Yes, Chebby mentioned a Mains conditioning block that WHF had reviewed very favorably, I cant find the reference, however as a skeptic over mains cable making any difference but the review, a price tag of £28, and it seems I'm on a roll with some real quality improvements I have been making to my system recently, 'I pressed the commit to buy' button. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tacima-CS929-6-Way-UK-Mains-Conditioner-and-RFI-Filter-Surge-NEW-/130733298966?ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:GB:3160 The 6 socket block arrived the other day, still skeptical, I plugged the system in, let everything warm up for an hour or so. I am sold, it works, detail, air, extra information, its all there, and all for £28, compared with the price for fancy mains cable I'm a happy, bunny. Thanks Chebby. CJSF
Chebby mentioned it . . .
- Thread starter CJSF
- Start date
plastic penguin
Well-known member
Great to hear about your findings CJSF. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical of these types of products but hearing is believing. The Tacima is a bargain. The mains conditioner that I use effectively filters both high and low frequency noise and the system sounds cleaner and more open.
Frank Harvey
Well-known member
edplaysdrums42
Well-known member
Covenanter
Well-known member
It's the one I bought too. Did nothing for me.
Chris
PS It may well be filtering out unwanted mains noise as I don't get any of that and if so it was worth the money.
Chris
PS It may well be filtering out unwanted mains noise as I don't get any of that and if so it was worth the money.
Sospri said:
In my case, I have to disagree . . . 8) Are you saying WHF did not get it right in their review?
As has been mentioned 'hearing is believing' . . . :dance:
CJSF
Thats fine CJ if you " think" that you hear an improvment.
I am just reminding people and new members what is industry wide advice.............
I am just reminding people and new members what is industry wide advice.............
Covenanter
Well-known member
edplaysdrums42
Well-known member
Covenanter said:
Same here, pre and power not plugged into the Tacima and made no difference. If using it with your power amp strangles it then i dont see much point? Then again if it works for you (or not) you haven't lost too much cash.
CJSF said:
It's not a mains cable though, it's a conditioner that's doing something beyond moving the current from A to B. Some people have 'noisy' mains affected by things like fridge freezers. Therefore, a conditioner might have some benefit in some situations of which yours might be one. Someone who has had a full rewire in the recent past won't have 'noisy' applicances on the same ring as their hifi in most cases so the product can't do anything for them.
Frank Harvey
Well-known member
MakkaPakka said:
Yes MakkaPakka, that was a general statement, of my sceptical view regarding 'mains' . . . In my case a 150 year old cottage, rewired about 20 years ago. The mains conditioner mighte be advantagouse as you sugest?
CJSF
I won't pretend to be an electrician or to understand it all but the regulations change constantly so your wiring is probably a lot different to mine which is only a few years old and has everything on separate rings with all sorts of isolation for safety. Mains hum can definitely happen and I've seen some people have audible issues when a thermostat kicks in (and fixed them by using ferrite clamps on cables). I guess a mains conditioner is a bit like hair conditioner - I'd only use it if I thought there was something wrong that needed fixing. Both hair and mains seem in good order so I don't bother.
CJSF said:
Perhaps not, much like their review of Van den Hul's "The Name" cable. And as for ears....
http://zaphaudio.com/evaluation.html
plastic penguin
Well-known member
chebby said:After it spent years in the cupboard I started using the Tacima again a few months ago.
However, my minimalist tendencies kicked in again.
The two unused sockets, the length of the flex and the size and colour of the thing bugged me, so it went back in the cupboard and I bought a white Duraplug/MK 4-way extension...
I shortened it's flex to 1 metre and fitted an old MK Toughplug (the one with the old style screw down clamps that gripped the whole length of exposed copper evenly rather than just a bit of it like the more recent version.)
It's much smaller and neater than the old Tacima (and it's white) and it only has the necessary 4 'gangs' for TV, Blu-ray, PVR and Marantz.
I have not noticed any difference in performance but it looks much nicer
Is it the same as this one?
iceman16
Well-known member
Well now, lots of negative coments . . . to which you are entitled.
I've just spent 3 hours serching for the power amp problem we have been warned against. Thats a couple of hours warming everything up, then three hours of listening at a good volume. Everything from my favourit 50's and 60's Spotify offerings, some very special vinyl I have from the 70's and 80's and some of my favourit CD's ranging from rock through classical to opera.
Spotify has never sounded so good, and I mean 'good', vinyl is simply devine, with control over the base line like I have never experianced befor. CD is variable depending on the track or disc, but still sounds OK.
So, where the problem comes with power amps I dont know, my systeim is at the top of its game. Consiting of, Spotify from the PC via a HRT DAC, the TT, a much modified P5 with Sumiko Celebration MC cartridge. Amps, all valve Icoms, PS1 phono stage, Stereo 40 MKlll intigrated, running in triod mode driving a pair circa 1990 PMC LB1 speakers, not the most efficient at 87ohm.
That system is sounding like a million dollars to me complete with the chepo mains conditioner. Beleive me if it was not sounding right I would not put up with it.
CJSF
I've just spent 3 hours serching for the power amp problem we have been warned against. Thats a couple of hours warming everything up, then three hours of listening at a good volume. Everything from my favourit 50's and 60's Spotify offerings, some very special vinyl I have from the 70's and 80's and some of my favourit CD's ranging from rock through classical to opera.
Spotify has never sounded so good, and I mean 'good', vinyl is simply devine, with control over the base line like I have never experianced befor. CD is variable depending on the track or disc, but still sounds OK.
So, where the problem comes with power amps I dont know, my systeim is at the top of its game. Consiting of, Spotify from the PC via a HRT DAC, the TT, a much modified P5 with Sumiko Celebration MC cartridge. Amps, all valve Icoms, PS1 phono stage, Stereo 40 MKlll intigrated, running in triod mode driving a pair circa 1990 PMC LB1 speakers, not the most efficient at 87ohm.
That system is sounding like a million dollars to me complete with the chepo mains conditioner. Beleive me if it was not sounding right I would not put up with it.
CJSF
BigH
Well-known member
BigH said:CJSF said:
Sounds more like tennis than music
Yep, you need precision control there as well . . .
CJSF said:
Hi CJ, I have too much respect for your ability to understand what you are hearing, so I will pass on my experience......which was that my amp definitely sounded less dynamic through it. That does not mean that the same thing is happening to you.
I would advise letting it sit as is for a couple of weeks, and then try with the power amps plugged into the wall (if that's possible), but leave the rest plugged into it. If the sound is then worse, then you will know for definite. I know of people who thought that it initially sounded better, but on changing back, realized that there was now more "life" injected into the music.
CnoEvil said:
Thanks Cno, just what I am doing, all plugs wiring etc., is laying in place to revert if I feel the need?
Cant see the need but this one is much more complicated, and delicat. The level one is at means that at some points there differances, not better or worse, so one has to be patient, think and listen . . . I cant see the need arising, the changes (dont forget the mods I have been doing to the TT recently) have all gon positive in the way I wanted them. One or two are things I have been changes I have been striving for for a long time and not quite made it, the system was not quite there. I believe it is there now, the next rung on the ladder, making some improvements very meaningful to me. For me now, any further changes are gong to be expensive and radical . . . :?
Open minded as always but not realy seeing any need to retracing steps?
CJSF
CJSF said:
That's fine by me, but it would be remiss of me not to pass on my findings. IME. Any circuitry put between the wall socket and the power amp can restrict current......it's why conditioners that can handle high current amps are often so expensive.
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