DAC Being Impacted By Home Power Issue - Help


Over the past year and a half, I've been making every effort to put together an audio system that I could happily live with for a long time. This was important, given that fact that, while I knew it was coming, and was extended for almost 12 months for transition, my forced early retirement, after my corporation eliminated my department, begins on January 1st. So the reality of a much lower fixed income is finally here. That said, I have been able to put together a system that I am truly happy with, in preparation.

And then I ran into my current problem. The last piece of the puzzle was a really high quality, and technologically new DAC. I was more than fortunate that an old friend, for whom I had done a number of significant favors over the years, recently came into a great deal of money and gifted me with an incredible DAC by way of saying thanks. After connecting the DAC to my system, I listened briefly to some incredible sound, and then, the sound started dropping out, almost literally every five minutes. I had a friends brother, who runs his own electrical contracting company stop over to look at the issue. He was able to identify the problem as being associated with my refrigerator and large wine refrigerator, which are on the other side of the wall of my listening room. Every time they turn on, or cycle, the drop in power affects the DAC,

The problem now is finding what I can do to resolve this. Because of the construction of the house, the electrical contractor said the only option would be a VERY expensive dedicated circuit running almost the length of the house. Due to the fact that the first two levels are on slabs, with no pathway, he also said they would either have to start tearing out drywall, or, alternatively, run a visible (but enclosed) circuit along the base of the walls, up the stairs, and across the house to the listening room. Neither of those options are acceptable, or, honestly, affordable.

At this point, I'm desperate, especially with very limited finances from here on out. Is there such a thing as a UPS (and a reasonably priced one) that could be used in a high quality audio system? I would need it to power not only the DAC and associated streaming unit, but also the tubed power amp, and tubed preamp. I've never seen a UPS of any size that doesn't use fans, which would rule it out, and I would also think it might introduce distortion, but, as I said, I'm in desperate straits here trying to resolve this. Any assistance or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

John
nightfall
I have a PurePower 1500 regenerator which has a built in UPS. It has forever eliminated any power problems I might of had. I plug in my entire system to this device which provides a clean steady 60 hz. Not sure of current pricing but you can go to there web site. PS Audio also has regenerators but they do not have ups built in. Remember the ups only kicks in if there is a total outage
Alan
The lowest cost UPS-like device I am aware of that I would have reasonable confidence in, with respect to both the likelihood that it would solve the problem and its suitability for use in a quality audio system, is the APC S10 or S10BLK, manual here. I've seen good reports on it or its larger brother, the S15, from some reviewers and other members here. Unfortunately, though, it costs $900 at Markertek.com (a well known and reputable dealer), although some less well known sellers apparently offer it in the area of $650. Note, btw, that its continuous output power rating is 700 watts, which may or may not be adequate if you were to include your power amp in what it is supplying.

The devices Alan mentioned, btw, while most likely being excellent solutions, cost multi-thousands of dollars.

A question, though: I would expect that the refrigerators are probably not on the same breaker as the outlets supplying the system. If that is the case, are the refrigerators on the same AC phase (breaker panel "leg") as the outlets which supply the system? If so, perhaps the electrician could just move the system outlets to the other phase, and that would solve the problem.

Or if they are already on different phases, what I would wonder is if the DAC is responding to something other than a drop in voltage, such as RFI/EMI that is generated when the refrigerators turn on. If so, and if that is being coupled to the DAC through the house wiring (as opposed to through the air, which seems unlikely but is a possibility I wouldn't totally rule out), an inexpensive conditioner or filter might be the solution.

Good luck, in any event. Regards,
-- Al
There is a used PS Audio premier power plant on Audio Asylum right now for $800
Alan
I can think of 2 things that may help. The first is to get a long extension cord and try powering your system from different outlets. At the very least, it can be a temporary fix. The other, is to give The Cable Company a call. Not only will they give you some recommendations as to what products may work for you, they'll send you demo units to test in your system first, before you commit to a purchase. There's no reason to take a chance and buy something that may not fix your problem.