Have just purchased an Isotek Premium mains cable for my Densen cdp. I can only conclude, that it is a complete and utter waste of money. Dispite looking very chunky and serious it has absolutely no sonic benefits. Reading the forum convinced me that it was worth a try. However, after a few A/B tests with the supplied cable by Densen, if anything at all it is probably worse. Perhaps, very slightly it removes some of the detail from the music, although I cannot be totally sure. I will add, that in the past I have found speaker cable upgrades to be worthwhile, but interconnects, not usually so. I have Nordost for both of the latter, at considerablle expense.
Isotek mains cable?
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JoelSim:Send it back and get a Nordost Shiva.
Count to ten and consider your next move carefully.
It is quite likely that if you heard absolutely no difference then good news - you either have decent mains/ mains cables are foo/ you have cloth ears!
Any of the above options will save you a lot of money and disappointment. Don't pour good money after bad, save your money in this case for a real upgrade.
Count to ten and consider your next move carefully.
It is quite likely that if you heard absolutely no difference then good news - you either have decent mains/ mains cables are foo/ you have cloth ears!
Any of the above options will save you a lot of money and disappointment. Don't pour good money after bad, save your money in this case for a real upgrade.
I'm interested to know - why did you think you would hear a difference? The current is just passing down a length of copper wire and can't discriminate between the copper used by different brands. The copper most likely comes from the same wire drawing factories in any case. What you're paying for is the wrapping around the wire! The electricity then reaches the device that it's plugged into. There is a bunch of circuitry to go through in order to drive the device, which doesn't care where the electricity comes from and treats it all the same. How would the cable change the quality of the electricity that comes from the mains? And how would it maintain that difference within the device itself? And how would that make a sonic difference?
If you look at it logically, then there is no reason why a mains cable can make any difference, unless the one that comes with the device is damaged in the first place.
If you look at it logically, then there is no reason why a mains cable can make any difference, unless the one that comes with the device is damaged in the first place.
Judging by a few of "cable lover's" various comments on the forum - I guess you picked your name firmly with your tongue pressed in cheek!
Getting the general gist that you put no love in cabling what-so-ever ??!
Getting the general gist that you put no love in cabling what-so-ever ??!
nooooo ... it will never work unless you use a Marigo Labs 3D Stealth CD Mat aswell
buy one of these mats, try it with the mains cable then tell us what you think
buy one of these mats, try it with the mains cable then tell us what you think
do you connect the cable to the mat is that the idea
i know nothing of these things
anyone tried just listening to the music and not worrying about the peripherals
i know nothing of these things
anyone tried just listening to the music and not worrying about the peripherals
dim_span, why would I need the mains cabls as well? and I repeat, the supplied mains cable by Densen, if anything, sounds better that the Isotek. I fail to understand what the people at HIFI Choice were listening to when they reviewd it. How can I listen to hundreds of cables and find out all of their sonic differences. Remember, I started from the standpoint that I wanted the Isotek cable to sound better.
Hey! ... I'm just joking ... you dont need the mat but am dying to hear more reviews about the mat
My 30 yr old Pioneer amp will need a service soon and will upgrade the mains cable ... so always read these reviews with interest ...
I am sceptical if they make a difference, but my mains cable is looking old and tatty so will replace it
My 30 yr old Pioneer amp will need a service soon and will upgrade the mains cable ... so always read these reviews with interest ...
I am sceptical if they make a difference, but my mains cable is looking old and tatty so will replace it
Mains-cables in HiFi are a long-standing "Bone of Contention".
The most often heard argument against the use of special Mains-Cables
is that they cannot possibly make a difference after all these
miles of lousy cable all the way from the power-station.
And as usual, this is as much true as it is untrue. The long lines
are not that long (what matters is the Cable to the Transformer
feeding your house). In addition, much of the effects mains-cables
have can be traced back to RFI and noise-loops.
The cables that are supplied do indeed transmit the electricity in exactly the same way as expensive cables, after all they are only conductors (wont even go into cryogenics and supercondutors here), many of them do indeed also come with ferrite clamps at either end of the cable just after the wall plug and the IEC connector. Why do they fit ferrite clamps?? To reduce interference which is created by various outside forces, magnetism, computer chips, etc all have very noticable, and measurable effects on the household mains circuits.
