgrade? If flimsy 18 guage power cords are sufficient for 1500w vacuum cleaners, then surely your 150w (power of a light bulb) STF-1 surely require much less.

[Ddavidson]

Noel Lee always asks that you first bend over so that you get it twice (first is obvious, the second time is so your wallet falls out of your top pocket). The cable industry relies on placebo and to put it bluntly *plain BS*.


Ddavidson

[jro45]

Noel Lee always asks that you first bend over so that you get it twice (first is obvious, the second time is so your wallet falls out of your top pocket). The cable industry relies on placebo and to put it bluntly *plain BS*.


Ddavidson


Ever since the "high end" audio industry began selling megabuck power cables, I have felt that we must be dumb to not replace all of our Romex house wiring with $200/ft. power cables. After all, the power at the wall socket is no cleaner than the power delivered to it. Come to think of it, the wiring to the high-voltaqe distribution transformer down the street should be replaced, too...

Save your money for quality equipment, don't spend it on snake-oil cures.

[John Firestone]

... If flimsy 18 guage power cords are sufficient for 1500w vacuum cleaners, then surely your 150w (power of a light bulb) STF-1 surely require much less.Gee, I don't know. I hear a fair amount of clipping in my vacuum cleaner and not much deep bass. :D

[jmg]

Okay okay Guys....I was just thinking that an amp with 150 watts and 600 watts peak and a little power cord, but yeah the sub was designed with that PC so no reason to upgrade the PC. Besides the sub is awesome!

[jmprader]

Okay okay Guys....I was just thinking that an amp with 150 watts and 600 watts peak and a little power cord, but yeah the sub was designed with that PC so no reason to upgrade the PC. Besides the sub is awesome!

So before this thread degenerates into a tweak-bashing session uncharacteristic of the HSU website, can we all just agree that BradJudy's suggestion for a cord that costs less than 2 latte's at Starbucks is something that JMG might reasonably consider without ridicule?

If the suggested OEM cord doesn't do the trick and no other simply identifiable problem can be identified, we protectors of science and economic audio can rise up in anger and demand in a unified voice that our building'electrical codes be strengthened and our utility companies be forced clean up their act, as well.

Don't trust anyone over 30 (that's me). Power to the people. Death to the fascist insect. Make love not war.

[Lwang]

Ever since the "high end" audio industry began selling megabuck power cables, I have felt that we must be dumb to not replace all of our Romex house wiring with $200/ft. power cables. After all, the power at the wall socket is no cleaner than the power delivered to it. Come to think of it, the wiring to the high-voltaqe distribution transformer down the street should be replaced, too...

Save your money for quality equipment, don't spend it on snake-oil cures.One aspect of a power cord is to act as a passive line filter, so you don't need to rewire all the way from Chenobyl. Some of them squeeze a few pieces of component in the IEC, plug or whatever box that sits in between. As far as whether you think whatever it does is worth $5 or $500 is up to you.

Don't forget, CD were deemed "perfect sound forever" when it came out, all amplifier sounds the same (let alone preamp), bass is bass...

[yachadm]

Hi Chaps,

Been watching you fight :-> here!

There is a real way to improve your power. But first you have to accept that what comes into your fusebox is junk quality, and the electric company doesn't give a damn.

After 20 years of dealing with this problem with my customers, there is only one solution - UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) from APC (www.apcc.com (http://www.apcc.com)). Yes, I sell them. No, I'm not going to get commission if you buy them from Office Depot or CompUSA.

Crap Chinese wannabee's do not enter into the equation. Never have, and never will.

APC is the only UPS company who tells the truth about their UPS's - they are the only company whose UPS's do two jobs properly -

1. Battery backup when the power fails,
2. Line filtering and conditioning when the Electric Company is supplying regular junk AC.

APC makes 2 types of UPS's for our electronics market:

1. BackUPS models - near rectangular sinus wave forms
2. SmartUPS models - rectangular sinus wave forms.

The only difference is the degree of STABILITY (Both Models are super stable)

Your HiFi can be hooked up to the Backup Circuit Outlet, and the Sub to the non-Backup (Filter Only) Circuit Outlet.

If, as recommended above, you do NOT hook your SUB to the Backup Circuit, you DO NOT have to figure the SUB's power requirement into your VoltAmp calculations!

I recommend units between 500VA to 1000VA, depending on your setup.

You have now controlled the electricity which is entering your Stereo setup, in a way that no $50+ cable can do!

[yachadm]

Just an addition, which I neglected to mention -

Not all APC BackUPS models have powerline conditioning:

The range which does is called the BackUPS RS, and above - see their website.

Happy power hunting!

[BradJudy]

There are a lot of different ways to reduce noise on AC power other than buying an APC UPS including isolation transformers, balanced power units, power 'regenerators', etc. APC is also not the only good UPS company that gives good information on their products.

The quality of your AC power will vary drastically from home to home and even time of day/year, thus any potential improvement from power products will also vary greatly (lets not get into the argument about whether it is an audible improvement). Unless you have the right knowledge and equipment, it is difficult to determine how much noise is on your power lines (note that noise on your lines is likely being added by another device in your house: lighting, etc). There are simple devices that will tell you the voltage level, but that's only part of the story. And don't start poking around with AC power unless you know what you're doing, you may injure, or even kill, yourself.

[John Firestone]

As far I can tell, both APC models yachadam suggests are off-line UPS units, and that the line filtering and conditioning they offer are in addition to that. The alternatives BradJudy mentions are probably more cost effective solutions to filter and condition a line if you don't need to listen your subwoofer during a black out.

[yachadm]

I emphasized plugging the subwoofer into the NON-Backup jack on the APC UPS - this connection gives full-time line-conditioning and filtering. It does not give any power during a blackout.

As much as it would be an intoxicating idea to pump up an HSU sub while the whole neighborhood is in TOTAL DARKNESS :D :D HE HE HE

The regular jacks on the back of the APC UPS provide power backup, and line conditioning together.

Costwise, I find these are very economical - less than $200, especially being plug and play for the normal homeowner. Adjusting fuseboxes with extra bits and pieces is certainly an alternative, although the average man is going to need an electrician to do the job - and they don't come cheap!