My new DIY Power Strip

Just wanted to share my latest DIY project with the Hoffmanite crowd! The recipe is based on Alan Maher's Twisted 12 AWG stranded Telfon power cord. It contains 4 braided cords attached to a Leviton 5266c on one end and two Hubbell 8300I's on the other. The strip is contained in a plastic FSE double gang box wrapped in cherry finished with dark briwax. I must admit that I had a difficult time with the miters, but nothing a little glue and sawdust could not fix! I have yet to connect it to my system to hear it. I will leave a review when all the electrons meld together.

 

Excellent craftsmanship.

 

Very nice mrdon. I look forward to your review.

 

Awesome!

Awesome! And perfect timing, too. After I installed a Hubbell 8300 and was floored by how much better my CD player sounded, I decided to try to build this AC outlet center.

So I'm very curious to hear how yours sounds.

 

My Initial Reaction and the Recipe

Thanks guys for the complements. I had a listen this evening after a 72 hour burn-in on my secondary system. My initial reaction is the power strip provides extended highs, tight bass, and nice warmth in the midrange. I would describe it as a balanced presentation. I'll report more in the next few days as I need my wife and two-year old son out of the house to do a real test, if you know what I mean

In the meantime, if you would like to check out the recipe here it is straight from Alan Maher's e-mail.

I have designed several power strips over the years. I guess the easiest and cheapest design is the dual twisted power cord. The cord design is very easy. You will need 1 hot, 1 neutral, and 2 ground wires of equal length. Twist 1 hot and 1 ground together using a power drill. Standard THHN wire from Home Depot makes a nice cord for this project. Next twist 1 neutral and 1 ground together. Tie the 2 grounds together at both ends of the power cord. Run the 2 twisted cables parallel to each other. I highly recommend a good fiberglass cloth sleeving to be used as the outer insulation. Use the same geometry to wire each outlet. Do not daisy chain the outlets together. You can use wire nuts to make all connections or a good 20 amp copper bridge with copper O-ring terminals. Use 12ga THHN wiring for the entire project. Hubbell outlets (all brass) makes a nice combination with the wire design. Use a Leviton 5266 ac plug. Allow the power cord 4 days to set up the magnetic field around the conductors (burn in). Do not add capacitors or inductors in the design. The power cord geometry is extremely effective at reducing RFI and EMI and providing a good degree of isolation between the ac outlets.

A braided version of this (the one I did) can be found here Perfect Cable Designed DIY Power Cord

Alan's description of the differene b/t Home Depot THHN 12 AWG and Teflon coated mil. spec 12 AWG (which I used on mine) can be found here THHN or Telfon?

 

mrdon, is it possible for you to post a medium-sized picture of yours when out of the case to show more of wiring etc? A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Dave, What exactly would you like to see?

What exactly would you like to see? The braid? The Star wiring? I have just partially disassembled my first attempt at this design to put in a new gang box. I could try to take pictures of the wiring you would like to see.

Until then here are two smaller and clearer jpgs of the Cherry Power Strip.

 

Everything inside the nice wooden box as it's assembled please. I'm really curious as I'm more of a visual learning type. Text without drawings is pretty much useless to me.

 

Dave,

I am sorry but right now I am unable to disassemble the cherry box to take a picture. However, next week I am updating my intial foray into the DIY power strip (It is composed of 12awg stranded THHN from Home Depot and it has the identical geometry and receptacles as the cherry power strip) to a new FSE double gang box. While I have it disassembled, I will take pictures and post the inner workings for the delight of everyone's audio eyes. Hopefully, I will also be able to post a review of how this DIY power strip sounds in my system. Until then you can get other reactions to it at this link: Recipe and Reviews

Don

 

Thanks Don, I'll look forward to your pictures.

 

While the wood does look beautiful, you have no electrical shielding unless its lined with sheet metal on the inside. Something to consider.

 

would you be interested in making extra bucks and selling one?
if so how much

 

Pictures of the inner workings

Hey the 1.5" heatshrink arrived in the mail quicker than I thought!
So here is the inner sanctum of a naked DIY power strip. Enjoy!

 

My Review

Well I am finally here to give you Hoffmanites the final verdict on the DIY power strip.
First, let me tell you about my system...well over the last six months I have upgraded to almost all new components except for my trusty Cal Labs Icon CD player! Here is what composes my current audio system:
1. Vintage HH Scott LK-72B Integrated Tube Amp.
2. Cal Labs Icon Cd Player
3. Denon 2900 Universal Player
4. Speakers - Kirksaeter Silverline 60's
5. Speaker wire - Chris VenHaus' DIY Cat5 Speaker Cables.
6. Interconnects - c.1989 Monster Cable and Jon Risch Belden 89259.

Before the DIY power strip I had this beautiful system plugged into an old beige surge protector - yes, the kind with the red lit switch! With it powering every single piece of equipment, everything sounded pretty good - I would say to my ears very warm but on the mushy side. I then made my first version of the DIY power strip and all the mush and warmth went away. It was composed of Home Depot THNN 12 AWG, a Hubbell 8215c plug, and two Hubbell 8300R's all connected in a metal box. After 72 hours break-in time, I connected it, plugged everything in it and turned everything on. I couldn't believe my ears but the music actually sounded very different. The warmth was completely lost but the bass and highs were really extended. The bass just blew me a away and the highs were crystal clear but the tube warmth was lost!

