Another thread got me thinking about this (although I've given it consideration before), and I didn't want to hijack it so here it goes:
Like virtually every NYC dweller, I live in an apartment. Mine happens to be in an older pre-war brownstone owned by an old couple. The bathroom still has circa 1965 avacado colors, so I'm assuming nothing has been renovated in the past quarter century at least - including the wiring. Of course, if it was wired perfectly 30-40 years ago, and no damage has occurred since, then no problem. But there are electrical issues in my apartment. The outlets that are wired to the same circuit is confusing and strange. For example, in the summer when we run the A/C (window unit) it will occasionally trip the breaker, and we've learned to run a heavy gauge extension to another outlet to correct this somewhat (but it still trips sometimes).
Given this, I've decided I should get better power protection than I have now (currently just some cheap power strips of questionable surge protection capabilities). This also relates to my insurance questions posted awhile back -- I'd rather just keep my stuff, of course, than have to replace it! I'm open for advice on this, but I'm more interested in the following:
Can the somewhat crappy wiring cause obvious interference? I definitely have humming issues I've yet to track down (as they go away by the time I start troubleshooting), mostly involving my TT and phono pre. Sometimes it is a pulsating hum/buzz and other times it is a solid hum. Once I can troubleshoot, Jan has given me some great advice on tracking it down. My questions are as follows:
(1) Is it possible that the power in the apartment causes humming in the equipment?
(2) Would a power conditioner potentially solve the issues?
(3) Related note: Can the proximity of power cords to interconnects and quality of power cords combine to create interference? If so, would higher quality power cords potentially solve this (even a decent $15-30 one)?
At this point I'm not really interested in exploring the possibility that power cords improve imaging, broaden the soundstage, or even lower the noise floor (beyond the obvious humming I mentioned). I just want a setup that doesn't cause interference.
I know there are a myriad of causes for humming. I just want to know if this is a potential one, especially given the questionable wiring in my apartment.
I'm open for recommendations for a surge protector as I'm definitely getting one. If you guys advise a line conditioner as well, I'm also open for suggestions (have my eye on the slimmer paramax model, per Lowry's comments). And, finally, I'm using at least one computer cord I had lying around - if you know of one with good shielding, I'm in (I think I remember seeing high praise for one that was about $12, but I can't remember what it was).
Thanks as always.
Another thread got me thinking about this (although I've given it consideration before), and I didn't want to hijack it so here it goes:
Like virtually every NYC dweller, I live in an apartment. Mine happens to be in an older pre-war brownstone owned by an old couple. The bathroom still has circa 1965 avacado colors, so I'm assuming nothing has been renovated in the past quarter century at least - including the wiring. Of course, if it was wired perfectly 30-40 years ago, and no damage has occurred since, then no problem. But there are electrical issues in my apartment. The outlets that are wired to the same circuit is confusing and strange. For example, in the summer when we run the A/C (window unit) it will occasionally trip the breaker, and we've learned to run a heavy gauge extension to another outlet to correct this somewhat (but it still trips sometimes).
Given this, I've decided I should get better power protection than I have now (currently just some cheap power strips of questionable surge protection capabilities). This also relates to my insurance questions posted awhile back -- I'd rather just keep my stuff, of course, than have to replace it! I'm open for advice on this, but I'm more interested in the following:
Can the somewhat crappy wiring cause obvious interference? I definitely have humming issues I've yet to track down (as they go away by the time I start troubleshooting), mostly involving my TT and phono pre. Sometimes it is a pulsating hum/buzz and other times it is a solid hum. Once I can troubleshoot, Jan has given me some great advice on tracking it down. My questions are as follows:
(1) Is it possible that the power in the apartment causes humming in the equipment?
(2) Would a power conditioner potentially solve the issues?
(3) Related note: Can the proximity of power cords to interconnects and quality of power cords combine to create interference? If so, would higher quality power cords potentially solve this (even a decent $15-30 one)?
At this point I'm not really interested in exploring the possibility that power cords improve imaging, broaden the soundstage, or even lower the noise floor (beyond the obvious humming I mentioned). I just want a setup that doesn't cause interference.
I know there are a myriad of causes for humming. I just want to know if this is a potential one, especially given the questionable wiring in my apartment.
I'm open for recommendations for a surge protector as I'm definitely getting one. If you guys advise a line conditioner as well, I'm also open for suggestions (have my eye on the slimmer paramax model, per Lowry's comments). And, finally, I'm using at least one computer cord I had lying around - if you know of one with good shielding, I'm in (I think I remember seeing high praise for one that was about $12, but I can't remember what it was).
Thanks as always.