Hey y'all,


I live in a 100 year old house with 100 year old electrical wiring:
All the lights in the house blink when the washing machine is on.
When the toaster oven in the kitchen kicks on the stove exhaust fan slows down.
Sometimes the lights blink when it's windy outside.

What gear can I get to protect my system and ensure it is working 100%? Running a new circuit and upgrading the electrical panel is not an option.

I have an SEUFO2 and digital front end. I also have a ZeroSurge 8 outlet box that I figure will be better than nothingl. The outlet I'm planning to use is grounded.

Thank you!

Why is a rewire not an option? If it is cost, then best run a dedicated line to the equipment before spending money on expensive regenerate boxes. Money that could be spent on upgraded wiring.

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That is my thought as well. It seems like the house has bigger issues than just audio performance.

Alex - If it were me, I would first want to establish that the electrical system in place is safe and functional as is. Safety first, tunes second.
It seems that some circuits might be close to having too many items on them.
How big is the incoming service? When we added a second story, I had the electrician add three dedicated AC circuits to our LR, one into what was the hall closet and now houses our Rack O'Decware, and two on the wall where our speakers/sub live and tv.
But do think about getting the electrical service checked out. Happy listening, Chris.

@Lon

Do you use a ZLC in series with the regenerators? I figure the regenerator would be enough. Are you running multiple systems to need more than one regenerator or is your system really power hungry?

The P15 at half price is a great deal.

That's pretty much what I remember him saying as well. Not sure how much actual experience he has with them. When he started adding regulation tubes to the components (something Bottlehead was also doing) he said that this improved the quality of power in the components so much that only an expensive power regenerator would better them. I'm not sure how true that is. . . the regulation tubes do change the sound of the amps and I like to use different ones, but I think a regenerator does something additional or quite different. I have been using them since I bought one of the first P300 regnerators that PS Audio made. . . they have become fundamental to my systems and have brought a lot of "good clean fun."

No.. .for one thing I'm no longer able to rub together enough coins for such a thing. . .for another: I love what I have now and think it will last me most of the rest of the time I have and it's not broke so I'm not trying to fix it. And I find the modes and the adjustablity extremely useful for my systems. I'm just not interested in battery tech.

Honestly, no hassle- the best thing you can do is buy something like an Ecoflow Delta Pro or Bluetti 200L. It’s the cleanest power you will get for an audiophile source and can double to power major household items in a power outage.

I've heard a lot of good things about Angela-Gilbert Yeung's power conditioners.
The Audiophile Junkie has been showing them in shows lately and seems to really be pushing them as being the greatest.

I know that the separate power supply on my AGY amp quiets it down a bunch.

https://quarkhifi.com/collections/power-products

Two things I'd like to add: a new panel and wiring estimation for our house was considerably more than my regenerator at the time; my regenerators do not have fans.

I find my regenerators show incoming distortion of 1.6 to 2.2%--which is not really bad--and reduce my incoming distortion in the power line to 0.1% with no vascilating, and it really does help my amplifiers and all components sonically improve, as does the voltage regulation that follows. The sound is much better with the regenerators AND the voltage regulation as compared to the component with just the voltage regulation, and plugged into the wall. Just my experience, which is what I make decisions based on. And recommendations.

I metered the outlet I am planning to use and it runs at 112V then sags and dances around 106/107 when the washer is turned on. Is suppose my main question here is if this sag is going to harm the SE84UFO and equipment. It sags about the same on my UPC for my comp when I run the clothes iron so something at some point is going to sag the voltage when my system is running, probably the system itself. The SE84UFO has an input voltage of 1.5V, does that mean it can run on as little as 1.5V?

On the receptacle hot to ground is 25V and neutral to ground is 10V. Pretty sure that's not good.

The panel is relatively new for the age of the house (image attached) with a 200A breaker. The house is a hodgepodge of knob and tube circuits and upgraded circuits. Being that it's a rental, if I stay here long enough it could make sense to get a dedicated line to the listening room; and upgrade the receptacle. Interesting anecdote from Arpin about the smart meter. It makes sense that sitting a radio device like that on top of the panel could impact the AC signal. In that case I imagine a conditioner would be warranted if you were to leave the smart meter installed?

As far as a regenerator, even PS Audio Powerplant only accepts a voltage sag of 95. I found a Torus power unit that accepts down to 86 which would be more appropriate in my case but I have a suspicion I can run a dedicated line for less than $2k. *sag isn't dipping past 95V

One thing that peaked my interest was this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sEvxjdLW-owith Danny from GR Research showing how he bypassed the power supplies on his front end components and runs the equipment straight off a DC battery. He doesn't do it with amps, says the batteries can't handle the swings in voltage vs the constant V of the front end devices. I could see myself trying this with my DAC and pre-amp given a bit more research on the topic. Curious to know the difference doing that with 1 battery per component vs attaching multiple devices to 1 battery.


Anyway, thanks y'all for the time and effort.

I had never even heard of knob and tube circuits and had to look them up. Wow. That is truly a difficult situation to remedy. Personally I cannot see how good power and sound would even be possible on a circuit like that even if a power regenerator was available. It seems very likely that the dips in voltage would even cause strain on the power regenerator as those are also going to require sufficient voltage and current to operate optimally. I would be very concerned about a fire. I am not an electrician so perhaps I am being paranoid. The breaker box does have some empty slots, so perhaps it could be possible to have a dedicated line run with romex along the wall for minimal modification to the building. But since you don't own the home it would be up to the landlord to okay this.

As an alternative, you could figure out which outlets belong to which lines by turning off each breaker one at a time. Then you could try unplugging everything on your audio circuit and switching off all the other circuits when you go to do listening. A gas lamp plus a Decware amp could be pretty amazing.