Mains cable extentions

[Reggie Mental]

I use the Tacima CS929 for my pre and CD player only, i find if i plug my power amp in it strangles the sound and dynamics, so so that goes straight into the wall socket.

How much difference it will make depends how dirty your mains are in the first place.

To those asking why it would make a difference it's not the cable it's the built in filter that counts.... :wall:

Providing the filter is low resistance it will make no difference, if it wasn't it would have to dissipate any power drop as heat and catch fire, as I explained earlier.

That's not to say it wouldn't filter mains interference like clicks and pops. It just can't affect sound quality per se.

 

[Reggie Mental]

According to WHF review of theTacima block;

"We've said it before, and by heaven we're going to say it again. Don't expect to get the very best out of the lovely, expensive hi-fi equipment you've bought if you don't pay equal attention to the quality of the mains supply it has to work with. And this product, Tacima's fine-value CS929, perfectly illustrates the benefits even a modest outlay can achieve.

This six-way mains conditioner delivers truly dramatic audio gains. Comparing its performance to the ‘unconditioned' sound, our reference CD/amp system enjoys greater separation and focus of sound, and greater clarity and confidence in the midrange. Bass is burlier and better integrated, too.

In a nutshell? It really does work, and is well worth the week's beer money it costs. This product really is a no-brainer."

Surely they know what they're talking about? :rofl:

It's why I don't rely on their reviews alone.

 

[Reggie Mental]

I don't know where these peculiar ideas originate, but let me assure you that is not the case. In order for the Tacima to do that it would need to cause a significant voltage drop in the circuit and then it would catch fire.

I heard restricted dynamics with my amp plugged into the Tacima, which was a pity, because i really wanted a cheap solution.

I now don't believe conditioning can be done cheaply and well, especially with power hungry kit.........probably for the reasons described by Bryston here: http://www.audiorevelation.com/cre/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=175&products_id=1308&osCsid=r2ho7044g1i68047jp44ors5f5

I

Generally our mains quallty is pretty good, You worry too much and then imagine all sorts.

 

[Reggie Mental]

Why WOULD a mains cable matter ?

If it's Mains Cable Extensions you are talking about, the following factors "may" effect performance:

- Whether it's star wired / star earthed or Daisy Chained.

- EMI / RFI rejection

- Quality of connectors / sockets

- How (if) surge protection is implemented

- How well (if) conditioning / active circuitry is designed

- Quality of conductor

On the other hand, it may all be snake oil to fool the gullible.

A quality socket with a surge limiter is a good idea anyway.

 

[chebby]

I have been furtling around in the cupboard under the stairs and found my old Tacima CS929 that I used a long time ago (5 years) with an Arcam Solo-Mini system.

I thought I might have thrown it away, or given it to a friend, but decided to be sure and had a look in my hi-fi 'stash' cupboard.

So I might give it another go with my current system when I spring-clean the living room this week.

 

[CnoEvil]

Generally our mains quallty is pretty good, You worry too much and then imagine all sorts.

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination........... :twisted:

I have tried a variety of conditioners, extention blocks, power regenerators and balanced mains transformers........some improved the sound, some made no difference and some made things sound worse.

I have generally found that balanced mains transformers work best.

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

 

[Reggie Mental]

Generally our mains quallty is pretty good, You worry too much and then imagine all sorts.

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination........... :twisted:

I have tried a variety of conditioners, extention blocks, power regenerators and balanced mains transformers........some improved the sound, some made no difference and some made things sound worse.

I have generally found that balanced mains transformers work best.

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

Sorry but this is nonsense. Your equipment has all traces of the original mains AC removed in the power supplies.

 

[CnoEvil]

Generally our mains quallty is pretty good, You worry too much and then imagine all sorts.

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination........... :twisted:

I have tried a variety of conditioners, extention blocks, power regenerators and balanced mains transformers........some improved the sound, some made no difference and some made things sound worse.

I have generally found that balanced mains transformers work best.

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

Sorry but this is nonsense. Your equipment has all traces of the original mains AC removed in the power supplies.

Have you actually tried any such devices, and if so, which ones?

 

[Reggie Mental]

Generally our mains quallty is pretty good, You worry too much and then imagine all sorts.

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination........... :twisted:

I have tried a variety of conditioners, extention blocks, power regenerators and balanced mains transformers........some improved the sound, some made no difference and some made things sound worse.

I have generally found that balanced mains transformers work best.

