Natural Sound

[PeterA]

Sailing season has started again. I now listen to the natural sound of the wind and water in the afternoons. I upgraded the power delivery with a new set of sails. Here is a photograph from yesterday's late afternoon sail. Beethoven's late string quartets will have to wait.

 

[Bobvin]

Peter, I’m sure you saw this… quite remarkable achievment, 83 years old, in a 19‘ boat — he sails solo across the Pacific. Seems he’s enjoyed a life of adventure.

https://www.usnews.com/news/offbeat/articles/2022-06-04/at-83-japanese-becomes-oldest-to-sail-solo-across-pacific

 

[PeterA]

Peter, I’m sure you saw this… quite remarkable achievment, 83 years old, in a 19‘ boat — he sails solo across the Pacific. Seems he’s enjoyed a life of adventure.

https://www.usnews.com/news/offbeat/articles/2022-06-04/at-83-japanese-becomes-oldest-to-sail-solo-across-pacific

Yes, it is quite remarkable, and on a very small boat for such a crossing. I met a guy today who looked pretty old and was moving slowly. I held two doors open for him and he explained that he served on a submarine during World War II. He must have been about 20. He is now 95 and I watched him drive off in his car. These people are truly impressive and should be celebrated and respected.

 

[John T]

@PeterA: So true in regards to impressive, and should be celebrated/respected. The molds for these individuals are hard to find. Cut from a different cloth. Most of these men are also so humble. The small boat crossing and the amazing pedigree on the other gentleman is also quite amazing. Enjoy the sound of the wind and the water...John

 

[bazelio]

Brian, congratulations on your improvements. That’s an interesting comment about dynamic range. It matches my experience with my recent improvements to power delivery. I remember my records falling within a narrower range of volume settings before. Now I’m doing more adjustments, and my preamp does not have a remote control. I think this is the result of removing noise entering the system, but I cannot be sure. Interestingly, I can also listen at louder volumes, or more realistic levels, without the system and room being overloaded or getting listening fatigue. I can also listen and enjoy lower levels later at night because of the increased dynamics and clarity.

To close this out, these power delivery changes have created a situation where Ching Cheng cords are now my preferred choice in this system after rotating through everything else I had on hand. I learned a lot in this process, not the least of which is to not treat what's behind the outlet as a constant; get the power delivery and grounding cleanly implemented in the first place, and then select a cord to go from outlet to gear. Ching Chengs are now the one cord I have for this system which keep the sound lively, open, and dynamic without going overboard.

 

[Kingrex]

I put an electric bow mount trolling motor on my fishing boat 2 weeks ago. There is nothing I like more than turning off the gas motor and hearing the current, water, birds, seals and all else around me. My fishing friends really noticed how nice it was to hear the environment and not the putputputput.

Its also fantastic at sticking the bow into the wind and current allowing one to float a reef top with much more control over line angle. I'm looking forward to King season and loading my trolling path into the memory so you don't have to steer the path. Or be as concerned where your going when your netting a $600 fish.

 

[bonzo75]

Power delivery is probably the most fascinating technical aspect of this hobby for me... What have I done here.

1. Replaced a Romex circuit that powered my office audio gear plus computer and networking equipment in my office with a dedicated 20A run of 10/3 stranded THHN to the audio system.

2. Inplemented an isolated ground for the DIY 6-receptacle steel outlet box using the THHN, with a 4th wire as a non-isolated ground.

3. Replaced a Furman PST-8 power strip that was plugged in to a cheapo Leviton receptacle with 3 Hubbell 8300 receptacles (1 on the isolated ground) directly wired to the panel.

I think that's it, in a nutshell. But, the change in sound has been anything but subtle. Observations:

1. This phono uses 4x 6DJ8-family valves in series. I'd been using 2 Mullard 6922 and 2 Philips 6922 for years. The Philips have high energy, speed, and snap. I'm sure I arrived at this combination as a result of having the Furman power strip in the chain, as I suspect its filters had been deadening the sound. After the power change, it didn't take me long to realize this tube compliment no longer worked. Now there was too much energy. I've now subbed in 2x Telefunken E88CC to combine with the Mullies. The sound is right where I want it now. Colorful, lively but not aggressive. It blooms, filling the room with out spotlighting. Inner detail is better than I've heard it in this system. Tonal balance is to my liking. I have a sound in my head that I am generally trying to achieve and this is getting closer than I've previously been.

2. Dynamic range is notably increased. I find that I'm adjusting volume more often in the middle of records. In fact, I don't think I ever did this much at all, previously. But now, crescendos in the music are catching me off guard at times. So I have to reach over to turn the volume down to spare my ears and household.

3. Thus far, I don't think I can hear any difference when my audio gear is plugged into the isolated ground receptacle vs either of the non-isolated ground receptacles.

I guess the approach I took was not to experiment with electrical changes by ear, but rather to make changes that made technical sense to me and then adjust the system accordingly. Having a spare tube box of substantial variety really came in handy. I find that I try to gravitate to Telefunken whenever possible. But, with the previous power delivery network, the Telefunkens lacked life. Not the case now.

A fun way to spend part of a holiday weekend.

It's not a good thing if you have to change your volume to get through the record. There is something wrong elsewhere in your system. You should be able to get the dynamic range without changing volume..

