Quote:


Yes, for blissful daylight hours. That sun really plays havoc on the power grid.

I chose a passive scheme for power conditioning. It finally fell in place after many years.

Enjoy your journey

Go over to Flick's Charoit in the Members System Picture Gallery Forum. I spell it out there over my audio journey.

By passive power conditioning I mean no regeneration or box that does it all. I do not think that those boxes is a complete solution to taming fluctuating AC power and I'm not just talking 60 cycles.

Synopsis:

Balanced transformer

Capacitor banks

9 gauge romex home run feed for an isolated outlet(6 gauge would be ideal with an appropriate connection)

Another home run feed for system dirty power connections

Grounding boxes

Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes

All Directional 10 gauge shielded power cords for components

VR tubes

Fascinating. I love that one can hear the effects of the sun in the ear.

Would anyone have a way to quell the noise at daytime? Something relatively easy to deploy, and within a few hundred or so few thousand $$$???

Looking into a balanced isolation transformer…

Interesting. Would I need it for my amp only? Or all of my components (dac, streamer, phone preamp, and soon a zrock)

Is there one in particular that is often recommended by you or others in the decware community?

Was also considering a battery, ideally one between my box and dedicated outlets… is that possible ?
Thanks,
Richard.

I see. The decware zen line conditioner is yet another captivating product.

Is the wait yet another 6 months…? Looking for one used but so far nothing I can find….

Ry,

My SS amp came with an outboard power supply and is utterly silent.

The company that I bought it from has AC filters, that while I haven't heard one personally, is really highly touted.  The Audiophile Junkie on YouTube even sells a version of the Angela-Gilbert Yeung filter.

Watch some of Angela-Gilbert Yeung's YouTube videos talking about noise and such.
I will pre warn you about AGY, "They" are different but a genus.

Here is what they have in the line of power filtering
https://www.angela-gilbert.com/ac-power-line-filters

Yes I read your thread on this before and was interested in the ecoflow.

Is it possible to install it between the box to the house and the outlet near my system?

Would the battery achieve the same thing as the conditioner, just through different means? What are their pros and cons?

Specifically, would it filter out the noise and solar interference which makes daytime listening a bit hazy?

Thank you all. This is brilliant stuff.

R

I too have noticed this as well (better sound at night, single malt Scotch in hand (if you like the Islay Scotches you might want to try the five year old Ardbeg, but fair warning, it’s very smoky and peaty, my buddy says it’s like drinking a forest fire!) and have scoured the forum for same insight.

I have a zen Line Conditioner on order and am looking forward to hearing what it might bring to my listening sessions.  Everything I’ve added to the rig (Decware ICs, Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes, Decware PCs and ZSTYX speaker cables, and now the Dynagrid) has provided positive results, some more than others.

I’m out in the boondocks and on rural power which has its moments.  So I’m hoping I too can find that “late night sound” in the middle of the day.

Between the Chinese eBay toroidal filter, the Angela, and the decware zen conditioner…. Would the sound and ability to filter out ac noise be essentially comparable?

Or should I just bite the bullet and be patient and get the decware?

I love the scotch discussion… I can never really rule out the late night tumblers polishing from coloring my ears and audio appetites…

Thanks all.
Richard.

Richard, I have been reading the suggestions and responses, and my question concerns your objective. I take it you have moved on from amp hum management and focused on optimal SQ. Is that correct? Not that they are unrelated, but some strategies may address one objective more than the other. For example, when I talked with Steve, he told me that the Decware power conditioner would not affect hum. Even so, other gains could be realized by adding it to your system.

I’m sure the Decware transformer is nicer, and if you don’t mind waiting it would be my choice. But I didn’t want to wait so I went eBay. Never hearing the Zen I can’t quantify the difference, but eBay definitely is an improvement over nothing.

Talisker 15 is another bottle of peaty delight I highly recommend.

In comparing the decware zlc and the Angela xf, I Asked them what they thought and they responded very thoughtfully.

What do you think of how the Angela and the zlc compare in my system to combat grid noise?

Their response: (I think it’s okay to post it here…) is interesting and curious what your thoughts were.


It is hard to compare the Decware and Angela-Gilbert unit because they are completely different designs. The Decware is transfomer-based, and filters by isolating input voltage from output voltage. It is an effective solution for industrial scenarios because it eliminates grounding and noise issues and does not negatively affect mechanical devices. As an audio solution we don't prefer it because transformers slightly alter the phase angle of the power provided to audio components, they tend to slightly roll off high frequency in you system, and they limit the amount of power available to run your gear. Transformers also tend to waste a percent of output power because they generate heat.

We like capacitance-based power line filtering because it allows the XF filters to aggressively target problem areas in the electrical (not audio) frequency spectrum to get rid of noise generated by Wifi, switching power supplies, mechanical gear, and all of the other common power contaminators. Capacitors do not waste energy generating heat, and do not limit output power to your components.

+3 on some Caol Isla.

RV, keep us posted on your progress. And in the meantime enjoy the music.

RY,

I haven't heard the Zen Line Conditioner so I cannot give any honest listening comparison to it. My perspective comes from my experience over the last couple years upgrading my system, primarily products that have filtered out various types of noises imbedded in the power signal. Each one have been a small step towards hearing darker backgrounds, hear more deeply into detail, hearing cleaner and more articulate bass, especially quieter bass sounds in a mix of instruments. Each one brought me a little closer to how I hear music in a natural acoustic environment.

Intuitively, when powering through my power conditioner, it sounds like what would be end game if I continued this process to its conclusion. This allows me to eliminate the power line completely, as far as I can hear. I cannot emphasize enough the added bass weight I now hear. It was an completely unexpected surprise.

If you can purchase one and be able to return it, do it. If you power your system through it and listen for a day or two, you will be able to determine if it makes enough difference for your system. For me, in my system, I can hear detail now that I could never hear before. I don't feel any need for anything more.

There are so many roads to "quiet" power. . . rooms, components, cabling, persona tastes are all going to be factors.

I started off with Steve's suggested Tripplite isolation transformers, went to PS Audio regenerators after that, climbing the ladder from P300, Power Plant Premier, P5, P10 to P15--still have the P15 in my audio/visual system, threw in Steve's Zen Line Conditioner, and then moved to Verafi Audio Snub Station Zeros and Line Noise Black Holes (the latter feeding the former and one pair each for my analog and digital branches) and Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes (three of them). The Verafi Audio have had staying power, they are what is in use in the main system now.

But others prefer other methods. It can be an expensive journey here and there and how fortunate is he who gets it right the first time!

I have never tried battery power. That tech seems to have gotten less expensive and possibly better. I'm tempted now and then. . . no idea how I could incorporate one into my system now though, no space to accomodate one easily.

"Lon recommendations" aren't really a thing, and if they were don't necessarily have any value. I have chosen what works best for my system, but am not overtly stating that these may work best for another's. I do think most of what I use are worth investigating for a use in another's system.

I think something like the ZLC is part of the solution... the other part being the Dynagrid Rectifier. It has had a noticeable effect on the daylight hours of listening at the shop since they were installed... my 2 cents.