Mains conditioners

[peddie44]

This may be a naive question but..........

Having spent a wad on a new system - is it honestly worth spending £25 on a plug adapter rather then getting one for £5? Does it actually make any difference?

 

[Chewy]

Light blue touch paper and stand well back........

 

[Anonymous]

Do a search on this Forum and you will have more information than you will ever need!!

 

[audioaffair]

The first step in mains conditioning (and we always recommend this) is to get a mains filter of some sort and see if the benefits in your area are worth the investment. From there you can add proper mains cables (shielded) inbetween filter and components to ensure the better quality mains doesn't pick up any interference inbetween.

 

[idc]

I have used plug in mains conditioners, primarily The Silencer from Russ Andrews for about 10 years now in four different houses in four different locations, small town, city, suburbs and the middle of nowhere. The effectiveness of the conditioning is entirely dependent on the condition of the mains supply to your house and the other electrical equipment you use.

Most recently, when I started to use a laptop as my source, I noticed an increase in background noise, probably caused by the laptop itself. So I bought another plug in conditioner from Tacima (not their mains extension). It has helped as well.

I determine effectiveness buy turning on my system and then listening at different volume settings for the background hiss/noise with and without the conditioner. If when the conditioner is plugged in, the background noise is reduced then it is worth it.

So, see if you can try before you buy or you can return the item is it has no effect.

 

[audioaffair]

idc:
I have used plug in mains conditioners, primarily The Silencer from Russ Andrews for about 10 years now in four different houses in four different locations, small town, city, suburbs and the middle of nowhere. The effectiveness of the conditioning is entirely dependent on the condition of the mains supply to your house and the other electrical equipment you use.

Most recently, when I started to use a laptop as my source, I noticed an increase in background noise, probably caused by the laptop itself. So I bought another plug in conditioner from Tacima (not their mains extension). It has helped as well.

I determine effectiveness buy turning on my system and then listening at different volume settings for the background hiss/noise with and without the conditioner. If when the conditioner is plugged in, the background noise is reduced then it is worth it.

So, see if you can try before you buy or you can return the item is it has no effect.

Well said - unfortunately there is really no substitute for trying in this case as the mains quality differs household to household. Having said that, in the majority of cases, good cables and filters will always be a benefit.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

peddie44:
This may be a naive question but..........

Having spent a wad on a new system - is it honestly worth spending £25 on a plug adapter rather then getting one for £5? Does it actually make any difference?

Hi peddie44

I'll suggest using standard (preferably moulded) mains leads with your components and in the first instance plugging them directly into wall sockets.

If you don't have enough wall sockets available then i'll also recommend using a standard mains extension block

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[aliEnRIK]

Depends how clean your mains supply is and how much EMI is floating around

I have a balanced mains transformer which made a HUGH difference to my entire system. Clearly my mains supply isnt too hot.

 

[the record spot]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but having lived around the UK over the years, but mostly in my hometown in Edinburgh, this has never been an issue for me. We're talking also, London, Nottingham, Newcastle and Derby at various times. So I have my doubts that luck played to great a part in this.

Most recently, I tried a 3 point BT Mains Conditioning Unit in preference to the bog standard £5 extension block or wall points and no difference was noticeable with or without the MCU.

Your equipment carries components that will handle external interference. So, unless you're really bl00dy unlucky, chances are you'll be fine without it. And do watch out for "absolute" comments like Audio Affair's above. Such products absolutely do NOT almost always have a positive effect. Or, more accurately, an audibly discernable effect.

But of course, do try it out and decide for yourself. Isotek, Russ Andrews and of course the BT ones you can get off Ebay (which would be my pick if you wanted to buy one of these things) are all examples of three ways to do the same thing.

 

[aliEnRIK]

the record spot:Maybe I'm just lucky, but having lived around the UK over the years, but mostly in my hometown in Edinburgh, this has never been an issue for me. We're talking also, London, Nottingham, Newcastle and Derby at various times. So I have my doubts that luck played to great a part in this.

Or perhaps because theyre all pretty big places that would need hugh amounts of reserve power. Little towns like mine probably dont get anything like the same quality.

Of course there are other reasons you may not be able to tell any differences..........

 

[the record spot]

Yes, larger towns are probably fine as are my ears and is my system. maybe i'm just close minded when it comes to marketing psycho babble! It's always amusing when the believers hint that the failure - for want of a better word - might lie with the user than the equipment in these things. How one might miss the 'subtle' improvement and so on. Desperate throw of the dice territory I think...

 

[aliEnRIK]

What would I possibly gain from lying??

