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Charles Hansen has posted about the negative effects of both wireless devices (wireless routers; phones; etc.) and video display power supplies on hi-fi systems.I am trying to work around these obstacles and was wondering what kind of effect Power Line networks have on hi-fi systems. I imagine that Power Line networks would probably muddy the proverbial electrical waters flowing throughout the home.
I currently enjoy the convenience of a wireless network but it isn't exactly fast and I don't like the idea of bathing in microwaves. And I would like to avoid running network cables and outlets through a new (to me) home. Which is the lesser of 2 evils: wireless or power line? Should I stop being lazy and just hard-wire the home?
Follow Ups:
several years ago, and it did not work very well. I don't know if the newer network devices would function any better.We have a wireless network that works now that I got our neighbor to trade his 2.4 GHz portable phone for a 5.8 GHz model. I have a very quiet audio system that coexists with this network. My biggest sources of RF noise on the AC have been a DVR power supply and a combination microwave/convection oven that seems to have a computer inside.
A hard-wired network would not suit us, as my wife loves to carry her laptop around.
I would hazard a guess that the RF from a powerline network would be worse than any noise source I've encountered so far.
We got a new fridge that has some form of "intelligence" built in and that damn thing Noisy electronically. Enough so that I moved it from the leg of the breaker box that the kitchen shares with my stereo's dedicated 20 amp breaker.BRrrrZapppp! Every 20 seconds into the AC line!
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Al G
There are two potential issues with Powerline Networks I have read about. One thing to keep in mind is that these do not just apply to your home but if any of your neighbors use this technology!One is that the increased distortion frequencies that all power supplies in the home will see (to a toaster the powerline network frequencies just look like distortion) may reduce the effective life of all electrical devices connected to your power. This is because of the added burden of filtering out these frequencies that your power supplies were not designed to see in such quantities, and becuase they were not designed to see this on the powerline they may pass small amount from the power supply into the devices circuit. I read somewhere (but can't find the reference) an estimate was as much as a 20% increase of appliance failures due to this. What a boon to the electronics industry if you will have to replace all the electronics in your home more frequently ;-)
The second issue was that the extra frequencies in the wiring of your home will interact with the regular power (and the EMI that runs naturally in your wiring) to create a larger and possibly more damaging EMI field radiating from your wiring all over your house. Creating a possible increased health risk. I havent' read a lot about this effect yet though.
< < Which is the lesser of 2 evils: wireless or power line? > >I don't know, as I've never tried a power line network.
< < Should I stop being lazy and just hard-wire the home? > >
Yes.
We just moved into a new house. I had a mini-network installed. The (wired) router is in my home office. There are runs to three other rooms using CAT-5 cable. It cost about $250 to have everything installed. (Less than the cost of a decent pair of interconnects!) It's blazingly fast, extremely reliable, and there is no EMI to bother either my audio system or my health.
If you're reasonably handy, you can do it yourself for less than $100. The cable is cheap. You can buy some really slick Leviton modular wall plates at Lowe's or Home Depot for cheap. However, some runs will require specialized tools like fishtape and/or extra-long drill bits.
Good luck, and happy listening!
nt
Our house was built in the '80s with typical stud-and-drywall construction. The main connector plate was placed in the drywall between studs.- One of the connections was in a bedroom behind that wall and only required a pair of back-to-back connector plates.
- One wire went straight up into the attic (by drilling a hole in the top plate of the wall) across the attic to the kitchen and (after drilling another hole in the top plate of the kitchen wall) down to another wall-mounted connector plate.
- One wire went to a bedroom in the basement. Using the hole for the original connector plate in my office, they drilled a hole in the floor plate of that wall. The wire exited in an unfinished storage room, and was routed to a place where it could connect to the back side of a connector plate of the finished room.
dc
nt
c
Class II wiring (PA, intercom, network, doorbell and anything else under 75 volts) can be left unsecured within walls.Even In Chicago!
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Al G
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What is important about installing CAT5E cable is not to bend it to sharp and definitely do not kink it. Also do not pull on it too hard. Pulling on it too hard will effect the twist characteristics of the twisted pairs.Make up of the jacks is also very important. Do not untwist the pairs more than an 1/2 inch of final make up on the jack. Using the Panduit jacks very little untwisting of the pairs is needed.
It is also important the colored pairs connect to the proper pins of the RJ45 jack. Not all colored twisted pairs of the cable have the same twist per inch. The two pairs that are used in most data applications is the org pair and the green pair.
Pin out (568-B):
(1) wht/org
(2) org
(3) wht/grn
(4) blue
(5) Wht/blu
(6) grn
(7) wht/brown
(8) brown
c
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nt
> > You can buy some really slick Leviton modular wall plates at Lowe's or Home Depot for cheap. < <
> > > > > > > > > > > >I personally recommend Panduit brand CAT5E mod jacks. The twist of each pair is keep right up to the point of termination.
...I wrote about this in an "Industry Update" for Stereophile a couple years back. The consensus among the industry folks I spoke to was that the presence of so much high-frequency mess on the mains lines would require most high-end manufacturers to alter their designs. Most amusing was Eveanna Manley's fear (offered up with levity) that now someone might hack into one of her tube amps.That item doesn't seem to be online.
...in a number of US cities, and is even more widely used in Europe. Despite these "fears" that industry pundits keep citing, where are the howls of protest from the equipment owners in those cities? Where are the new designs?Seems like this is just more fodder for the audiophile "sky is falling" contingent.
It has in western Michigan for several years now. Good thing a 5AR4 "hollow state device" filters it out well and my turntable's belt doesn't seem to transmit it to my platter.I have a battery operated DAC and T-amp also.
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Al G
HowdySome systems are more RFI sensitive than others. Also having the signals directly on the power lines seems to me to be likely to be worse that just in the air...
I have wireless phones, cell phones, wireless net works, heck I have my laptop with it's wireless card next to my sound system almost always. If I shut all of them down, my neighbors have wireless networks that are just as strong as mine, wireless phones...
Personally I like my convinces and don't hear much degradation from all of my junk (except for the fan in my laptop, I do suspend it when I'm listening carefully.)
in your home may or may not be significantly affected by on e more or less wireless network and the EM environment may or may not significantly affect your enjoyment of music played over your hifi. Experiment - every situation is different and YMMV.
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