MIT AC cable on 115 Volt or 230 Volt power?

[Weerstandje]

Recently I was offered a second hand MIT Oracle AC-2 power cable. (planning to put on my DAC) However, it does not come with the original plugs, but European plugs are put on it by the seller. It turns out to be an American cable with European plugs.

 

That made me wonder. The MIT-site says that ‘This unique patented parallel circuitry removes all frequencies other than 50-60Hz and improves the power factor so that your components receive 50-60 Hz 110V power (and nothing else) providing absolutely noise free power and for noise free sound.’

 

Okay, lets asume thats true: the cable improves the 50-60hz area and filters anything outside that. American power is 50hz, European 60hz. But the American system is 115Volts and in the Netherlands it is 230 Volts. Would that make any difference for the filtering proces?

In other words: does an American MIT Oracle AC cable do the same job in an European set? Please don’t start with 'it does not matter ‘cause MIT cables do not do anything at all'. I am just wondering if a passive filter that works just as well on 115 volts as on 230 Volts is thinkable.

[Supreme Dalek]

I think this is an excellent question and while I have used American S/H sourced signal cables I have never done so for mains products.

 

As most companies are aware of S/H sales and want to insure safety of their products, even used, I think you can contact MIT directly and ask the question from them.

 

I wait with curiosity to read their reply to you re this matter.

[One and a half]

The website only mentions 110V.... You be best to make a support call to MIT to enquire if the device is also rated for 220V. I would have thought to sell the device internationally, the internal components and the power cable would be rated for 220V since filtering is frequency and not voltage dependant.

Just poor explanation on MIT' s product page. Begs more questions than answers.

To absorb all other frequencies other than 50/60Hz, the lower frequency say 150-800hz need to absorbed, so the filter will dissipate heat, higher frequencies are reflected and act like a mirror in electrical terms, for RFI primarily. Core technology have a device that's similar, I wonder though how the filtering action could work since different devices produce different harmonics. Maybe they take a guess and it 's good enough.

[4est]

I think that it is highly unlikely that the mains voltage difference is a factor in any way.

[Speedskater]

I think that any power amplifier with a linear (legacy) power supply or a SMPS would be very unhappy with a power source that was limited to 50/60Hz. If you look at the amps input current waveform you will see that it's rich in harmonics! Caelin Gabriel at Shunyata (not someone that I would often quote) writes that it's up to the 50th harmonic!

[4est]

I think that any power amplifier with a linear (legacy) power supply or a SMPS would be very unhappy with a power source that was limited to 50/60Hz. If you look at the amps input current waveform you will see that it's rich in harmonics! Caelin Gabriel at Shunyata (not someone that I would often quote) writes that it's up to the 50th harmonic!

 

???

 

Surely you jest...

[wgscott]

Careful 4est, you'll become as bad as me.

[1audio]

The power supply will generate junk up to some pretty high harmonics but the power to a rectified load is on the 5-9 harmonics. A filter that removes the upper harmonics won't affect it much except to reduce interferance from the harmonics. One that filters significantly down to the 5th harmonic could cause a significant power loss (there are workarounds but they are not trivial).

 

There is a real safety issue using a 120V power cord on 240V. The components (especially if it has filter cckts) may not be adequately rated for the peak voltages at 240VAC. I would be very cautious about using a component on the power side that is not safety rated for the application. The peak power available and the possible breakdowns are not good things to contemplate.

[One and a half]

Here is a great article written by Charles Hansen on harmonics and power quality for audio.

 

Perhaps it's worth a thread on its own.

[Speedskater]

???

 

Surely you jest...

 

It's no joke!

 

From the:

[h=3]The Golden Ear's Guide to Audio System Setup and Evaluation[/h] Become a Master in The Art of Audio System Setup and Evaluation! The editors of The Absolute Sound have created a compendium of insider secrets to help you become a master of system tuning.

 

In the chapter by Caelin Gabriel of Shunyata who is a proponent of good high frequency response in power lines.

 

 

Next News Stand | Guide to Audio System Setup and Evaluation

[Speedskater]

???

 

Surely you jest...

 

On the other side of the coin, the statement:

 

The MIT-site says that ‘This unique patented parallel circuitry removes all frequencies other than 50-60Hz and improves the power factor so that your components receive 50-60 Hz 110V power (and nothing else) providing absolutely noise free power and for noise free sound.’

 

Is the joke.

 

This is exactly the same task a passive sub-woofer crossover performs. Look at the large size of all the crossover components and the crossover works at a 4 or 8 Ohm impedance. Now scale the components up to work at a small fraction of an Ohm power line impedance. It's just not going to happen.

[Jud]

Recently I was offered a second hand MIT Oracle AC-2 power cable. (planning to put on my DAC) However, it does not come with the original plugs, but European plugs are put on it by the seller. It turns out to be an American cable with European plugs.

 

That made me wonder. The MIT-site says that ‘This unique patented parallel circuitry removes all frequencies other than 50-60Hz and improves the power factor so that your components receive 50-60 Hz 110V power (and nothing else) providing absolutely noise free power and for noise free sound.’

 

Okay, lets asume thats true: the cable improves the 50-60hz area and filters anything outside that. American power is 50hz, European 60hz. But the American system is 115Volts and in the Netherlands it is 230 Volts. Would that make any difference for the filtering proces?

In other words: does an American MIT Oracle AC cable do the same job in an European set? Please don’t start with 'it does not matter ‘cause MIT cables do not do anything at all'. I am just wondering if a passive filter that works just as well on 115 volts as on 230 Volts is thinkable.

 

I just wouldn't. If it's such a screaming deal that you are determined to check it out, follow One and a Half's advice and at least call MIT to see what they say. I can't see them blessing a modded cable unless the mods are performed in accordance with their directions.

[Weerstandje]

I just wouldn't. If it's such a screaming deal that you are determined to check it out, follow One and a Half's advice and at least call MIT to see what they say. I can't see them blessing a modded cable unless the mods are performed in accordance with their directions.

 

 

I did contact MIT before I posted the question here. That was on Sunday and I expected to find out what people think on this site sooner then the response of MIT on Monday earliest. I have not heard of MIT yet but I will post their answer here as soon as I recieve it.

[Weerstandje]

I did contact MIT before I posted the question here. That was on Sunday and I expected to find out what people think on this site sooner then the response of MIT on Monday earliest. I have not heard of MIT yet but I will post their answer here as soon as I recieve it.

 

I wrote MIT twice about this. Never heard back of them.

[wgscott]

MIT lost the election. Give him a bitt of time to recoverr.

[Mick The Kraken]

MIT lost the election. Give him a bitt of time to recoverr.

 

Parsuing the forums after some time away... wgscott's killing me, once again. Ha! Thanks for the laughs.

[mav52]

good info, MIT lost ya think