I brought this concern to Alan Maher and he told me "It appears you have too much brass parts in the mix. Brightness is always caused by resonate materials interaction with one another. Steel and brass are known for enhancing energy from 500Hz on up." He suggested replacing the Hubbell 8215c plug with a Leviton 5266c plug and replacing the metal box with a plastic one!

Well, I thought to myself since I am going to have to do all that why not make another DIY power strip! However, this time I used 12 AWG teflon coated silver plated stranded copper wire and decided to wrap the plastic FSE gang box in cherry! I got some amazing deals on on wire and receptacles on eBay. I then went to a local Electrical supply shop for the Leviton plug and FSE gang box. I also ordered a cherry wallplate and some cherry craft wood. After it was assembled and the Silicone II was dry, I let it break in for 72 hours afterwhich I plugged it in my system. Well, the bass and highs were still extended but the warmth reappeared! Everything had come back into balance. Hallelujah!

Who would think a power strip could enhance the joy of listening to good music, but it does. I am not a physicist so I cannot explain why. However my ears really do hear a difference in comparison to that cheapo beige surge protector that I use to use.

Please know that if you too would like to build your own DIY power strip I am more than happy to guide you through the process.

 

That's not surprising. Anyone using one of those can radically improve the sound by dumping it and plugging amp and CD player into the wall outlet. I did exactly that some years back and the improvement shocked me. Of course, I went a bit crazy after that changing the outlet three times (Leviton, P&S, Acme Audio) and I could hear a significantly better sound each time - although the break-in period for the silver-plated Acme was 30 days or so before it really came on song.

I admire your work - although I don't use any "power strips" and suggest, if possible, to avoid them.

 

Hi Geoff,

Do you have a reasonably priced source for the Acmes?

Thanks,
Jeffrey

 

Jeffrey, I don't have any special knowledge. I got the first cryo-treated 15 amp outlet on an Audio Asylum auction for $25 and the second one was given to me by Bob Crump (TG Audio). Michael Brinkman is Acme Audio and lives in Eugene, OR. The prices on his web site are pretty standard.

http://www.acmeaudiolabs.com/products.htm

 

Hi Geoff,

Thank you!

Take care,
Jeffrey

 

Can we talk outlet types here, please?

I made this same project, but used the Hubbell 5266 plug and Hubbell 5252 spec grade outlets. Same 4 braid Maher design geometry using mil-spec teflon coated silver plated copper strand 10 AWG wire. This replaces a Maher design dual twist THHN 12 AWG cord using P&S 5266 plug and 5262 spec outlets in a metal box, which worked very well in my system.

The new one is a bit brighter as yet, though still burning in with corrections I made to original mistake (per Alan Maher's suggestions). Yet I'm wondering about any of your impressions on the plugs and outlets that work best with different applications.

Has anyone here played with different outlet choices? Alan seems to like this Hubbell 8200/8300R series (hope it comes in something besides that garish red!) and Mrdon does obviously. Any other ideas or confirmations of this combo?

Mrdon, do you think the 8300 was more important in your change than the Leviton plug or was it the combo that worked for you????

Just trying to get my full sound back, as well as the already apparent punch, dynamics and extension with detail...

Thanks.

 

I haven't used anything else but the Hubbell 8300I(Ivory) and the 8300R(Red). (BTW, they are the same beast just different colors.) One receptacle that interests me even more is the Hubbell 8300H. The 8300H is different from a normal 8300 in that it is not as deep and the contacts are not nickel plated, but brass. Most likely, it would provide a warmer sound over the normal 8300?

For me it was the AC Plug that made a huge difference. I have now used the Hubbell 8215, the Leviton 5266, and the Marinco 5266 (Deep cryogenically treated). To my ears, the Cryo'd Marinco, blew everything else out of the water. It gave my system even more detail. In fact, I just made a replacement cord for my Denon 2900 using the same Maher recipe. It is composed of a four way braid of 12 AWG mil. spec. Teflon coated silver plated stranded copper wire and terminated with a deep cryogenically treated Marinco 5266 and a deep cryogenically treated Marinco IEC 320/15. It is not burned in yet, but it has caused a drastic change in how the Denon sounds - extended highs, tighter bass, more inner detail.

 

further impressions after burn in

Mrdon, I've now had my PR/sitrip burning in for 24/7 for over 2 weeks, plus one week earlier with incorrect config of wiring. It has settled down considerably and is now far more pleasing. It delivers all the pacing and detail, extension on both ends that you and others had touted. I was a bit dissatisfied with my mids for a while; then I noticed it was not a problem on CD, but on radio, which runs through a coax amp to my FM. So I fiddled around and found that removing an intervening Isobar powerstrip with filtering made all the difference; that is, with the coax amp plugged directly into the Maher strip the mids came back. As Alan wrote to me: it seems to work best without any additional filtering circuitry.

I'm still curious about the impact of different outlets and plugs - now that I'm convinced of the geometry and teh mil-spec wire and the non-ferrous box factors. Do you think teh cryo is the factor that makes that Marinco plug that much better for you? I was considering moving up to the 8200H outlets, as I have a 15 amp circuit to work with. Have you corresponded with anyone who's used the 8200/8300H duplexes?