Squeaky clean
I’ve always maintained that moving to Santa Rosa, Laguna, from Makati was the best investment that I’ve ever done. Since we decided to locate here in 1996, my family’s state of health has improved tremendously. My daughter she who had to struggle with childhood allergies and recurring respiratory problems was the greatest beneficiary. The air in our part of Sta. Rosa, which is just minutes away from Tagaytay City, is cool and unpolluted, despite the surge of industrial and residential developments in the area in the past decade. Traffic is now a breeze, especially after the completion of the second stage of the Skyway system.
Life seems fine, except for one thing: the quality of electric power that we have. Of course, to my neighbors who do not mind how their respective audio systems sound (assuming that they’re into the same hobby as me), this should just be a minor inconvenience.
Our house lies in the same power grid as that of Laguna Technopark. During our early years in the area, that posed no problem for me. However, the exodus of people from the Metro, frantic to escape the worsening air pollution there, is another matter altogether.
Lately, I had been able to enjoy the lushness of my system only in the middle of the night or in the wee hours of the morning. I count myself lucky on listening sessions when am not be able to hear weird oscillating sounds coming from my speakers. At other times, a buzzing sound spoils what I had hoped would be a relaxing, musical weekend.
No doubt about it: the quality of electric power within our grid had been compromised. Too many people sharing the same electricity, plus the fact that we live just a stone’s throw away from an industrialized zone which uses the same power, had introduced unwanted noises into the signal of my sound system.
Sharing the power with neighbors and factories could degrade the quality of distributed electricity during peak usage, with my sound system being the collateral damage. Beautiful music is impossible to achieve unless powered by a squeaky clean-alternating current (AC) sine wave throughout the day.
Radio frequency (RFI) and electromagnetic interferences (EMI) can also cause unwanted noises. The most lethal of them all is direct current (DC) infiltrating the power line because it causes the transformer core to soak, clatter and tinkle. DC triggers transformer hum and a high level of noises, produced by light dimmers or other waveform-switching devices, such as electric fans, vacuums cleaners, hair-driers, printers and espresso machines which create transformer hums or buzzes.
I consulted my ever-reliable friend, electronics engineer Andrew Sevilla, on the steps to remedy the situation. Andrew, who owns and operates Kinetic Audio in BF Homes in Sucat, Parañaque, offered to custom-build for me a device that would “bust” any traces of DC in my system. Not only would this device isolate my system from my neighbors’ current grid, it would also isolate the audio components from one another.
The device, which he called “distributed isolated AC power conditioner,” makes sure that no unwanted DC can squeeze into my system, while especially designed transformers for each of my components will isolate my music room from the rest of the grid and from one another. It’s akin to having my own power plant inside my listening room!
Andrew explains how the device works: “The first stage in the clean-up process is a DC voltage eliminator circuit. This stage removes any superimposed DC voltage in the AC power line, preventing magnetic saturation of the balanced transformer. The next stage is a 12dB per octave RFI and EMI filter network that removes any incoming interference. The next stage is a balanced transformer wound on double bobbin, separating the primary from the secondary windings. The balanced winding further filters any noise by common mode rejection. The output of the balanced transformer is pure and clean AC sine wave. There are four separate circuits further isolating individual components from one another, eliminating any cross-talk from the other audio equipment and possible noise contamination that can emanate from power supply of digital sound processors and digital sound sources. Noise suppression dB rating is better that 60db. AC power output is purely magnetically coupled from the power line.”
In the end, I did not only get rid of unwanted noises, I learned about the value of having a squeaky-clean AC sine wave to power my sound system.
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.
