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100 Year Old House and Electrical (Read 182 times)
Alex Scott
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100 Year Old House and Electrical
Yesterday at 07:14:44
 
Hey y'all,


I live in a 100 year old house with 100 year old electrical wiring:
All the lights in the house blink when the washing machine is on.
When the toaster oven in the kitchen kicks on the stove exhaust fan slows down.
Sometimes the lights blink when it's windy outside.

What gear can I get to protect my system and ensure it is working 100%? Running a new circuit and upgrading the electrical panel is not an option.

I have an SEUFO2 and digital front end. I also have a ZeroSurge 8 outlet box that I figure will be better than nothingl. The outlet I'm planning to use is grounded.

Thank you!
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Lon
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #1 - Yesterday at 11:00:18
 
I live in a 107 year old expanded cottage with some pretty darned old wiring and an ancient master panel. I use two PS Audio regenerators and a Decware ZLC in three systems. . . and they work really well to give me steady and clean power to the components (and two TVs).
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JBzen
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #2 - Yesterday at 14:24:50
 
Why is a rewire not an option? If it is cost, then best run a dedicated line to the equipment before spending money on expensive regenerate boxes. Money that could be spent on upgraded wiring.
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Lon
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"Love without
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worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #3 - Yesterday at 14:41:59
 
In my own case rewiring the house and installing a new master panel was estimated to be more expensive. My electrical system was deemed safe
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CAJames
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #4 - Yesterday at 14:47:45
 
Quote:
Posted by: JBzen      Posted on: Today at 06:24:50

Why is a rewire not an option? If it is cost, then best run a dedicated line to the equipment before spending money on expensive regenerate boxes. Money that could be spent on upgraded wiring.


That is my thought as well. It seems like the house has bigger issues than just audio performance.
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Kamran
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Sarah

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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #5 - Yesterday at 15:51:42
 
That was my exact thought as well-you need to address the source first. Have you consulted with an electrician about your issues?
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hdrider
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #6 - Yesterday at 16:04:50
 
Alex - If it were me, I would first want to establish that the electrical system in place is safe and functional as is. Safety first, tunes second.
It seems that some circuits might be close to having too many items on them.
How big is the incoming service? When we added a second story, I had the electrician add three dedicated AC circuits to our LR, one into what was the hall closet and now houses our Rack O'Decware, and two on the wall where our speakers/sub live and tv.
But do think about getting the electrical service checked out. Happy listening, Chris.
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Alex Scott
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #7 - Yesterday at 19:27:16
 
The house is a rental, and I don't know how long I plan to stay here. Been here less than a year so far.

I figure it may make more sense to purchase something like a PS Audio regenerator, that way I can take it with me. The PS15 is 50% off right now. In theory a regenerator makes sense but as it is with anything in hi-fi, there is an opposing camp out there shouting BS and saying regeneraators make the quality worse. So I figure I would gather some input from this forum to better asses what to do.

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Alex Scott
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #8 - Yesterday at 19:31:40
 
@Lon

Do you use a ZLC in series with the regenerators? I figure the regenerator would be enough. Are you running multiple systems to need more than one regenerator or is your system really power hungry?
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Lon
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"Love without
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Posts: 25726
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #9 - Yesterday at 19:34:39
 
I have three systems. . . my main one uses a P15, my audio visual system uses a P10 and my headphone only system uses a ZLC.
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Lon
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"Love without
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worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25726
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #10 - Yesterday at 19:37:17
 
The P15 at half price is a great deal.
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Alex Scott
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Posts: 12
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #11 - Yesterday at 20:21:54
 
Good to know.

I'm leaning toward the PS15, in theory that makes the most sense to me. I just need to muster up the courage to pull the trigger. There is a lot of noise out there talking trash about them.

Does anyone remember Steve D's opinion on the PS Audio Power Plants? I remember reading his literature somewhere saying that he built specific power circuitry into one of the amps to get the cleanest power possible, and that the only way to get better would be plunking down thousands for a PS Audio regenerator.
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Lon
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"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25726
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #12 - Yesterday at 20:26:33
 
That's pretty much what I remember him saying as well. Not sure how much actual experience he has with them. When he started adding regulation tubes to the components (something Bottlehead was also doing) he said that this improved the quality of power in the components so much that only an expensive power regenerator would better them. I'm not sure how true that is. . . the regulation tubes do change the sound of the amps and I like to use different ones, but I think a regenerator does something additional or quite different. I have been using them since I bought one of the first P300 regnerators that PS Audio made. . . they have become fundamental to my systems and have brought a lot of "good clean fun."
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HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1
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Alex Scott
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Posts: 12
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #13 - Yesterday at 22:07:48
 
Lon,

Curious if you considered running your system off batteries with a sine wave converter. For as much as you spend on the power plants and ZLC, I imagine you could create a robust battery bank feeding into a quality sine wave converter for a fraction of the cost.

- Alex
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Lon
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"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25726
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #14 - Yesterday at 22:38:31
 
No.. .for one thing I'm no longer able to rub together enough coins for such a thing. . .for another: I love what I have now and think it will last me most of the rest of the time I have and it's not broke so I'm not trying to fix it. And I find the modes and the adjustablity extremely useful for my systems. I'm just not interested in battery tech.
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Hearafter
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“In Tubes We Trust”

Posts: 225
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #15 - Yesterday at 22:43:59
 
If I didn’t have reliable clean power I would buy 200-300MAH lithium battery’s that have the built in charge controller along with a nice pure sine wave Giandel Inverter.  Place it in a closet, cabinet or build a nice box to keep it out of sight and reduce any cooling fan noise it may have? Cost under $1000.

https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-2200Watt-120volt-Controller-Emergency/dp/B07ZNTX...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPFTD85C/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B0DPFTD85C&pd_...
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Gilf
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Posts: 245
Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #16 - Today at 03:00:58
 
Honestly, no hassle- the best thing you can do is buy something like an Ecoflow Delta Pro or Bluetti 200L. It’s the cleanest power you will get for an audiophile source and can double to power major household items in a power outage.
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Tony Adams
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Re: 100 Year Old House and Electrical
Reply #17 - Today at 08:36:02
 
If you can’t upgrade your electrical panel and install new circuits, have you considered using voltage stabilizers or electrical protection like surge protectors for your important electrical equipment? Could this help reduce problems related to fluctuating voltages? Among Us Online
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