@PaleRider, I thank you for your myriad suggestions across a whole bunch of topics on this site. I have learned from you and just from a select few of your responses, I have purchased a whole slew of 10 gauge Belden power cables (after first testing out 2 of them).
And, as of a couple of days ago, I now have a Torus Power AVR unit which they helped me size for my system. I A/B tested the Torus against my much simpler Niles unit which I had purchased over a decade ago and was absolutely floored by the difference. I am a DNA-level skeptic of any voodoo but this …! I ran out to my wife and insisted that she also do an A/B test with me playing the MC. She thought she was simply indulging me but she too was stunned by how easy it was to hear the difference. She’s no audiophool, but her exact words were “it’s as if the music is no longer congested”.
The Torus is amazing. Thank you for exposing me to it through your posts. Between my recent acquisitions of the Bartok, the Belden power cables, and now the Torus I have re-engaged with music to a huge degree.
Hari, that is delightful to read. I am so glad you have found success with both the BAV cables and the Torus. I have enjoyed my relationship with both companies’ people and products. And I hope you continue to enjoy your system.
An audio friend who had a Purcell/Delius and recently bought my Paganini Dac uses balanced power. In his system it really took some time to blossom from cold and transported to it’s potential. Not sure if this is also due to the equipment needing to ‘burn’/adjust in to the new balanced situation.
I am assuming it is safe for the equipment to use balanced power 2x115V instead of 1x230V plus neutral. I am asking because of the following:
My friend noticed some creaking noises in one channel after a few weeks especially when stopping the music. I was surprised because the unit behaved very well when I had it and also had been to dCS in 2020 for a revision/new caps in the DAC board.
That makes me wonder if you are certain how it should be done. The unit connected will still see a 230v supply not 2x115v. Most audiophiles will use a commercial balanced power unit like this:
Or this:
That or equivalent that is made for the job should be excellent.
I guess that you might try a custom installation using an electrician but unless the electrician is experienced in this area I wouldn’t advise it.
I use a balanced supply, 115 v down both L, and N.
It works very well, but you do need to make sure you get a large enough transformer to give you enough surplus or you can run into dynamic problems keeping in.
I use a Vertex balanced Targa with my Vivaldi Upsampler and clock here in the US. I used Russ Andrews Balanced Power in the UK and he might make a US version.
I have the Equi=Tech supply pictured in Pete’s post. I found it a remarkable improvement when I first powered my system from it (I had a Puccini player in those days). I have used it ever since. I have never bothered to do the reverse comparison by taking it out of the system. The much higher price than some other products - such as Airlink - is likely due to how massive the transformers are. My unit weighs about 75 lbs, and most of that is the transformer. The casework is as robust as it needs to be, but no more, so doesn’t contribute much to the weight,
Not my system as I mentioned. My friend has had such a transformer in his system for twenty years, I don’t know which brand exactly but he stated that it uses balanced power which I believe to be a center tapped transformer thus the 2x 115V as opposed to 1 live 230V and a neutral. Like explained here: https://equitech.com/what-is-a-balanced-power/
Anyway, just wanted to hear the experiences here which seem to be positive. Just to reassure my friend that dCS components are ok to use with a balanced power source. @Phil would you agree?
That’s right. What I was trying say earlier is that the component that is attached e.g. a dCS unit , will not be “aware” of the 230V AC input to the balanced power unit having been split into two phases @115V that are 180 degrees reversed in comparison to each other because they are then summed in the power unit so that they emerge as a 230V signal again.
So,imagining the power unit is a black box , it is simply 230V in and 230V out.
As Pete has just surmised, any piece of kit that is being run from a mains regenerator or isolation transformer should simply ‘see’ a standard mains supply and if all is well then there should be no issues.
Just be aware that if any damage is caused to a dCS product by a mains regenerator or similar then it wouldn’t be covered under warranty (as would be the case with any other device) …
Whether a mains regenerator or isolation transformer makes what you feel to be a positive contribution to your setup is obviously something only you can decide for yourself - I have had my own experiences with such units over the years and don’t run anything in the way of mains filtering or mains processing myself.