Amp sounds worse plugged into mains conditioner?

[Native_bon]

Mains conditioners will always be system based.I have tried a few and seems to give me a negative effect as per the sound. On source players it's a hit and miss. I upgraded my power supply for my 2qute dac to a linear power one and really improved the sq.

If you got a system that warrants a mini transformer in your system then that's fine, and can get very expensive. Apart from that cheaper conditioners always made my Amp sound worse. Its Amp direct to outlet where possible. This has been my experience.

 

[britain4]

Mains conditioners will always be system based.I have tried a few and seems to give me a negative effect as per the sound. On source players it's a hit and miss. I upgraded my power supply for my 2qute dac to a linear power one and really improved the sq.

If you got a system that warrants a mini transformer in your system then that's fine, and can get very expensive. Apart from that cheaper conditioners always made my Amp sound worse. Its Amp direct to outlet where possible. This has been my experience.

I think in my system - perhaps due to being an older less sophisticated amp design? - it may be a case of the benefits of the conditioner outweighing the drawbacks for me. Don't know if by "cheaper" you mean Tacimas etc or the sort of level of my Copperline Alpha. I do wish to fit a passive mains conditioner inside the amp and then plug it into the wall - which should hopefully provide the benefits of mains conditioning without the drawbacks.

 

[ellisdj]

I dont think the benefit will be system dependent it be human dependent whether you appreciate what its doing or not

 

[Native_bon]

Mains conditioners will always be system based.I have tried a few and seems to give me a negative effect as per the sound. On source players it's a hit and miss. I upgraded my power supply for my 2qute dac to a linear power one and really improved the sq.

If you got a system that warrants a mini transformer in your system then that's fine, and can get very expensive. Apart from that cheaper conditioners always made my Amp sound worse. Its Amp direct to outlet where possible. This has been my experience.

I think in my system - perhaps due to being an older less sophisticated amp design? - it may be a case of the benefits of the conditioner outweighing the drawbacks for me. Don't know if by "cheaper" you mean Tacimas etc or the sort of level of my Copperline Alpha. I do wish to fit a passive mains conditioner inside the amp and then plug it into the wall - which should hopefully provide the benefits of mains conditioning without the drawbacks. 

May be did not word it correctly. I meant it's hard to do mains conditioning for an amp on the cheap.

Trying it your way may give an improved to SQ. Changing the sound is easy, improving it is all together a different story.

 

[grimharry]

my destiny cdp has an indbuilt filter but the amp hasn’t which would suggest that creek don’t agree with filters/ conditioners on amps

 

[britain4]

Mains conditioners will always be system based.I have tried a few and seems to give me a negative effect as per the sound. On source players it's a hit and miss. I upgraded my power supply for my 2qute dac to a linear power one and really improved the sq.

If you got a system that warrants a mini transformer in your system then that's fine, and can get very expensive. Apart from that cheaper conditioners always made my Amp sound worse. Its Amp direct to outlet where possible. This has been my experience.

I think in my system - perhaps due to being an older less sophisticated amp design? - it may be a case of the benefits of the conditioner outweighing the drawbacks for me. Don't know if by "cheaper" you mean Tacimas etc or the sort of level of my Copperline Alpha. I do wish to fit a passive mains conditioner inside the amp and then plug it into the wall - which should hopefully provide the benefits of mains conditioning without the drawbacks.

May be did not word it correctly. I meant it's hard to do mains conditioning for an amp on the cheap.

Trying it your way may give an improved to SQ. Changing the sound is easy, improving it is all together a different story.

Yes got you. Still when you say cheap are you referring to Tacima level or mains conditioners working in series with the mains supply in general?

I'd like to try it, only one way to find out. The Russ Andrews "DIY Silencer" is just one of his Isoplug type Silencers in a box with 3 leads sticking out of it. I sniped my Isoplug for £7 on ebay... shame I can't find another for that price and fit its innards inside the amp. Wonder if his DIY stuff is covered by the returns policy as long as I don't solder anything (IEC socket has screw terminals on it).

 

[ellisdj]

Audioquest Niagra 1000 or Isotek Aquarius both seem good products for the money - neither are cheap but not the insane levels these products do go up to.

