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I. Design and Performance:
Among the many enthusiastic responses we got from satisfied users of our Clearview AC Power Cord were a significant number of requests for a multiple outlet power strip version of our power cord (in other words, a high-end version of an extension cord). The main impediment of meeting these requests immediately was to find a 6 or 8 outlet strip made of a good-sounding dielectric and with good-sounding conductor strips. That proved difficult. We tested a number of beautifully constructed strips—all-metal housings, heavy-duty plastic housings, hospital grade, etc.—and they all sounded horrible, i.e. a major degradation from the good sound of our Clearview AC Power Cord. We even contemplated making our own custom-made wood-based multiple outlets (which would have added $100 to $150 to the cost). Finally we found our ideal, a 6-outlet strip, the one we're now using. Unusually enough, it uses a dielectric identical to that of the finest audiophile capacitors and uses the thinnest possible thickness of that good-sounding dielectric. Equally important, it uses unusually thin internal conductor strips, very much in line with our thin conductor philosophy to minimize skin effect.
The rest of the Clearview AC Power Strip is identical to the design of the Clearview AC Power Cord. The underlying concept of the power cord is as follows:
In the course of ten years of continuous experimentation in wire design, we have found that good speaker cable configurations invariably translate, with minor modifications, into good AC power cords. Given how pleased we were with the first-rate sound of the Golden Double Helix Speaker Cable, converting it to a power cord was an obvious next step. The results were a resounding success, more than we had hoped for.
The conductors of the Clearview AC Power Cord are identical to the speaker cable; the field canceling double helix configuration is also the same. The grounding scheme is a modified version of the speaker cable’s approach.
The AC wall plug we use was selected by ear. It sounds better than any of the standard audiophile "hospital grade" plugs, all of which have far too much mass of bad-sounding insulation near the conductors.
We have tested the Clearview AC Power Strip head-to-head against a number of high-end power conditioners including the Tice, the Chang Lightspeed, the PS Audio Power Station, the Monster and the API Power Wedge. We have done these tests under both the relatively clean AC power conditions of our rival Maryland recording studio and the very "dirty" power conditions of our downtown D.C. wire lab. At both locations the results were the same: the Clearview Power Strip simply sounded better than any of the power conditioners we tested, usually better by a sizable margin.
The Clearview AC Power Strip comes in both standard and Mark II versions (as does the AC Power Cord). The Mark II version adds two "outrigger ground wires 6" to either side of the two basic double helix power conductors. The sonic effect is a significant strengthening of the entire bass region up to the bottom of the midrange, plus a noticeable improvement in midrange and table transparency.
II. Installation Tips: DO NOT USE ANY BREAK-IN DEVICES OF ANY KIND ON OUR WIRES!
They will seriously degrade the sound. Use only music to break in our wires.
- Install with the two strands of the Double Helix at least 6" apart over most of the wire run, preferably one or two feet apart. We usually use thread, string or tape to suspend and separate the strands.
- Never lay this (or any other wire in your system) on a carpeted or plastic tile floor—nor along any plastic molding or plastic wall covering. The proximity of bad-sounding plastic dielectric will seriously degrade even the best cables.
- DO NOT PLACE THIS POWER STRIP WHERE IT WILL BE WALKED ON. DO NOT EXPOSE THE STRIP TO ABRASION FROM SHARP METAL EDGES. INTEGRAL TO THE GOOD-SOUNDING DESIGN OF THIS STRIP IS THE USE OF EVERY THIN DIELECTRIC COATING ON THE CONDUCTORS AND A THIN POLYMER PROTECTIVE SLEEVE. THESE DIELECTRICS HAVE MORE THAN ADEQUATE SAFETY MARGIN TO WITHSTAND POWER COMPANY VOLTAGE SURGES. THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND REPEATED ABRASION FROM BEING WALKED ON OR FROM RUBBING ON SHARP METAL EDGES.
- For Mark II versions of Power Strip, make sure the "outrigger" ground wires are spread at least 6" to the left and to the right of the double helix power conductors.
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