Need help: US plug adaptor

On another note, if you must absolutely use an unfused plug/wallsocket combo to get the "maximum sound quality" , perhaps Australian style plugs would be the best. U still get 3-pin connections, they are rated to 220V, and they are unfused (Australians must love living dangerously).

But remember, it is still illegal and the insurance company can still find fault and screw you over majorly.

But in terms of current carrying capability, British-style plugs are king. Solid brass/copper pins will beat those puny stamped prongs on the Aussie and Yankee plugs any day.

Or if you're nuts enough, go install one of those IP44 rated outdoor industrial power couplers. Can be rated to 16Amps, or 32 Amps. and rated for 240V usage.

Bro, for no fuse wall socket, just install a 15A Aircon ones will do. Get the old mk made in uk ones would be the best.

mugenfoo wrote:

Oh and BTW, yes its actually illegal to use US style plugs/wallsockets (or any other AC receptable thats not SIRIM approved) in MY homes. So god forbid, should your house burn down due to an electrical fault, and the Jabatan Bomba fireman discovers some US style plugs installed in your home.... the Insurance company wont pay you as much as 2 rusty nails for compensation.

just to share this story i heard...

an audiophile's house in germany burnt down. the insurance adjusters came and checked the damage and spotted an audiophile power cord sourced from the united states (presumably with us plug and not schuko) that was not approved by the german authorities. the insurance company refused to pay the claim.

and the audiophile power cord was not even the cause of the fire.

jokiarch wrote:Yes, I don't think 192kHz can be better than Clearaudio Statement, Goldfinger & Goldmund phono or our friend's, spinning direct cut or 45rpm virgin vinyl, when it is set up well (I guess this is what Wong KN was trying to say here).

Quite a price margin between them though.

Ah yes, the price of the Clearaudio Statement is scary to say the least. I didn't know how (relatively) more reasonable the price of the Brystons are, not until you told me. Prior to that, I read your comment about it being the same cost as a Merc S-class which was why I was mistaken. I believe I missed out the word 'used' Merc S-Class. Still I was under the impression that used Merc S-Class are a few hundred k's. But the price you told me, well there is a good chance the Brystons playing 24/192 source can take on any similarly priced TT.

sflam wrote:
just to share this story i heard...

an audiophile's house in germany burnt down. the insurance adjusters came and checked the damage and spotted an audiophile power cord sourced from the united states (presumably with us plug and not schuko) that was not approved by the german authorities. the insurance company refused to pay the claim.

and the audiophile power cord was not even the cause of the fire.

... the TUV & DIN gods hath spoken ....

mugenfoo wrote:One point to note: there are alot of new material on vinyl now that are actually mastered (or remastered digitally at 24/96 or 24/192 resolution studio equipment). Then only converted to some analog mastertape for for vinyl cutting.

Direct ADC to Harddisk studio recorders are super commonplace these days.

So if a Clearaudio statement is playing a modern 180gm vinyl that was originally digitally mastered ... how then ? Interesting question to ponder on...

I am not aware of any 'audiophile' LPs that are mastered on 24/192. It would be very good if classicals are mastered in this format because it means that we consumers can pressure the manufacturers to release those recordings in digital 24/192. In the old days when CD was still gaining dominance, there was a brief flirtation with 16/44.2 and occassionally higher quality digital mastering. But reviewers and many audiophiles could hear the difference and proclaimed the digital mastered LPs inferior (again, I point out that we - because I myself can hear and even identify a digitally mastered LP - but whether it is real or in our heads I am not 100% sure because I never subjected myself to a blind test). Nowadays for the true audiophile recordings, they are all pure 'analog'.

It is important to understand that even 'analog' in our terms is still discrete. The analog master tape if we zoom in deep enough functions by particles of magnetic materials embedded in the tape medium. Once again as I was trying to explain, this is simply a product of the limitation of our science.

Has anyone seen the photos of the grooves of a normal LP scanned by an electron microscope ? They are quite the rave a few years ago.

mugenfoo wrote:

sflam wrote:
just to share this story i heard...

an audiophile's house in germany burnt down. the insurance adjusters came and checked the damage and spotted an audiophile power cord sourced from the united states (presumably with us plug and not schuko) that was not approved by the german authorities. the insurance company refused to pay the claim.

and the audiophile power cord was not even the cause of the fire.

... the TUV & DIN gods hath spoken ....

Actually cases of houses totally burning down is more commonly in the west where houses can be literally built using plaster over wood. Over here, we use brick and cement and they are a bit more fire-proof. Doesn't mean we can be lax about safety of course.

WongKN wrote:
Has anyone seen the photos of the grooves of a normal LP scanned by an electron microscope ? They are quite the rave a few years ago.

Came across this webpage sometime ago .... very interesting picts.

http://reckon.posterous.com/vinyl-record-grooves-under-electron-microscop

of course, the process totally destroys the vinyl, because they got to chemical treat & gold-coat the record before putting it to be scanned.. Please don't sent your precious Take Five or Julie London vinyl for such a job.

Some dimensions of interest. A typical record groove seems to be around 30-40 microns. The groove itself seems to have information (change in feature which corresponds to a change in the signal being recorded) of a few microns. Many stylus are a lot larger than this but the latest catrdiges like Clearaudio Goldfinger have a stylus radius of around 8 microns, suggesting that it can resolve to a slightly smaller resolution than this. 1 micron = 1 millionth of a metre.

There are also corresponding pictures of the 'pits' of a CD, DVD and from what I remember, even a Blu-Ray disc but they are all quite featureless unless the geological feature like of records.

WongKN wrote:Some dimensions of interest. A typical record groove seems to be around 30-40 microns. The groove itself seems to have information (change in feature which corresponds to a change in the signal being recorded) of a few microns. Many stylus are a lot larger than this but the latest catrdiges like Clearaudio Goldfinger have a stylus radius of around 8 microns, suggesting that it can resolve to a slightly smaller resolution than this. 1 micron = 1 millionth of a metre.

But one must also remember that while the stylus is riding the groove, it is a constantly dynamic enviro such that the stylus would still "fly over" some of the groove features. Many factors to that influences trackability and resolving power: such as stylus tip profile, tracking force, azimuth and zenith alignment, antiskate forces, VTA, arm+cartridge body resonances, etc etc etc...

Also, the record groove tapers down to a "V" shape. So the really sharp tip like a "Goldfinger" or even the previous flagship "Insider" can reach in the deepest recesses to really follow the ridge as closely as possible.

Even the quality of the vinyl plastic plays a big role here, as frictional forces would cause the stylus to "chatter" around about instead of gliding smoothly inside the ridge. Aka "Groove noise". Very obvious is poorly pressed vinyls.