For the amp alone the Isotek Titan One would be a good choice, I really like the idea of one product for one product

 

[britain4]

Wow they do look nice for someone with the budget for it. I have to get creative to get what I want to achieve, which is fine because I'm a DIY type of person anyway

I might even crack my Isoplug open and build the circuit up on some stripboard and fit it into the amp that way, or use it to build another plug, or both... there’s only 5 components in there on the circuit board so that should be achievable

 

[britain4]

For all you DIYers out there - you might find this page interesting - http://www.dms-audio.com/article-list

I have also found how to build an Isoplug clone and Russ Andrews Zapperator clones for your speakers , can fill you in if anyone’s interested!

 

[nick8858]

Do us a favour! Snake oil at its worst

 

[britain4]

Maybe so, certainly overpriced if nothing else. Personally I believe his stuff might work and could conceivably make a tiny difference (his Silencer is exactly the same circuitry as an Isoplug etc after all) but there is an extra zero on the end of what every item is worth... well north of £100 for each small “tweak” just consisting of a couple of passive components in a project box...

The “Megaclamp” for example uses varistors which do exactly what RA says it will but the problem is the few parts inside cost about 10p a piece!

 

[nick8858]

Much more eloquently put than me! I like the bit about the extra zero on his prices!

 

[Native_bon]

Grahams Hi-fi in London reckon Russ Andrew knows what his doing, and his stuff is very effective. Make what you think of that.

 

[SemiChronic]

The WHF review of the Tacima is the exact opposite of what i experienced. Weird

 

[britain4]

:biggrin:

Grahams Hi-fi in London reckon Russ Andrew knows what his doing, and his stuff is very effective. Make what you think of that.

Oh I think he knows exactly what he’s doing *biggrin*

No I don’t doubt he sells, and has developed some good products, just that they are at their core very very simple and could only provide tiny improvements relative to their cost.

It is weird the science behind these things... only way is to try it out in your own system with your own mains supply. Is that with the whole system connected or did you leave the amp off?

 

[Native_bon]

:biggrin:

Grahams Hi-fi in London reckon Russ Andrew knows what his doing, and his stuff is very effective. Make what you think of that.

Oh I think he knows exactly what he’s doing *biggrin*

No I don’t doubt he sells, and has developed some good products, just that they are at their core very very simple and could only provide tiny improvements relative to their cost.

It is weird the science behind these things... only way is to try it out in your own system with your own mains supply. Is that with the whole system connected or did you leave the amp off?

]I'll tell you what happen to me in the pass. Many years ago i bought Russ andrews Yellow power extension block & cables for all items in my system. Then I had a Yamaha av processor & a Yahama 2 channel amp working in conjuction with the av amp & some mission speakers. Tried the yellow power block & cable for 3weeks & thought this sounds really good. Then decided that I move up the Russ anderws cable grade after 6 months. I then bought the power Block which had so much packed into it. My My, wrong move. It sucked the life out of the system. Bass depth was gone. Dynamics was squashed, the sound was soft warn & thin in mid range and treble.

So i rang up Russ Andrews & was told to give it more time. The sound never really got better, by this time 4 weeks has gone by & I gave my yellow cables to a friend.

I returned the power block & all cables, thank goodness for the 60day return period. Since then I have tried a lot of cables but they just seem to make my system sound worse. Currently my amp is connected to the Grahams Hifi extension block. Its as soild as it gets. No gimmicks just straight extension block. The only mains cable in my system now is the Black Rhodium Cratos cable. On my amp & Oppo player.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

IMO. The Amp Manufacturers highlight the problem. The brands of conditioners try to mitigate it.....which is usually expensive for power hungry components. My experience is that conditioners often make the sound worse for amps, unless very well designed and expensive.

It's only my experience...and I'm happy for others to give a different POV. It's important that both sides of the debate get aired.

yes I’m probably in that camp. Expensive. And a conditioner makes a good difference (isol 8, minisub axis), not that I invested yet but probably will. Others may have views on whether my system any good and ‘taking a view’, but whether any experience?

but it always comes down to ones own individual experiences, as to whether worth it, so as always what’s the ‘great hi Fi ‘ debate about? Is it worth it? I realise I’m perhaps eroding my own argument for contributing here......but hey ho. Such is how this always goes round in circles.

 

[Oldphrt]

It's probably best to avoid products that can't make a difference, like anything on the mains, and concentrate on things that can make a difference.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

It's probably best to avoid products that can't make a difference, like anything on the mains, and concentrate on things that can make a difference.

only in yours maybe but not in others.....

 

[Andrewjvt]

It's probably best to avoid products that can't make a difference, like anything on the mains, and concentrate on things that can make a difference.

only in yours maybe but not in others.....

Lol and a big lmao
You tell him good quest