2. tech-talk
  3. 126535-501

HIGH Quality Electric Service Panel

Looking for recommendations on very good quality electric panel to use for my dedicated two channel room.  Thx.
stickman451
romazicon's avatar
romazicon
17 posts
 
It seems most look at dedicated lines as a way to isolate noise.  MSB looks at it differently.  According to MSB, the main goal should be to lower resistance.  These are their guidelines that I followed and it has made a very nice difference for me.  This dedicated line also only cost me about $300 to implement:

http://www.msbtech.com/support/wiring.php?Page=supportHome

For those whose homes aren't near a utility transformer and line noise is indeed an issue (i.e. listening at midnight yields better results than listening at 5 pm), here are a couple of products that you install at your panel that don't cost a ton of money and could make a difference.  I don't have these products currently but I am curious about them.  Any input from people who use these would be much appreciated:

http://ep2000.com/uploads/EP-2050_SeriesSpecifications.pdf

http://ep2000.com/uploads/EP_Ground%20Filter.pdf


stickman451 OP
529 posts
 
Agreed.  I know MSB well (I own the MSB Analog DAC, which is awesome!).  

Vince Galbo taught me the importance of the lower reistance theory  years ago and I rewired my old dedicated room with 6 AWG; it made a tremendous favorable difference.

In my new house, I am using 6 AWG for All my dedicated audio outlets (Furutech GTX-G) and each outlet will be on individual 20A circuts.  These all run to a dedicated service sub-panel in my room which is connected to the main panel by a 2 ought aluminum run.

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
3,650 posts
 

Just to add a little tweaking to the conversation.

I have placed a couple of layers of the Stillpoints ERS EMI/RF killer cloths over my breakers. They come in 8 x 11 sheets.




randy-11
1,913 posts
 
whatever brand you get, be sure the bus bars are solid gold - do not get faked out on the thin gold plated ones
auxinput
1,538 posts
 

Per the MSB topic -- one thing I have discovered through power cord experimentation and testing is that the larger gauge solid-core A/C power wire will have a natural roll-off of high frequencies. This was very apparent to me when I constructed a power cord using three 16awg solid-core conductors for each of the live/neutral/ground on my power cord. What happened was that I lost high frequency detail. It made my equipment sound "lo-fi" and it actually caused the midrange/midbass frequencies to blare some. Using 18awg solid-core worked better, but the best was when using 20awg solid-core conductors (my power cords are now all 6 x 20awg, which makes a 12awg power cord).

That being said, if you are using a larger gauge solid-core Romex, such as an 8awg or 6awg, this may naturally help roll-off or remove any high frequency noise coming in from the power grid. Just make sure you are using solid-core.  Stranded THHN (or similar) won’t do the same thing. Stranded wiring will actually help accentuate high frequency problems. I would just make sure that the equipment power cords are able to support the high frequency charge/discharge required for your equipment to obtain those charges fast enough for the power supply. Rhodium plated outlets and power cord connectors (such as Furutech) will definitely help in restoring the high frequency detail.

More to discover