When you buy an expensive cable you are paying for the research and the screening / shielding of the cable which "prevents" any RFI or outside pollution to varying degrees. You are also paying for better quality connections and usually hand made and tested with ten years gaurentees, unlike mass produced cables.
Yes, no doubt that the componants dont cost nearly the cost of the cable, but it is a business not a charity. Remember if you give a Chef a recipe, he will always insist on the best ingredients to make it taste "special", we all now this to be true as the same Chef with poor ingredients "Potatoes are potatoes" arguement would taste the difference. This too is not provable scientifically it just is.
IMO mains screening and shielding is AS important as the shielding of Speaker cables and interconnects.
The most often heard argument against the use of special Mains-Cables
is that they cannot possibly make a difference after all these
miles of lousy cable all the way from the power-station.
And as usual, this is as much true as it is untrue. The long lines
are not that long (what matters is the Cable to the Transformer
feeding your house). In addition, much of the effects mains-cables
have can be traced back to RFI and noise-loops.
The cables that are supplied do indeed transmit the electricity in exactly the same way as expensive cables, after all they are only conductors (wont even go into cryogenics and supercondutors here), many of them do indeed also come with ferrite clamps at either end of the cable just after the wall plug and the IEC connector. Why do they fit ferrite clamps?? To reduce interference which is created by various outside forces, magnetism, computer chips, etc all have very noticable, and measurable effects on the household mains circuits.
When you buy an expensive cable you are paying for the research and the screening / shielding of the cable which "prevents" any RFI or outside pollution to varying degrees. You are also paying for better quality connections and usually hand made and tested with ten years gaurentees, unlike mass produced cables.
Yes, no doubt that the componants dont cost nearly the cost of the cable, but it is a business not a charity. Remember if you give a Chef a recipe, he will always insist on the best ingredients to make it taste "special", we all now this to be true as the same Chef with poor ingredients "Potatoes are potatoes" arguement would taste the difference. This too is not provable scientifically it just is.
IMO mains screening and shielding is AS important as the shielding of Speaker cables and interconnects.
Alternately follow the maxim of 'the more you spend the greater the perceived difference'!
Go the whole hog and replace all your mains cables with Nordost Valhalla..
Go the whole hog and replace all your mains cables with Nordost Valhalla..
JoelSim:Those that haven't tried it shouldn't comment.
Unsure where you're aiming that but as the last poster let me be clear.
I have had the opportunity to try a range of mains cables and in my system, from my mains and to my ears I could not perceive a real difference, not to the same extent as say investing in more refined speaker cable.
I repeat as I posted earlier - the OP may be lucky in that his mains supply is pretty decent already, spending more would in those circumstances be better invested elsewhere..
Unsure where you're aiming that but as the last poster let me be clear.
I have had the opportunity to try a range of mains cables and in my system, from my mains and to my ears I could not perceive a real difference, not to the same extent as say investing in more refined speaker cable.
I repeat as I posted earlier - the OP may be lucky in that his mains supply is pretty decent already, spending more would in those circumstances be better invested elsewhere..
Funnily enough, the Nordost Shiva made the biggest difference of all the cable upgrades I've made including going from QED SA XT to Chord Odyssey.
There are two fairly delineated camps, those for whom mains cables make a difference, and those for who mains cables don't.
For whatever reason the experiences of both are very different! I tend to put it down to underlying mains quality but accept that its probably multi-factorial.
I'm not attempting to use this thread as a mains cabler denier, just making the point that its most unlikely that the OP will 'discover' a significant benefit from spending considerably more having already been disappointed.
It would be interesting if he had the opportunity to try out a valhalla type cable on loan etc, but I suspect on the weight of experience that it would be inconclusive and therefore not vfm. (in his case at least)
For whatever reason the experiences of both are very different! I tend to put it down to underlying mains quality but accept that its probably multi-factorial.
I'm not attempting to use this thread as a mains cabler denier, just making the point that its most unlikely that the OP will 'discover' a significant benefit from spending considerably more having already been disappointed.