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

Sorry but this is nonsense. Your equipment has all traces of the original mains AC removed in the power supplies.

Have you actually tried any such devices, and if so, which ones?

Of course. I wouldn't be able to use my stuff if it wasn't plugged in. :dance:

 

[CnoEvil]

Of course. I wouldn't be able to use my stuff if it wasn't plugged in. :dance:

I take it, that's a "no" then.

 

[Reggie Mental]

Of course. I wouldn't be able to use my stuff if it wasn't plugged in. :dance:

I take it, that's a "no" then.

I have a Belkin surge limiting socket strip. Everything receives a good dollop of mains and responds accordingly. OK?

 

[Alantiggger]

What IS the list of the hi-fi and home-cinema "buys" that are actually snake oil that folk fall for at all... wires (all sorts), leads, boxes etc ?

 

[pauln]

What IS the list of the hi-fi and home-cinema "buys" that are actually snake oil that folk fall for at all... wires (all sorts), leads, boxes etc ?

This takes the prize for me:

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

Closely followed by this:

http://www.shunyata.com/content/products-DarkField2.html

Fools and their money...

 

[Alantiggger]

LOLZ, Are these for real then ?

Are these in the same "stable" as speaker wires and cables ... or ARE there differences ? :?

 

[pauln]

Sadly yes, it seems that some people are taken in by these things. But then how many people spend a small fortune on 'hair restorer' or 'anti wrinkle cream'? Its not just hifi and it seems to me that it's a trait in many many people that they, in the words of Fox Mulder from the X Files, "want to believe."

What humans 'hear' depends on how the brain interprets information from your eyes as well as your ears. Have a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0

What you 'hear' also depends a lot upon your mood and your expectations.

Our ears are not reliable 'instruments' by any stretch of the imagination. Those audiophiles who say "trust your ears" rather than believe in measurements are deceiving themselves.

 

[davidpr]

What IS the list of the hi-fi and home-cinema "buys" that are actually snake oil that folk fall for at all... wires (all sorts), leads, boxes etc ?

This takes the prize for me:

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

Closely followed by this:

http://www.shunyata.com/content/products-DarkField2.html

Fools and their money...

Interesting but are the crystal packs directional?

 

[Covenanter]

I have the Tacima and as I have posted before I have blind tested it (my concierge doing the swapping). I could detect absolutely no difference at all. It's quite cheap though so it's not a bad investment for keeping out clicks and pops.

Chris

PS I bought it because my dealer said it would make a difference although they didn't sell them.

 

[CnoEvil]

I have the Tacima and as I have posted before I have blind tested it (my concierge doing the swapping). I could detect absolutely no difference at all. It's quite cheap though so it's not a bad investment for keeping out clicks and pops.

Chris

PS I bought it because my dealer said it would make a difference although they didn't sell them.

Whether you will hear a difference, depends on how dirty your power is, how well your kit's power supply deals with contaminated mains, and whether the current that your amp draws on dynamic peaks exceeds what the filter / conditioner will allow.

It's why this sort of thing is situation and equipment dependent.

The best vfm upgrade is having a separate ring main for the hifi and making sure that the Earthing is optimized.

 

[chebby]

I have been furtling around in the cupboard under the stairs and found my old Tacima CS929 that I used a long time ago (5 years) with an Arcam Solo-Mini system.

I thought I might have thrown it away, or given it to a friend, but decided to be sure and had a look in my hi-fi 'stash' cupboard.

So I might give it another go with my current system when I spring-clean the living room this week.

I decided to spend a couple of hours this morning dismantling the TV/Humax/BDP/hi-fi/speakers etc. then washed, hoovered, polished behind and under the AV unit. Cleaned all the cables and reconnected everything with the old Tacima CS929 instead of my usual MK/Duraplug extension bar.

Sat down with a cup of tea. That's one job removed from the living room spring clean schedule.

The system sounded excellent. Of course it did. I was satisfied with getting 2 hours of dismantling/cleaning/remantling out of the way. Every single connection had been re-made and my cables have all gone back in a tidier fashion.

It sounded better in the way a freshly serviced and cleaned car feels better. (As in the car is probably functioning just as well as before it's servicing and clean but the driver feels happier with it.)

So, probably no seperate changes to PQ or SQ due to the Tacima in and of itself.

Anyway, it was free to try (already in the cupboard) and it hasn't actually made anything worse, so it stays.

