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I saw several old posts discouraging the use of ferrite for power cords, since it chokes dynamics and causes some roll-off on the highs.I'm using a shielded mains cable (three wires wrapped by copper shield): are ferrite rings harmful also in this case? My electronics is Quad.
Follow Ups:
I experimented with those for a couple of years and ended up with the most musical and natural sound without them on my equipment and just finding the right power cord for each component.One rather interesting note. I had a scope at home and could see some noise from different equipment running in the house. Things like the refrigerator, dehumidifier, and dimmer switches were the most noticeable. I put ferrite cores on the power cords to those appliances after doing this test. I haven't brought the scope home from work to compare the effect
but my system has never sounded better. The cores I used were the ones that came with my Samsung plasma TV and were supposed to go on the audio input cables. My audio only goes through the stereo so they were available for use.
I am afraid to change anything in the system as it's at a level previously unheard of but I do plan on trying some Noise Harvesters.
Bill
Thanks to everybody, my system is tweaked in many aspects and power cords are the next target. (This is the reason of my post.)I made an extensive listening session and I prefer using ferrite in my case. I used the standard power cables that come with my hifi components, since my shielded cables are not ready yet. I mainly listened to classical music to better discriminate (well, I could not resist to listen Bob Marley as well :-) Clearly, the following observations are subjective and apply to my system+ears:
1. Apparently, there is less SPL (so that's why people complains about dynamics) and you need to increase the volume level; but you gain precision in the sound scene, which becomes clearer and more detailed (for example, the different groups in the choir of Haendal's Messiah). Some loss of dynamics is not a problem in my case, since I have efficient horn speakers.
2. Highs are indeed rounded up, but this is good in my case. My speakers are very revealing and, removing the ferrite, the sound seems to be harsh. I'm currently keeping the ferrite on the temporary power cords.
3. If you decide to use ferrite, it's more effective to use it on all power cables and wires, otherwise you compromise the signal in the cables not using ferrite (see Al's post).
4. Using the ferrite on the earth ground alone, does not change the sound as much as using on all of the three wires.
Some may agree and some others may disagree with the above observations, since listening is based on a personal taste at the very end. I experienced that some tweaking is effective, but I'm surprised how ferrite rings on power cords can change the sound.
NT
I own two of the newer Audioquest power cords that come with two removable ferrite stoppers on each cord.With them on the sound quailty was limited and congested.Once I removed them sound stage came back to life with more detail so yes in my opinion ferrite stoppers do effect the sound for the worst at least from my perspective.Don't ask me how because I don't have an answer.
Ferrites such as the Audioquest ones do not have any effect at audio frequencies. They are only resistive in the MHz range.
The ill effects you attributed to the AQ supplied stoppers were "something else".
It is impossible for the AQ stoppers to create the sound qualities you described.
Anything with high magnetic permeability will interact with the audio-band magnetic fields. Unless the cable is perfectly coaxial, there will be some audio-band magnetic field outside the cable, where the ferrite device can interact with it. It remains to be demonstrated that the ferrite material is perfectly linear in the audio band before we should believe the assertion that it cannot affect the audio signal.
!
As I said I don't have the answers.The changes I desribed were large not subtle.
Usuallly, when you clean something up, there is a pro and a con. The pro is that you removed a non music relaited noise, and now the music sounds clearer and less fatiquing. The con is that you have removed something that you got used to hearing. Now, part of you feels like there is some lost energy. There IS some lost energy. But it's probably not supposed to be there in the first place.That might be why some people don't like ferrite. I know that's why a lot of people don't like sandboxes for vibration control.
at reducing RF noise compared to other techniques.
I have found that applying a ferrite clamp to the Earth GND. wire only on a 3 pole cable can provide very surprising results.Alot of RF garbage is riding on the Earth/safety GND wire and reducing this noise is beneficial.
Of course, with most power cords, this will be very difficult to implement and one may need to apply the ferrite clamp inside ones power conditioner if one is used. Or it can be applied behind the AC outlet on the mains cable Earth GND wire.
Cheers,
The power drawn by your equipment's power supply carries an imprint of the audio signal in the current. The ferrites will interact with the magnetic field from the current, and may affect the sound.One large problem with power cords is that they are made of low-loss materials (ie, good conductors and insulators), so they are good RF resonators. A ferrite ring will change the RF impedance of the cord where the ring is, but not on the rest of the cord. This will change the RF resonant frequencies of the cord slightly, but not diminish the ability of the untreated segment of the cord to resonate.
The shield on your power cord is a resonator all by itself, and supports resonant modes with the conductors inside. It picks up RF noise and couples it to the AC safety-earth wiring. This wiring allows the noise to get into your other components that are also connected to the AC safety-earth.
> discouraging the use of ferrite for power cords, since it chokes
> dynamics and causes some roll-off on the highsThat strikes me as a very odd complaint. The purpose of the power cord is to deliver as much 50 or 60 HZ AC current to the device as it needs while suppressing and/or not picking up RFI or other interference.
I cannot see how ferrite could "slow" the delivery of 60 HZ power. Secondly, your power cord shouldn't contain any high frequencies no matter what is in the music.
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