Mains cables

d_a_n1979

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With regards to the system mentioned below, is it worth upgrading the Arcam amp and CDP mains cables to the Russ Andrews 'PowerMax Plus' mains cable? My cables at the moment are the original ones supplied for the seperates by Arcam and through the RS6's, i can hear a notable hiss from the tweeters when its dead silent in the room Would the mains cable upgrade be an overkill if i'm not upgrading with a mains conditioner as well or will the upgrade be worth while for the time being?
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="d_a_n1979"]

My cables at the moment are the original ones supplied for the seperates by Arcam and through the RS6's, i can hear a notable hiss from the tweeters when its dead silent in the room[/quote]

It's a characteristic of the amp so changing anything on the mains side won't help.
 

robg1976

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Hi mate...........This topic always opens a can of worms. some sware by them some at them.......I do believe they do work...but dont go mad and spend a fortune....i upgraded my mains cables with russ andrews power cord £30 each and i also use a tacima 6 way mains 0nly £30 on ebay thats new..i found they improve bass and help transparancy.....why not try one at a time for your self and ony around £30 so you wont be wasting to much money if you dont see any benefit.....
 

Thaiman

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Dan...mate if you buy one, whatever it will be, could you come back and tell us if you have a better pair of ears than I have or not?!
emotion-17.gif
 

PJPro

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Without wanting to seem ignorant....but what does a mains "conditioner" actually do?

I'd be grateful if the debate could keep away from whether this conditioning has any sonic effect ;)
 

d_a_n1979

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Im not asking to start up a debate!!!

I simply wanted advice on whether people, who have experience of mains conditioners/upgraded mains cables, have heard any difference to their hi-fi set-up as compared to the original mains cables provided by the amp/CD maker etc...

At the moment i've got both my amp and CDP being powered by the original mains cables and both connected to a single socket by a 'double plug'.

This isnt ideal i know so im after advice of what other people, im a similar situation, have done and what results, if any, have they had?!?!
 

d_a_n1979

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[quote user="Thaiman"]
Dan...mate if you buy one, whatever it will be, could you come back and tell us if you have a better pair of ears than I have or not?!
emotion-17.gif

[/quote]

What do you mean Thaiman? I am taking the comment with a pinch of salt...
 
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Anonymous

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I bought the Tacima mains 6-way conditioner/surge protector from Amazon, £30. Doesn't matter if it works for you or not as it's a decent surge protector anyway. I noticed the difference, but that's me and may or may not be placebo. Have a play...
 
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Anonymous

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The russ andrews classic power cable for about 50 quid is a good one and improved my system.Not hugely, but noticeably.tacima mains conditioner is worth getting.They were going for £20 new on e bay, which is no more expensive that paying for a decent mains block anyway.
 
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Anonymous

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I've a Tacima. I recently bought an AV amp and so unplugged everything and plugged direrctly into wall and through the Tacima to test diff, just for fun. My Kandy dosn't hiss irresepctive of whether its through the Tacima or not until its past the 2 o clock position in both cases. My Kef centre speaker hisses a little through by Sony 5200ES (the front Kefs Q1s are bi amped through my Kandy which do not hiss). The Tacima doesn't seem to make a diff, and I can't tell any sonic improvements - not that I was expecting any for 20 squid. However, it does give me piece of mind as a circuit breaker. Maybe expensive mains cables would make a sonic diff for you or maybe not...
 

Thaiman

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[quote user="d_a_n1979"][quote user="Thaiman"]

Dan...mate if you buy one, whatever it will be, could you come back and tell us if you have a better pair of ears than I have or not?!
emotion-17.gif


[/quote] What do you mean Thaiman? I am taking the comment with a pinch of salt...[/quote]

well a while back someone posted in here that my hearing is not very good as I could not hear any different when "super dooper main cables/conditioner blocks" were using in my system
emotion-2.gif
That's all Dan, nothing too exciting mate.

I think you should try them as some can hear the different, some can't! I think it depend on how good is your main in the first place! (and how good are the power supplies in your electronics equipments)
Simon Lucas was a very brave man when he posted that he can pick out the free kettle leads from the custom made main cables everytime!!!!
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="PJPro"]Without wanting to seem ignorant....but what does a mains "conditioner" actually do?

I'd be grateful if the debate could keep away from whether this conditioning has any sonic effect ;)[/quote]

Basically, if you suffer from audible interference one of those should reduce it. For example if you listen to a lot of radio and there are a lot of crackles it could be a great boon. It won't have an effect on the audio quality but it might be reassuring to have a surge limiter to protect your valuable gear.
 

robg1976

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Like i said in recent post mate some like them some dont ...its worth remembering it also depends on you supply to your house and how good that is.but like i said i dont think the really expensive product are worth the money....but the budget stuff for say 30-50 pond is worth a try and like someone said in a previous post the tacima mains we all need to buy one anyway to plug in all the equipment so if you dont see the difference its still a good well made quality product....what im trying to say mate is i didnt believe before i tryed them so give it a go...
Another point is some people think we are all mad for buting hi-fi and spending thousands anyway most just havent tryed real hi-fi so dont know
 
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Anonymous

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It's worth remembering that a few of the manufacturers offer a money back guarantee of 30 or 60 days, certainly Merlin do. So, if you don't notice any improvement, send it back for a full refund - what have you got to lose?

FWIW, I won a couple of Merlin Black Widows, which I bought dirt cheap at a show, however I've never convinced myself they made much difference. I still use them, but I haven't done any comparative testing for ages. I probably should since I have new amplification now.
 

JoelSim

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Mine sounds rubbish when I don't use my Tacima mains block.

I only have one plug socket, and listening to a CD when the amp's not plugged in isn't as good as when it is. A bit bland.
 

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