I can’t seem to find a definitive guide to plug sequence in the power block…
Can someone please advise or point me in the right direction.
Many thanks.
Richard.
thank you!
1 Like
From the cable in, Turntable power, digital source or earth wire from pre binding post, pre amp ps, superline ps, power amp. I’ve tried power amp first but prefer the above.
You should experiment as not everyone agrees and systems vary, eg I run an ND555 when it’s working whereas you have streamer and DAC so have to decide which is going to be signal earth.
2 Likes
I’m demoing a ND555 at the moment and although its good its not the uplift I was expecting… but only on a single 555PS…
I’ve only ever had a single ps on mine but when I first got it I tried running it floating and keeping the CDX2 as system earth. I was rather underwhelmed until I set it to default and removed the CD player from the system. It likes to be top dog but so does the 552 so something else to experiment with.
1 Like
It may help if you do a forum search by forum members
The issue has been discussed a number of times, but perhaps not in thread titles. Take a look at some of the posts from darkebear. While as a long time member, he has experience of trying different combinations, you will find something in postings of relevance. Iirc plug in order has been featured. It may be necessary to do some search and readings mind.
1 Like
Lots of people needing a Hydra, it seems.
1 Like
It largely depends on the power block you are using also. Some are wired such that they are all effectively equal, e.g.if it’s star wired
2 Likes
Does it matter if the electricity is perhaps 0.01milliscond at one box before the other, and so very minutely out of phase with the next in line🤓 in theory.
I’ve just checked and it does say on the power block that it is ‘star wired’. Does that therefore mean the sequence of the plugs doesn’t matter?
That’s certainly my understanding. It’s when the sockets are daisy chained that it can be more of an issue, especially with Naim, as they recommend star wiring.
1 Like
The nDac has the advantage of internal transformer for the digital side and the 555 PS only for the analogue…
It’s not about that, it’s about the construction of the socket or block. Some sockets have extra joints and some less on the same cover panel.
According to MusicLine (Naim’s former distributor in Germany), it should be source first from the cable in, then pre-amp, then amp, PS.
3 Likes
I’m inclined to think it’s more to do with grounding than with the power delivery.
If each of the sockets is wired in radial (so called “star”) then each is identically/equally connected to its LN&E source point, so there should be no first in line preferential socket position, unlike the common busbar (so called “daisy chain”) socket wiring.
Hence why I make my own.
Mike-B is correct that if your power strip uses proper star grounding then the ground potential of the earth on each of the power strip sockets should be exactly the same. Therefore, the order in which you plug in various components should not matter.
However, this does not mean that the ground potential of each of the components is the same. This is because each power cable will carry a different ground current which means that each component sees a different voltage drop between the power strip and the component. So, for example, if the ground current flowing out of the power amp is, say, 10 times larger than that from a preamp then the voltage drop across the power amp cable will be 10 times larger than that across the preamp cable. This is why Naim has often used cables between components (like a preamp and power amp) to establish a “common” ground which reduces this effect. The main reason one wants the ground potential of each of the components to be a close as possible is that it reduces noise which, in an extreme form would manifest itself as an audible hum i.e. a ground loop.
1 Like
Sorry @philiprst but this is not star earthing as such, this is power supply.
Star earthing is grounding all the signal related grounds (-ve) from sources and preamp to one single point.
The radial wired power earth supply should not affect SQ as each is connected only to the various units outer case as a safety earth and there should be no earth current, if there is then that’s a fault.
As far as I am concerned, the main benefit of wiring the power supply in a radial arrangement is to eliminate the possibility of a first to last in line socket preference of a daisy chain.
Mike, thanks for this but I think we still have a technical disagreement about how the earthing works. That could be my misunderstanding, however.
It is true that the earth of the power cable is directly connected to the chassis as soon at it enters the component. This is a safety requirement. However, and typically, the signal grounds need to be connected to earth also. This is usually done by connecting the signal grounds to the chassis so that the ground current flows via the chassis to the power cable earth. Star grounding is a variant of this approach where the signal grounds are brought together at (ideally) a single point connected to the chassis rather than being connected at multiple points within the chassis.