Power Cables and Other Rubbish

F1nut

I have not noticed any changes with regards to the music with the HTS3500. It may be in my head but I thought I noticed a slightly more silent background when I turned up the volume of my amp with no signal being sent to it. I checked this with a sound level meter and it was minimal. It measured at less than 1db @ 1 meter difference. Possibly due to the meter not being sensitive enough…?? I bought it more for its protective quality rather than for sound improvement.

I've heard, more than once, the sound quality improve when one of those was removed from the system. They are also known to stop working for no apparent reason. Bottom line, there are better choices available from PS Audio, Shunyata and SurgeX.

I am confused as to the responses regarding the IEC filter. It was my understanding that filtering, provided that it allows the proper amperage through, would always be a good thing. The idea being that anything other than the actual sound recorded; detracts from the sound we are trying to hear. I could understand this if we were talking about a high draw piece of equipment, such as a high power amplifier, but a low draw CDP? Can you guys explain the logic to me?

In the case of a tiny IEC filter, it's more of a bottleneck than anything else. I can see using one if you were using a generic unshielded power cord, but you aren't.

F1: I understand why things get warm and do not see it as detrimental. While doing a quick mental rundown of the mod, I did not know if the case material assisted in the cooling effects of the equipment. On some of the really high dollar, Line Replaceable Units found within our fire control computers, the unit is sealed (howitzers are not usually used in clean environments), and the outer casing provides the surface area and in effect, is the heat sink. I didn’t know if this principle might be applied to our audio equipment.

99.9% of the time, no.

Alan_r

Ok, after closer inspection of the lens assembly when I got home, I did find the solder bridge tucked up underneath it. It was already separated. Either this is a rebuild or someone did it at the factory. Either way, good to go.

F1, after reading the link where you did a serious upgrade to your CD player, I spent some time on the DIYAudio site. Man did that site get my mind moving. Great idea's and a whole slew of links for parts. I do have to ask though, given the amount of time put into upgrading caps and pots, is the final outcome worth it? I would imagine upgrading factory NAD parts for some of the really high quality components really makes a difference. Or, does it just change the "flavor" of the output? What were you trying to gain by doing the mods you did? Accurate reproduction of the signal? Lowered noise? Compared to what you did my exploits so far are very elementary.

Given the suggestions regarding the EMI filter within the IEC inlet, I started looking at why you guys thought it was a bad idea. I could not wrap my head around the idea that too much filtering can be bad. So I took F1's suggestion and ran with it. From what I can tell, the issue would be attenuation. I noted while surfing around on Schaffner's web site, that different IEC filters have different levels of performance. Most had identical levels of rated and leakage current but what changed was the rating on the attenuation performance. The Gino filter that I posted a link to does not rate the attenuation performance, however, I did find a few web sites where people used the Gino filters and "claimed" a positive effect. Having said that, the Schaffner filters do have a rating. To eliminate the bottle neck a filter rated at excellent attenuation performance should negate this correct?

"I've heard, more than once, the sound quality improve when one of those was removed from the system. They are also known to stop working for no apparent reason. Bottom line, there are better choices available from PS Audio, Shunyata and SurgeX."

I have read similar posts. I did not notice any issues when I plugged everything in to mine. If I understand correctly, MOV's degrade over time. Not to mention they can fail and sever the circuit, in essence, "protecting the gear when it was not necessary to do so". The SurgeX is on my list. But, the lowest price I've found for the one I would need (SA-15) is $329.00. The HTS3500 MkII cost me $38.00. If it fails I'll throw it out. I am very curious about the degradation of the sound quality you heard on some of those systems. What do you think caused it? Do you think they were faulty units? Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Monster, I would never pay retail for anything they sell. I needed a protection circuit, a place to plug everything in and damn for $38 it just looks cool.

Alan_r

Alright hello, time for an update. A month has come and gone and I still have the CD player torn apart on one of my shop benches. Life happens sometimes. Anyway, the deal I had on the IronLung fell through. No worries though, while talking to a friend of mine about my "modification" he mentioned that he might have an extra "audiophile" grade power cable laying around that we could work something out on. As it would happen, he needed some motor mounts installed on his car and said he would trade the labor for the cable. Deal made. Turns out, the "old cable" is a barely used PS Audio Premier SC. Not a bad deal by a long shot. Anyway, this thing is a firehose. My washer and dryer use smaller cables......food for thought anyway. But, my luck did not hold out. While changing out the optical drive assembly on my CDP, I dropped the new transport on the floor. A nice 5' drop on to concrete is not very good for something delicate like that. Needless to say, after installing it anyway, the motor continuously runs and can't be adjusted using the pot. Oh, well. Another on the way. I sure hope this is all worth it. More to follow. AR

tonyb

Alan_r wrote: »

. The HTS3500 MkII cost me $38.00. If it fails I'll throw it out. I am very curious about the degradation of the sound quality you heard on some of those systems. What do you think caused it? Do you think they were faulty units? Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Monster, I would never pay retail for anything they sell. I needed a protection circuit, a place to plug everything in and damn for $38 it just looks cool.

I hear ya on the 38 bucks for low cost protection. But....once you get everything setup and rolling, listen to your system for 2 weeks. Then remove the Monster unit and plug everything into the wall and listen to the same tracks again. You should notice a slight boost in SQ. It has been my experience also the Monster stuff is Ok for video but seems to throw some veils over music. The better power conditioners improve both areas....hence they cost more.

Alan_r

"But....once you get everything setup and rolling, listen to your system for 2 weeks. Then remove the Monster unit and plug everything into the wall and listen to the same tracks again."

I will do that. Originally I was searching for a good used SurgeX SA15. The Monster just fell into my lap and when the time comes for the upgrade, I will easily triple my money on Ebay.