Silly pre amp question of the month

 

Bronze Member
Username: Stryvn

Post Number: 19
Registered: Dec-06
Are there any negative effects from plugging in my cd player (or any other component for that matter) into the switched outlet on the back of my pre amp?
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 245
Registered: May-06
What is your pre-amp plugged into?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Stryvn

Post Number: 20
Registered: Dec-06
I have no conditioning or surge protection. Go easy on me, man, but I am plugged into the 15A wall outlet. All recommendations are welcome!!
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 246
Registered: May-06
Ok, easy it is. You have a very nice Rotel set-up. Rega Apollo CDP and P-3 TT would make nice additions that would play well together with your Paradigm, but I digress.

What got me involved in power products was an ad by Chang Lightspeed; "Plugging your expensive electronics directly into a wall outlook is akin to drinking water from a sewer drainage pipe".

You can go expensive or inexpensive, I have ~$2,400 Monster products for my main system which I picked up at Tweeter on clearance, Panamax for secondary, and a $100 Battery back-up / voltage regulator / power line conditioner for my family room gear which I found at Costco.

I suggest a visit to whomever sold you your gear as there are plenty of options.

Oh, if you do get something you will then want to plug each of your components into its own outlet to gain maximum isolation, so no, do not plug your plug your CD player into your pre-amp.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Stryvn

Post Number: 21
Registered: Dec-06
Thanks, Mike. I will do some more research and head back to my dealer to do something about the sewer water I am drinking. And when I make my purchase, nothing gets plugged into the pre!

By the way, I looked at your profile......holy smokes!
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 5895
Registered: Dec-04
Oh sure, he has a lot of stuff, and a great advisor in Jan, but ask about his golf game!
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 256
Registered: May-06
Oh that was so unfair. You know that I had to become golf celibate to afford this stuff.... LOL
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 257
Registered: May-06
Also, I have recently received some feedback that my power set up may be hazardous to my listening experience with it's influences. I am awaiting some recommendations on a safe way to experiment with that theory. I remain skeptical that I could be better off with less, but I will reserve judgment until I prove it to myself one way or another.
 

Gold Member
Username: Arande2

400dB could probably d..., SouthWest Mi... Too Many DBs...

Post Number: 1215
Registered: Dec-06
Wheehaw.
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 262
Registered: May-06
OK, strvn, pay attention to this one.

I was advised by a couple of "Old Dawgs" on this forum to unleash the hounds and plug my amps directly into the wall socket as due to their build, they do not need the protection of my Monster gear.

All I can say is "Oh boy!". I had no clue how much the Monster gear was restraining my amps expressiveness. See a post shortly on the thread "Audio Tweaks - snake oil or true medicine?". It is in the DVD Audio and SACD forum.
 

Silver Member
Username: Mike3

Wiley, Tx USA

Post Number: 263
Registered: May-06
OK. I was wrong about something. For a couple of years actually. Not only was I wrong about something I actually endorsed my mistake on this forum. But a couple of folks here finally got through to me and steered me clear of the errors of my ways. The result? The best darn audio improvement I ever made that was free.

I unplugged my Carver M-4.0t and Anthony Gallo Sub Amp from my Monster gear and plugged each one into a separate outlet from where my Monster equipment was plugged in. I do not know if they are on separate circuits or not. I left the rest of my gear plugged into the Monster gear.

It is as if I was driving around a BMW 525i and somebody traded me for a 540i. This is clearly still my sound, my system, but the treble just elevated to a whole new level. The midrange had more detail. The bass was more musical. Overall there was a more life in my system. The sound stage had more depth while at the same time being more forward. The Ferrari in Roger Water's "Amused To Death" seemed to come from outside the room and end up out the other side of the room. The "breaking glass" in Pink Floyd's Animals, 3rd track "Pigs" for the first time ever sounded like glass. Some of the vocals sounded the same yet the ambiance around them improved. On Dixie Chicks "Not Ready to Make Nice" I could hear the hurt in Natalie Maines voice. There was one song where I thought I heard the drummer's sticks swish air as they stuck down on the drum. Even snare drums were distinct and brighter than I ever heard. Cymbals had come alive raising to new heights. There was one song on Dead Can Dance's "Into the Labyrinth" where I had thought something like a xylophone was being played, but now it sounded like a tube, sort of like a railing being struck. This was all on CD, which is my best reference material. When I played Pink Floyd's DSOTM, I ended up listening to the entire CD I was enjoying it so much.

Yet these enhancements paled to what happened when I queued Billy Squire's "Don't Say No". This music on this album just exploded off the Linn turntable. It was as if I just spent about $2K USD in improving something in my system. Like someone swapped my metaphorical 525i for an M5.

Nothing sounded unnatural, I still recognized it as my system. I was advised that I was having to suffer a flatter sound by having my amps plugged into the Monster power gear. Now, everything seems quicker, sharper.

I was extremely fortunate that my wife spent the entire afternoon shopping so I had a good number of hours to sit and just listen.

I also would like to explain how my getting a Chang Lightspeed and experiencing video and audio improvements on a mediocre HT set up got me in the camp of power conditioners and gear and how the Monster gear was a huge improvement over the Chang. It did not occur to me that with the better gear I am using today that I did not need the power gear for my amplifiers. I still have all of my video gear plugged into the Monster gear as well as my CD player, TT, and pre-amp.
 

Gold Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 9806
Registered: May-04
.

"It did not occur to me that with the better gear I am using today that I did not need the power gear for my amplifiers."


MW - Please keep in mind Dallas is in the middle of the Tornado Belt. Lightning strikes are a real threat in this area. This doesn't mean plug your stuff back into the Monster unit, but just that your amps are unprotected at this time. I'm not sure what you mean by "due to their build, they do not need the protection of my Monster gear" but I am unaware of any surge protection (or RFI/EMI filtration for that matter) built into the Carver or Gallo gear.


.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 5966
Registered: Dec-04
My brother got hit, it fried his protector strip and his gear. The amp was fine, on another circuit. The tech said, and I agree, that the power supply is a very good soak.
And gets choked by protection and such.
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