If I thought something didnt work (Like QED silver spiral for example) id say as such (And have)

Ive tried various cables etc that havnt made a jot of difference (Or made things worse). Ive also tried my balanced mains transformer which (In my area on my system) made a HUGH difference

If it hadnt id have posted on here to say as such

Please tell me - what would I possibly gain from lying? (And yes, I understood your point)

 

[hammill]

aliEnRIK:

What would I possibly gain from lying??

If I thought something didnt work (Like QED silver spiral for example) id say as such (And have)

Ive tried various cables etc that havnt made a jot of difference (Or made things worse). Ive also tried my balanced mains transformer which (In my area on my system) made a HUGH difference

If it hadnt id have posted on here to say as such

Please tell me - what would I possibly gain from lying? (And yes, I understood your point)
You are not lying. Now please stop suggesting that people who don't see/hear the improvements you do are blind or deaf.

 

[aliEnRIK]

hammill:You are not lying. Now please stop suggesting that people who don't see/hear the improvements you do are blind or deaf.

So long as people stop suggesting im imagining things (or making them up) - sure

 

[Tom Moreno]

I lived in Wandsworth and owned an expensive mains conditioner for use in my studio but didn't use any mains conditioning on my AV kit. We moved house to Forest Hill in southeast London about a year and a half ago and when I plugged my AV kit in and fired it up the sound was very dull and lifeless compared to what it sounded like in the old flat. So I grabbed the mains conditioner from the studio and plugged my AV kit into it and all the life, sparkle, and brilliance came back to it. Makes me of the opinion that "dirty" power isn't necessarily a town or city problem but can be very much a neighbourhood by neighbourhood issue.

 

[audioaffair]

Reading this reminded me of first listening to hi-fi at night time into the early hours several years ago. It was remarkable at the time how much better it sounded - only realised later it was most likely due to neighbours were probably using washers, dishwashers, and other household appliances more during the day.

Its worth considering the above can also have a massive affect on listening quality - a first easy demo you can do before buying anything is to hear if your system sounds better at night. If so, try a proper mains conditioner which should help to make it sound closer to that during the day.

 

[the record spot]

duplicate post !

 

[the record spot]

aliEnRIK:
What would I possibly gain from lyingPlease tell me - what would I possibly gain from lying? (And yes, I understood your point)

Well, you obviously didn't as I was referring to inferences you've made in the past which suggested it was down to the listener who's hearing wasn't tuned in to the 'subtleties' of the supposed claimed changes (well, at least, you've suggested that with me in the past at any rate). I assumed that's what your post referred to. How could I possibly comment on what you do or don't hear? Your post, in that case can be seen as ambiguous, so clarity would be good and hammill summed it up nicely.

 

[aliEnRIK]

With regards to hearing and seeing. Its a biological FACT that some people can see better than others and some people can hear better than others. Not to mention some people cant see or hear at all.

Im not 'suggesting' anything other than that 'fact'

Its also well known that some people have better perception than others (ie, they 'notice' things others dont)

 

[Anonymous]

Touch paper indeed. I've always found that the things I've tried have had a clear and audible benefit. Therefore it's irrefutable that anyone who doesn't is clinically insane.

 

[visionary]

aliEnRIK:
With regards to hearing and seeing. Its a biological FACT that some people can see better than others and some people can hear better than others. Not to mention some people cant see or hear at all.

Im not 'suggesting' anything other than that 'fact'

Its also well known that some people have better perception than others (ie, they 'notice' things others dont)

And in the case of some people who can't see, their brain makes up pictures - search "Charles Bonnet" syndrome - because it expects to see something.

Not very different from expecting to hear something?

 

[aliEnRIK]

Unless theyre not expecting to hear something

 

[audioaffair]

Has anyone ever tried a blind demo?

 

[idc]

No, but I have listened to speakers that were all wired up in a wall display. On both occasions the guy doing the demo got mixed up as to which speaker was playing. The first time that happened it was clear to me that one speaker was better than the others and I bought B&W DM301s. The second time it was less clear but of the active speakers tried the Yamaha HS 50s were good, but not by much over others listened to and none really impressed, so I did not buy.

 

[datay]

It is rarely if ever considered when mentioning blind trials or A/B trials that the kind of differences we're talking about here (and even most cable "believers" would say they're subtle, unless they're selling them) that the human ear (and brain) might need far longer to familiarise itself with the sound in order to notice the difference. The same applies to the infamous "burning-in" question.

Therefore, unless it's different equipment being A/B tested that obviously sounds different (even then, ask many people if there is a difference between two CD players say, they won't hear it), there is little point in a minute or two of one mains cable (or interconnect), a minute or two of another. You will not hear a difference.