balanced power

[zaphod]

well, after a few years of procrastinating, i ordered a torroid balanced power transformer from plintron and a chassis from an acquaintence into which i could install the transformer. this is based on an article in secrets found here that i stashed away years ago. there are other torroid transformer companies, but plintron has a good rep (i think that bryston sources from them) and they're canadian to boot

i hooked the first one up last night. i plan on getting two, and then feeding the front end with them, each on a seperate 15A dedicated circuit. this, along with the 15A dedicated to the rear speakers/amps gives me 45A dedicated to the system. there is no way i am pulling that of course, but the headroom is nice.

because i installed only one of them, i only have the left CLS on this, but even so i recognized a definate increase in the SNAP of the kickdrums (Collective Soul, 2nd album/Frankie Goes to Hollywood, 1st album) and the tailing out of the transients (Gilberto-Getz, Girl from Ipanema). very sweet indeed. i look forward to hooking up the other transformer and installing the two seperate 15A circuits that will supply them (the front end is sharing a single dedicated 15A circuit right now).

 

[jtwrace]

be sure to post pics.

jtwrace

well, after a few years of procrastinating, i ordered a torroid balanced power transformer from plintron and a chassis from an acquaintence into which i could install the transformer. this is based on an article in secrets found here that i stashed away years ago. there are other torroid transformer companies, but plintron has a good rep (i think that bryston sources from them) and they're canadian to boot

i hooked the first one up last night. i plan on getting two, and then feeding the front end with them, each on a seperate 15A dedicated circuit. this, along with the 15A dedicated to the rear speakers/amps gives me 45A dedicated to the system. there is no way i am pulling that of course, but the headroom is nice.

because i installed only one of them, i only have the left CLS on this, but even so i recognized a definate increase in the SNAP of the kickdrums (Collective Soul, 2nd album/Frankie Goes to Hollywood, 1st album) and the tailing out of the transients (Gilberto-Getz, Girl from Ipanema). very sweet indeed. i look forward to hooking up the other transformer and installing the two seperate 15A circuits that will supply them (the front end is sharing a single dedicated 15A circuit right now).

 

[zaphod]

i thought abuot that, but it's a square box with an orange light on the front - hardly exciting but if you want ...

 

[DTB300]

I see you can still buy them for $290 from Plitron. Interesting idea...

Hopefully Cherian will see this post and add to the discussion.

 

[Cherian]

Plitron is a very good transformer house. I have gotten transformers from there. Building a balanced power conditioner is a snap all you need is the correct VA transformer that is center tapped for 60 volts on the secondary. This will offer good commone mode protection. Just note this will do nothing to protect your equipment from power surges.

 

[zaphod]

there are some caps in there to help with that. both sides i don't pretend to understand the details of caps and such for surge protection, just enough to look in and say - "oh, that's a cap for surge protection"

 

[Cherian]

Sounds like the caps are doing filtering if the form of an L-C filter. If the caps are matched to the leakage inductance of the transformere then you have a very good filter as well.

 

[aliveatfive]

The trouble with creaing a balanced power circuit lies in the grounding scheme of the components you use. You are now working with a 60v to ground arrangement that might leave you quite vulnerable to a shock if you ground yourself while touching the amp because you are, in effect, defeating the ground potential of the component that is plugged in. This has been discussed in other audio forums and frowned upon. Use caution.

 

[zaphod]

well, i threw in a blu-ray last night (corpse bride) and the image seemed punchier and crisper. i'm very happy with this and really look forward to getting the other side's transformer installed and the single 15amp circuit split into two.

i just wish i could see the look on the faces of the next owners when they realize the power supply in this room. probably about the same as the look on the faces of the people who bought my last house from me. it had only one outlet pair in the master bedroom, but each was a dedicated 15amp circuit fed by 8ga. wire. when i bought the 50 feet of wire i remember being asked "wouldn't it be easier to just move the dryer..."

 

[zaphod]

I see you can still buy them for $290 from Plitron. Interesting idea...

where did you see that price? i paid well over 290, direct from plintron and before i order the next one i'd like to the better price

 

[DTB300]

Went to Plitron, put in the part number as listed in the article and $290 (CND) came up as the price.

 

[zaphod]

Went to Plitron, put in the part number as listed in the article and $290 (CND) came up as the price.

humph. i'll call them about that. maybe they are having a sale... thanks for the tip.

 

[zaphod]

humph. i'll call them about that. maybe they are having a sale... thanks for the tip.

my bad, before i called i checked my invoice - yep $290.29

i forgot about the $50 in shipping fees (although my back hasn't forgotten )

 

[JonFo]

Zaph, maybe it’s the lack of coffee this early in the am, but I’m unclear as to which gear is on the balanced power.
Sound like the amp and the left CLS so far. Correct?

In general, balanced power is a big plus. I run my whole rig on balanced power. Even the big CRT PJ is on the 5KVA balanced power grid.

The overall noise floor of the rig is much lower, and the extra power reserve of the big toroid so close to the gear allows for peak performance without current supply becoming a limitation.

Your approach of multiple smaller transformers is an effective way of keeping elements of the system isolated from each other (and reach your current goals without overloading any one circuit).

 

[zaphod]

well, i can't get my whole rig on balanced, but i can get most of it and you are right-ish, it is the left hand gear that is on balanced. here's a more complete description of the power setup.

i have two racks of gear. each rack uses it's own HP PDU (HP uber powerbar) with internal circuit breakers and [i believe] surge. i was given them from our computer room when we shifted from 110V to 220V and had to replace about 40 of these PDUs for the 220V versions.

so this gives me two PDUs that require go juice. they both plug into the same wall receptacle which is a dedicated 15A circuit i put it for just this. when i pulled the wire, i pulled enough to split the receptacle into two dedicated 15A circuits. i have the panel space and the breaker, i just have to do it

on the left rack/PDU i have the following:

VCR
7" 1/4 track r2r
outboard dolby for r2r
laserdisc player
AC-3 demodulator for laserdisc
blu-ray player
video switch
video scaler
CLS
amp for CLS
​

on the right rack i have the following:

TT
phono preamp
FM tuner
CD transport
pre/processor
TV
LOGOS
monoblock for LOGOS
CLS
monoblock for CLS
​

each of the torriods from plitron are housed in a box with two tails coming out of it. one plugs into the receptacle, and one plugs into the PDU. this let me insert the balanced power into a rack without too much pain. currently (pun intended ) the left rack is on balanced power, the right rack is waiting for the second torroid to arrive and the IBuprofen to kick in for my back.

so left to do in this project is:

• get the second torroid
• split the receptacle into two dedicated 15A circuits

but wait, there's more...

when i pulled out the ceiling of the HT 18 months back, i ran a dedicated 15A circuit from the panel to all the ceiling gear. this is the part that has no easy way to get on balanced power, although i think that having it on it's own circuit certainly helps.

screen
LS script
monoblock for LS script
RS script
monoblock for RS script
LR script
RR script
stereo amp for RR and LR scripts
CRT projector
gamma adjustment box
DEPTH
​

basically it a dedicated circuit for the surrounds and projector. left to do on that side of things is get the new screen, possibly upgrade the CRT from AC tubes to LC tubes and when those two things are done, put the CRT in a hush box because i'll have final placement at that point

and then i get to cut the lawn.

is that less confusing? it is a bit of a collection.

 

[JonFo]

...

is that less confusing? it is a bit of a collection.

Ah, that helps a lot. I'm always one to admire a complex system