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Posts: 245
Location: East Coast USA
Joined: March 26, 2012
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Michael, Your questions concerning an audiophile breaker are warranted. A long time ago, I came across a thread where a breaker was disassembled, and discussion ensued. I took apart my own breaker at that time also. From an audiophile's perspective, it appears to be a nightmare. So the question begs, does it really make a difference, that far down the AC supply chain?
Let me briefly describe my system, to get some perspective. From the main service panel to my system, there is thirty feet of Virtual Dynamics 10ga cryo'd wire. The insulation is not pvc, but rather a polyfin plastic. It feels like teflon to the touch. From here an Isoclean PT-3030GII provides true balanced power to the pre/dac. The transport is off the grid, running off lead acid batteries. The amp connects before the Isoclean, and is not receiving balanced power. On the output of the Isoclean, two teflon caps scrub emi/rfi. Right at the amp's iec are also two teflon caps, to clean the AC. Lastly, Z-Sleeves and Bybee purifiers are used generously throughout the system, to improve the AC. It should be noted that the pre/dac power supply is an outboard type, consisting of all low-noise components, dual regulation, and film caps vs electrolytic's used throughout. The only electrolytic's make up the initial bulk stage of filtering, right after the diodes. (100,000 uf total) The only "problem" with this setup is that it takes up a lot of space.
So, with all this attention the power delivery, can a breaker make even the slightest improvement? We shall see...
My breaker that had been taken apart received a gutting. Everything was removed, except for the blades that contact the service panel bus bar, and the clamp assembly that holds the outgoing 120v AC wire. A pure copper fuse, with copper wire was routed from the blades, to the clamp. The steel clamp screw that holds the dedicated 10ga line was replaced with stainless. The breaker was installed back in the service panel. The system was allowed to warm up for thirty minutes, before any listening was done.
I must report that the modded breaker sounds VASTLY better than stock. The difference is way more than I EVER expected. The system now sounds so much more like you are actually "there," at the performance taking place.
So now we have a dilemma. It is against code to use a breaker that is not listed for use with your service panel. Never mind a breaker that has been hacked. (For testing purposes only). If you were to install a seperate audio grade subpanel, this subpanel still has to go through a standard breaker, in the main service panel.
To conclude, I will make an educated guess and state that the more resolving the system, the greater the hit you will take from a stock breaker. Bummer...
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