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Over the summer I set up a dedicated listening/retro room for all of my vintage gear, LPs collectibles etc.. I was getting some nice results but nothing prepared me for the change that occurred when I swapped over the electric to separate curcuits w/ 20 amp isolated grounds. Although I have had this done in my reference system, it was done at the time when all my components were being switched out. It was consequently hard to attribute the changes. In this case, it was a system to which I had become accustomed so the results could be more easily ascertained. I just set things up two days ago and am not finished, yet I felt compelled to share these commentsThe major change was an overall "grip" on the sound that was stunning and notable in the attack and weight across most of the frequency spectrum. The midrange became very natural and open with percussive attack especially in the snare drum range. This extends to the low end which is taunt, weighty and deep with my Marantz 2270 as well as a restored 1959 8 watt Conn 6L6GC tube amp. I'm mating these with a set of late 1950's University Corner Speakers, highly modified AMT Towers(w/ vifa woofers and crossover bypassed), and my trusted Fourier and Son's reference speakers (from the old RCA studios in NY).
This is very modest vintage stuff (it has all been restored,modded and tweaked) but it is giving me an amazing audio experience! The source is a cheap but recommended Sony dvd/SACD player. Cables are modest too. ICs are Audioquest Viper and Straightwire Serenade II and speaker cables are Home Depot HD14, Signal Cable Shotgun and NOS cloth-covered tinned copper Western Electric 12 guage cable.
Two points of interest emerge.. the first is that the improvements were NOT subtle and seemed strongly CONSISTENT on the different combinations of equipment tried. I have an Eico HF81 and Sherwood 55ooII at my tech right now so it will be interesting to see how they respond. The second point of note was that due to a time bind the electricians installed Leviton duplexes IG5362 20 amp. At $10 a pop at Home Depot they are a steal! They grip extremely well (much better than Hubbels and like P&S) and apparently sound excellent...I have no desire to replace them.
Well, I thought I would share this experience with my fellow vintage audiophiles to enjoy and perhaps benefit from...It is amazing what can be done in a modest little vintage "workshop" like the one I've set up. I still love my reference system but I'm having some "seminal" fun with the vintage stuff! Clean electric makes a huge improvement!
Follow Ups:
I built a similar room on the house. I was able to build a 22' X 28' room. Due to new construction I installed (2) 20 amp home runs behind the system. I can not comment because I have nothing to compare to. It is nice to have enough power on dedicated circuits and zoned heat.I have since discovered that the room is way too small or I have too much stuff. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I ran 2 20amp dedicate lines to my soundroom. One has a Leviton from Home Depot and the the other has a PS Audio. I cannot make definate claims to a sonic difference because my Yamaha C4 preamp failed about the same time and I changed to a C60 but the system does seem quiter and a little more dynamic. I have not ABed the outlets. The main benefit it that I'm now not afraid of burning down the house. There was ragwire in the wall before! The music is more relaxed! No, I'm more relaxed! I figured if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right ad the difference in price between 15amp parts an 20amp parts is negigible. I had to rewire in either calse.
"The major change was an overall "grip" on the sound that was stunning and notable in the attack and weight across most of the frequency spectrum."U hit it on the head as to what a dedicated AC line provides.
"The second point of note was that due to a time bind the electricians installed Leviton duplexes IG5362 20 amp. At $10 a pop at Home Depot they are a steal! They grip extremely well (much better than Hubbels and like P&S) and apparently sound excellent...I have no desire to replace them."
While I too have heard the benefits of dedicated lines and celebrate your newfound "discovery", one needs to only hear what Oyaide products bring to the table before one makes an "uninformed" statement such as what is portrayed above.
Please don't perceive me as chiding your efforts BUT the Levitons are certainly "pedestrian" when compared to the quality/engineering that an Oyaide outlet provides....not to mention the musical rewards :-)
Enjoy,
~kenster
It reminds me of the song lyric,"...if lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right."Uninformed" is a bit strong for reasons I'll not extol here, but no offense is taken. I do appreciate your sentiment. I've heard alot of great things about those duplexs and I am sure they are well worth the investgation as I have indeed not yet heard or compared them. There is always more!
You would have gotten a kick out of the incredulous looks the electricians gave me discussing the difference in sound that duplexes can make. They appreciated the idea of clean electric but not the importance of duplex choice. Ultimately, a crimp in my ordering plans landed me with the Levitons and I decided to start with them after reading a post in the archives here.
I had originally planned on using these Levitons as a starting point and then give some others a try. In fact, in keeping with the nature of our obsession, I will probably still do that. What I was trying to convey was that these inexpensive outlets served well and did not apparently bottleneck the benefits of new lines. I was hearing music in a way that was involving,exciting and most of all fun.
I have also purposely kept this room somewhat modest in nature to see what can be wrung out of cost effective applications. Hence the Home Depot wire, and best of all, the same Marantz 2270 and Empire 698 tt I purchased in high school! Modded of course! This is part of the fun.
I do appreciate your suggestion though and you can be sure it is an edorsement I'll consider.
Cheers
Chris
""Uninformed" is a bit strong for reasons I'll not extol here, but no offense is taken."I'm glad U didn't take offense and yes, having reread it, does seem a bit strong and was not intended to offend.
"You would have gotten a kick out of the incredulous looks the electricians gave me discussing the difference in sound that duplexes can make."
Yes, I can visualize the baffled looks one would receive but here would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the qualities of high end outlets.
Here is a related story: I had mentioned to the building inspector who was inspecting my house before the purchase about installing a dedicated line to my listening room. Expecting the raised eyebrow from him, he casually turned to me and said that he had inspected Robert Harleys house and recent electrical work that had been done and that Bob treated him to a private listen to his system! Bob is the Editor-in-chief for TAS and had been a long time reviewer for Stereophile. Imagine my surprise :-)
"What I was trying to convey was that these inexpensive outlets served well and did not apparently bottleneck the benefits of new lines. I was hearing music in a way that was involving,exciting and most of all fun."
Understood and my intent of my message was that if U like the Leviton's, the Oyaides will certainly cause a long term case of "permagrin". They have with me :-)
Cheers,
~kenster
I really should AB the PS audio and the Leviton. The leviton was intended for my test bench wich is in my listening room and the outlets are side by side. It's just that ever since I put the Spendor BC-1 spealers in my system, all I want to do is listen to music! I have also been working on my Kenwood KT-8005 Tunner. Cleaning the switched with Deoxit is revealing that it is acutully in pretty good shape althoug it is a little rough looking. I will post about the PS audio outlet and the Kenwood when I get some clear results.Dave
"I will post about the PS audio outlet and the Kenwood when I get some clear results."Excellent. The PS Audio outlets were my first foray into high end AC outlets and were certainly MUCH better than anything offered in the local hardware store.
Looking forward to your post.
Cheers,
You certainly can't fault them on build quality. How that translates to sound is yet to be decided for me.
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