1st impressions of balanced mains supply

[aliEnRIK]

A few of you might be interested in my initial usage of a 3kw balanced mains transformer I recently bought

1st up, the bad ~

They initially sent the unit without sockets or a lead. Id paid extra for sockets so that was definitely going back. Then they sent me the unit I have now, minus a mains lead (Which was initially put as a 1meter lead on the site but has now been removed and simply says '3 pin plug input')

Im not bothered as 1 meter wasnt long enough for what I wanted and it was simply a case of wiring the live, neutral and earth wires to the block on the transformer which anyone could do

At 24kg its pretty heavy (Not a bad thing in my book, but some people probably couldnt accomodate such a unit), and the enclosure is big and industrial looking (Again, doesnt bother me, but many would be put off)

It also 'hums' in use. I exected this but im also expecting it to get a little quieter with use. When I 1st powered it up I could barely hear the hum. After a few hours it got worse and worse, but seems to be getting lesser again.

Now the pros ~

This unit is AWESOME.

Whats really impressive is my tv is already connected through an Isotek Mira mains conditioner, so I wasnt expecting much for viewing. But its made one hell of a difference to my sony W5500. Watching dvds and blurays my sharpness setting was at 'three' to look a its best. Ive now had to turn this to 'zero', as I have for freeview viewing and indeed all viewing. SD pictures in particular look far more 'three-dimensional' and detailed than they did without the unit

The same can be said for music and movies. All my kit goes through an Isotek Sigmas mains conditioner, so again, wasnt expecting massive results. But detail, especially bass detail, is beautiful. Everything sounds so much more detailed and natural. Voices in particular can sound stunning.

The fact it seems to be getting better with usage, I couldnt be happier with [😀]

If anyone, like I was, is toying with the idea of trying out balanced mains - I have to say GO FOR IT (especially if mains conditioners have made a definite 'difference' to your system).

 

[Anonymous]

Pleased that your initial impressions are good. As the unit burns in the hum should settle down further.

Solid improvements that take your set up onto a higher level, enjoy!

 

[ESP2009]

Go on, I have to ask: just what is involved in the purchase and installation of such a beastie?

 

[chudleighpaul]

If the unit has a transformer in it then the hum may never go completely, is it possible to house it in a cupboard to sheild the sound?

 

[markyd]

Isnt it just one big toroidial transformer?

What make is it and how much did you pay?

 

[aliEnRIK]

trevor79:Pleased that your initial impressions are good. As the unit burns in the hum should settle down further.

Solid improvements that take your set up onto a higher level, enjoy!

Cheers Trev

Cost of unit was 430 quid (ish) delivered, but you can get smaller powered units (I required a large transformer due to all my equipment).

Im going to fit mine inside the cupboard with the electric meter I think. You can also buy a unit to wire directly to the mains on a dedicated spur if you want (Which I might do with mine in time, simply take off the mains lead and connect direct)

My unit doesnt have mains conditioning, its simply a balanced mains transformer, which by its very design will filter out most RFI anyways. Ive yet to do serious tests, and it probably needs quite a bit of running in yet. But I took my power amp out of my isotek Sigmas conditioner and plugged direct into the unit to see what difference it made. There was a drop in quailty so it seems conditioning does help (at least in my case). That said, the balanced transformer does an excellent job of removing RFI, probably better than my Isotek conditioners. But they do work better together in my set up

You can buy a 2kv unit with mains conditioning built in. But as I cant compare I dont know how well it works (Plus id much rather keep a hold of my sigmas anyways)

A guy called Chris on here has one of the conditoning units (cant remember which size he bought), so he might be able to help with that.

 

[chebby]

This one?....

(It's 24kg)

 

[Anonymous]

After a couple of weeks with mine I have found that the hum has decreased a bit but it's still noticable. I agree about the overall finding it definately makes a worthwhile difference and the clarity and resolution of individual instruments and voices is excellent.

I've discovered I still have one problem though and tonight I have been able to prove a theory I have. My equipment has still often sounded better at 4am even with this transformer and Isotek unit and even with a recently acquired Tacima unit. On the other side of the wall my neighbour has either an LCD or plasma tv which is often on well into the night. He's out at the moment and my system sounds great. I can't really move my system elswhere to avoid whatever effect his TV is having and I wonder is my house wiring picking it up so it wouldn't matter where I put the equipment anyway or is it radiating into the equipment. The mains cables feeding my equipment are QED and feeding the Transformer is an Isotek sheilded cable. Has anyone else had to deal with a problem like this?

 

[aliEnRIK]

chebby:
This one?....

(It's 24kg)

Same place, and technically 'should' be that one. But mine looks a little different as it has bigger isolation switches so they had to move the sockets to compensate

 

[aliEnRIK]

chris_t:
After a couple of weeks with mine I have found that the hum has decreased a bit but it's still noticable. I agree about the overall finding it definately makes a worthwhile difference and the clarity and resolution of individual instruments and voices is excellent.

I've discovered I still have one problem though and tonight I have been able to prove a theory I have. My equipment has still often sounded better at 4am even with this transformer and Isotek unit and even with a recently acquired Tacima unit. On the other side of the wall my neighbour has either an LCD or plasma tv which is often on well into the night. He's out at the moment and my system sounds great. I can't really move my system elswhere to avoid whatever effect his TV is having and I wonder is my house wiring picking it up so it wouldn't matter where I put the equipment anyway or is it radiating into the equipment. The mains cables feeding my equipment are QED and feeding the Transformer is an Isotek sheilded cable. Has anyone else had to deal with a problem like this?

Sounds like airbourne EMI to me
Id be looking at well shielded cabling (especially shielded mains cables, or braided mains cables which is generally what I use)

 

[Anonymous]

The Isotek cable is braided and I thought the QED was at least shielded. I've been putting ferrite rings over other cables which are pretty well shielded anyway. The Tacima supply cable is apparently shielded. Apart from wrapping the whole system in baco-foil and earthing it I'm not sure what to do next. The cable behind the sockets would be tricky to replace and I would have thought the transformer and the Isotek or Tacima units would have cleaned that problem up anyway.

Maybe it just means sleeping during the day and listening at night

 

[aliEnRIK]

Is the tv etc connected to the same system? Try removing the aerial lead to see if that helps