Caution concerning home generators
 

I don't know if anybody read of Mike Fremer's plight in Analog Corner in the previous two issues of Stereophile. If you have a high end system it is worth reading. I use a GE whole house generator and Transguard TG60 whole house surge protector. My generator system works perfectly and my sound improved after the installation. The Transguard has an ultrasonic filter and the transfer switch and generator does not introduce noise into the wiring of the house. Mike will have to employ a bypass switch and new fuse box to remove the generator and transfer switch from his high end system. Very expensive and leaves his system unprotected from massive power surges. When the power goes out his system has no power. Generator installation is very complex and can introduce tremendous noise into the wiring of your house if you are not careful. Had Mike not had such a high resolution low noise system his new generator would have worked "perfectly" I am sure.

Best

Charles

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I use three AQ Niagara 5000's for the amps.

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Black box is a Niagara 7000 for sources.

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Wow! This is a timely thread. Between now and June or so (start of hurricane season), a lot of whole-home stand-by generators are going to installed in homes on the South, Southeast and Gulf coasts- including mine! I would certainly appreciate it if those of you who have installed whole-house generators that did not create problems for your audio, or that did cause problems and you found solutions would share your insights so those of us just now starting on the generator journey can hopefully avoid Mr. Fremer’s unfortunate situation and costs, and enjoy a successful installation like Charles (even if it doesn’t otherwise elevate my system to the level of Charles’ incredible system.

Thank you for starting this thread, Charles.

Robert

:lurk:

There are many of us who do not agree with Mikey and his results. I have had my whole home back-up unit for several years now and there are no deleterious effects. Not under normal operating times when the unit is out of the loop, nor when it has automatically kicked in during a power outage.

I do not doubt that in certain circumstances, the presence and wiring of a whole house generator could affect SQ, but in mine, it had no effect on SQ. I do not play the rig when the generator is on, as I generally have other things to worry about if we are living off of a generator for an extended period of time. I have tested it a couple of times with the generator on though, and it sounded fine. Perhaps I just got lucky this time (which basically never happens to me in the audio world).

Jim, I feel for Mike. I'm fortunate and so is anyone who's installation went well. It is not something I would necessarily think about.

Best

Charles

I also have a whole-home with auto transfer switch and have had no problems. Frankly I wasn’t listening for a change in sound, but have not been aware of any degradation. I don’t of course have as resolving a system as Mikey does.

We are considering a whole house generator as well, and reading Fremer's pieces last month and this one have given a bit of pause to re-think, so this thread is very timely and I expect helpful as more of us chime in. Fremer did mention that the top-of-the-line PS Audio conditioner mostly solved the issue before the bypass will be installed, so if someone hears a difference, there is more than one way to skin the cat, although probably not a cheap solution. Thanks Charles!

My generator was working perfectly. There are many ways to wire a generator and I do not believe that not during power outages some generators are "out of the loop". The fellow that installed mine is an expert. Does nothing but generators. Ten years later I have his cell and we are good friends. I am sure mine would have worked perfectly but I wanted mine passing codes. Keep in mind not all codes inspectors are generator experts either. Before codes those trunks weren't there. There are different ways to wire a generator and different generators. Mine is a GE which is a very expensive GM V8 engine NG whole house generator. Most go with cheaper generators as did Mike. The final thing done to pass codes was the ground. Case was then closed.

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Generac 25KW stand-by generator for me. Zero sound degradation under normal circumstances. I do not use my system during an outage. I encourage anyone who is considering one to do it for peace of mind.