 

[Reggie Mental]

I have the Tacima and as I have posted before I have blind tested it (my concierge doing the swapping). I could detect absolutely no difference at all. It's quite cheap though so it's not a bad investment for keeping out clicks and pops.

Chris

PS I bought it because my dealer said it would make a difference although they didn't sell them.

Whether you will hear a difference, depends on how dirty your power is, how well your kit's power supply deals with contaminated mains, and whether the current that your amp draws on dynamic peaks exceeds what the filter / conditioner will allow.

It's why this sort of thing is situation and equipment dependent.

The best vfm upgrade is having a separate ring main for the hifi and making sure that the Earthing is optimized.

More misconceptions.A hi-fi amplifier that doesn't remove all traces of the incoming AC will hum, and if it does that it will also remove any nasties on the waveform. Theoretically RF could be radiated from the speaker or mains wires into the input stages, but the RF field would have to be strong to do that. We've all heard the noises that mobile phones make through amplifiers, that is an example.

The AC supply doesn't need to supply peaks, only the average power. Current peaks are handled by the reservor capacitors. In any case any sag will always be in the transformer, not in the mains. That is unless you use ridiculously thin and underrated wire to connect it, in which case we are talking about a safety issue.

If the earthing of a ring main isn't "optimised", whatever that means, it's dangerous. The earthing system is all about safety. Even if it wasn't it will have zilch effect on the performance of most connected electronic equipment which tends to be double insulated these days.

 

[the record spot]

What IS the list of the hi-fi and home-cinema "buys" that are actually snake oil that folk fall for at all... wires (all sorts), leads, boxes etc ?

My own personal favourite is the Shakti Innovations Hallograph....

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm

And re: the OP question, I use standard unbranded Masterplug 6-socket extension leads.

 

[CnoEvil]

More misconceptions.A hi-fi amplifier that doesn't remove all traces of the incoming AC will hum, and if it does that it will also remove any nasties on the waveform. Theoretically RF could be radiated from the speaker or mains wires into the input stages, but the RF field would have to be strong to do that. We've all heard the noises that mobile phones make through amplifiers, that is an example.

The AC supply doesn't need to supply peaks, only the average power. Current peaks are handled by the reservor capacitors. In any case any sag will always be in the transformer, not in the mains. That is unless you use ridiculously thin and underrated wire to connect it, in which case we are talking about a safety issue.

If the earthing of a ring main isn't "optimised", whatever that means, it's dangerous. The eathing system is all about safety. Even if it wasn't it will have zilch effect on the performance of most connected electronic equipment which tends to be double insulated these days.

I will quote some of the sparkies on here, who know better than I -

Post 9 here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/earth-terminal-on-mains-sockets

Post 5 here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/dedicated-spur-mains-nirvana

Check the 2 links in post 6: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/mains-re-wire

and experiences of another member here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/amazing-mains-upgrade

 

[MUSICRAFT]

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination...........

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

Hi CnE

Atm i am worried to hear that there is no after market mains product between the mains plugs of your components and the wall

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Reggie Mental]

Reggie Mental wrote:
More misconceptions.A hi-fi amplifier that doesn't remove all traces of the incoming AC will hum, and if it does that it will also remove any nasties on the waveform. Theoretically RF could be radiated from the speaker or mains wires into the input stages, but the RF field would have to be strong to do that. We've all heard the noises that mobile phones make through amplifiers, that is an example.

The AC supply doesn't need to supply peaks, only the average power. Current peaks are handled by the reservor capacitors. In any case any sag will always be in the transformer, not in the mains. That is unless you use ridiculously thin and underrated wire to connect it, in which case we are talking about a safety issue.

If the earthing of a ring main isn't "optimised", whatever that means, it's dangerous. The eathing system is all about safety. Even if it wasn't it will have zilch effect on the performance of most connected electronic equipment which tends to be double insulated these days.

"I will quote some of the sparkies on here, who know better than I -

Post 9 here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/earth-terminal-on-mains-sockets

Post 5 here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/dedicated-spur-mains-nirvana

Check the 2 links in post 6: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/accessories/mains-re-wire

and experiences of another member here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/amazing-mains-upgrade"

None of those links address anything in my post.

 

[CnoEvil]

I don't worry at all....and as for my imagination...........

ATM Everything is plugged directly into the wall.

Hi CnE

Atm i am worried to hear that there is no after market mains product between the mains plugs of your components and the wall

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

I thought of you when I said that.