 

[PeterA]

To close this out, these power delivery changes have created a situation where Ching Cheng cords are now my preferred choice in this system after rotating through everything else I had on hand. I learned a lot in this process, not the least of which is to not treat what's behind the outlet as a constant; get the power delivery and grounding cleanly implemented in the first place, and then select a cord to go from outlet to gear. Ching Chengs are now the one cord I have for this system which keep the sound lively, open, and dynamic without going overboard.

Brian, I am not surprised by your conclusions. i’m glad you found the right solution for you. I simply arrived at mine similar solution the other way around. Even with my old power delivery, it was clear to me that the Ching Cheng were superior to other power cords I tried. In my experiments, I changed the main wires from the panel to the outlets, both high-quality industrial commercial products. I did this just after I switched to the CC power cords. Later changes to my electric panel and grounding were clear improvements but not as significant as the wire and outlet. They all affected slightly different aspects of the presentation.

 

[bazelio]

It's not a good thing if you have to change your volume to get through the record. There is something wrong elsewhere in your system. You should be able to get the dynamic range without changing volume..

LOL I could find a single volume but the point is that dynamic swings are now more apparent. Dynamic range compression is not a good thing. The unrestrained dynamic peaks make the sound more real. I tend to listen loud. Sometimes loud becomes too loud when the song starts out soft. Edit: this system is also nearfield. That makes a big difference as well.

 

[PeterA]

It's not a good thing if you have to change your volume to get through the record. There is something wrong elsewhere in your system. You should be able to get the dynamic range without changing volume..

In my case, there is simply more perceived dynamic range with the power changes. So my volume settings are slightly different from where they were before the changes to the power delivery. I don’t really change them once the music starts. Only very occasionally. The volume control is actually slightly lower because the low level information is more audible and the loud passages are cleaner and more dynamic than they were before the changes.

occasionally, I crank it even more because there is less distortion lower noise and I can get closer to more realistic volumes.

 

[bonzo75]

LOL I could find a single volume but the point is that dynamic swings are now more apparent. Dynamic range compression is not a good thing. The unrestrained dynamic peaks make the sound more real.

No one is saying you should have dynamic range compression. But if you have to reach for the VC often on the same record as you said, your system is out of balance. The soft to the crescendo should be all clearly audible and enjoyable at the same VC point

 

[bonzo75]

So my volume settings are slightly different from where they were before the changes to the power delivery. I don’t really change them once the music starts. Only very occasionally. The volume control is actually slightly lower because the low level information is more audible and the loud passages are cleaner and more dynamic than they were before the changes.

That's a good thing

occasionally, I crank it even more because there is less distortion lower noise and I can get closer to more realistic volumes.

Yes that is exactly what should happen

 

[bazelio]

Brian, I am not surprised by your conclusions. i’m glad you found the right solution for you. I simply arrived at mine similar solution the other way around. Even with my old power delivery, it was clear to me that the Ching Cheng were superior to other power cords I tried. In my experiments, I changed the main wires from the panel to the outlets, both high-quality industrial commercial products. I did this just after I switched to the CC power cords. Later changes to my electric panel and grounding were clear improvements but not as significant as the wire and outlet. They all affected slightly different aspects of the presentation.

Did you select the panel wire specifically? I simply used run-of-the-mill stranded copper THHN commercial wire. I'm not sure how to assess its quality. And the only reason I went with stranded over solid core was that it was going to be easier to pull it through conduit.

 

[bazelio]

That's a good thing


Yes that is exactly what should happen

I agree with that description. The changes make you want to listen louder because it's cleaner and clearer and easier to crank up. But then it's also easy to get carried away with the VC.

 

[microstrip]

In my case, there is simply more perceived dynamic range with the power changes. So my volume settings are slightly different from where they were before the changes to the power delivery. (...)

How many clicks up or down in the LL1 stepped potentiometer?

 

[bazelio]

Later changes to my electric panel and grounding were clear improvements but not as significant as the wire and outlet. They all affected slightly different aspects of the presentation.

This may well be the case for me also. Though I didn't stage the changes as you did. The power strip was probably the biggest bottleneck. I didn't have an audiophile outlet to compare, either. The dynamic range improvement could be 90% due to the removal of the Furman filtered power strip.

 

[djsina2]

For those who cannot run a new dedicated circuit just for audio is there anything that can be done to the existing circuit? It’s 55 year old wire/box.

 

[microstrip]

For those who cannot run a new dedicated circuit just for audio is there anything that can be done to the existing circuit? It’s 55 year old wire/box.

IMHO you should diagnose the line first. Get a voltmeter and measure the mains voltage while switching a 1kW or similar power heater plugged in you audio distribution block. Surely it would be great to perform this test with a mains analyzer and more bizarre loads.

 

[morricab]

LOL I could find a single volume but the point is that dynamic swings are now more apparent. Dynamic range compression is not a good thing. The unrestrained dynamic peaks make the sound more real. I tend to listen loud. Sometimes loud becomes too loud when the song starts out soft. Edit: this system is also nearfield. That makes a big difference as well.

No, that means you are having to play above realistic levels to get satisfying clarity at low levels and so have to “ride the gain”. Or your system is distorting on peaks and is perceived as “too loud”.

 

[morricab]

In my case, there is simply more perceived dynamic range with the power changes. So my volume settings are slightly different from where they were before the changes to the power delivery. I don’t really change them once the music starts. Only very occasionally. The volume control is actually slightly lower because the low level information is more audible and the loud passages are cleaner and more dynamic than they were before the changes.

occasionally, I crank it even more because there is less distortion lower noise and I can get closer to more realistic volumes.

Exactly Peter, as Bonzo said, it is as it should be.