It would be interesting if he had the opportunity to try out a valhalla type cable on loan etc, but I suspect on the weight of experience that it would be inconclusive and therefore not vfm. (in his case at least)
crimsondonkey:
There are two fairly delineated camps, those for whom mains cables make a difference, and those for who mains cables don't.
For whatever reason the experiences of both are very different! I tend to put it down to underlying mains quality but accept that its probably multi-factorial.
I'm not attempting to use this thread as a mains cabler denier, just making the point that its most unlikely that the OP will 'discover' a significant benefit from spending considerably more having already been disappointed.
It would be interesting if he had the opportunity to try out a valhalla type cable on loan etc, but I suspect on the weight of experience that it would be inconclusive and therefore not vfm. (in his case at least)
If it adds 5% to a system costing £500, a Valhalla is terrible VFM. If 5% to a system costing £20k then it's good VFM. In my case the benefits far exceeded the cost, it was like an upgraded CDP which would have cost me several hundred. As it was, it didn't cost anything like that and made a sound that I loved even better, far more air between instruments/3D sense.
There are two fairly delineated camps, those for whom mains cables make a difference, and those for who mains cables don't.
For whatever reason the experiences of both are very different! I tend to put it down to underlying mains quality but accept that its probably multi-factorial.
I'm not attempting to use this thread as a mains cabler denier, just making the point that its most unlikely that the OP will 'discover' a significant benefit from spending considerably more having already been disappointed.
It would be interesting if he had the opportunity to try out a valhalla type cable on loan etc, but I suspect on the weight of experience that it would be inconclusive and therefore not vfm. (in his case at least)
If it adds 5% to a system costing £500, a Valhalla is terrible VFM. If 5% to a system costing £20k then it's good VFM. In my case the benefits far exceeded the cost, it was like an upgraded CDP which would have cost me several hundred. As it was, it didn't cost anything like that and made a sound that I loved even better, far more air between instruments/3D sense.
Back to the OP, he was talking about a Densen CDP and couldn't detect a difference. In all likelihood for him it may be money better spent elsewhere (or kept in the bank!)
Importantly for me, was thw waste of money on the Isotek cable. How can so much time and money be spent on something so unnecessary. It would make some kind of sense if the supplied freebie cables wern't up to much. This, however, is clearly not thye case.
The 'premium' is only designed to be used with 'low wattage' devices (cd players etc)
I have one and I too think its a tad cr*p. The Isotek Elite however made quite a difference to my Arcam amp. The TM3s I have now have made the world of difference to my setup
I have one and I too think its a tad cr*p. The Isotek Elite however made quite a difference to my Arcam amp. The TM3s I have now have made the world of difference to my setup
JoelSim:Those that haven't tried it shouldn't comment.
all comments made by me are based on hundreds of comments which I have read on several forums by people who have tried different power cables .... in the UK, some say it makes a difference, but most say it does not (perhaps many who say it makes a 'subtle' difference are just trying to justify a good reason why they spent the money?)
I have bought a Tacima based on WHF ratings/review, and to be honest I find no difference at all on my system but was only £24 and I now have peace of mind that there is a form of protection ... some say it makes a massive difference on their system?
I will be sending my amp in for a full service/recap soon and will be purchasing a Nordost Shiva power cable (as promoted by you) ...The existing power cable on my amp is thin, tatty and 30 years old and can do with a replacement
The sad thing is that I will never know if the Shiva makes any difference on my amp, as the whole amp will be refurbished at the same time ...
all comments made by me are based on hundreds of comments which I have read on several forums by people who have tried different power cables .... in the UK, some say it makes a difference, but most say it does not (perhaps many who say it makes a 'subtle' difference are just trying to justify a good reason why they spent the money?)
I have bought a Tacima based on WHF ratings/review, and to be honest I find no difference at all on my system but was only £24 and I now have peace of mind that there is a form of protection ... some say it makes a massive difference on their system?
I will be sending my amp in for a full service/recap soon and will be purchasing a Nordost Shiva power cable (as promoted by you) ...The existing power cable on my amp is thin, tatty and 30 years old and can do with a replacement
The sad thing is that I will never know if the Shiva makes any difference on my amp, as the whole amp will be refurbished at the same time ...
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