Mains Supply - Amps

[bob.g]

Going back to the OP, and his starting comment of "I bought it for added safety". I used to live overseas in a country which suffered massive power spikes and 'brownouts'. To protect my PC I purchased (15 years ao) a transformer to transformer based device which guaranteed to deliver a steady output independant of input voltages. I still use it - in the UK - to protect my PC, although probably not necessary.

If the OP is concerned about damage to equipment from mains spikes etc, surely this is the initial approach he should be taking ?

 

[wireman]

I think that what some posters here are gleefully overlooking is that many mains disturbances are easily measurable with the right test equipment, and are easily and relatively cheaply correctable - I'm not suggesting you can always hear them, and I'm not suggesting some fancy length of mains wire will sort the problem either.

For Tonya - the last professional recording studio I was in (in the West End of London, admittedly several years ago now) I was paid to strip out and skip a rack of life-expired Yamaha professional amplifiers (one of which I kept) which were all hard wired into separate 3000kva Airlink balanced 115-0-115 volt mains units, themselves fed from a robust dedicated/ spike-suppressed 240 volt ring which had been taken directly off a separate phase of a substantial 415 volt 3-phase supply. The mixing desk and processing racks were taken off this same phase too, but all hard wired in, and definitely no evidence of cheesy £5 extension blocks there! Maybe you do things differently in Norway!

For the record, I'm split here: My hi-fi is hard wired into the mains, but uses no fancy mains cables at all because I hear no benefit. My AV system does, because I do... which kinda follows Musicraft Rick's logic. As for spikes - yes, I can measure these on my mains supply, and I treat those at source with a low-cost Isotek device. Measurement (rather than pure supposition) tells me they are being suppressed.

I think the original posters' concern was really a lack of wall sockets, where he had resorted to using mains extensions/blocks. Given he had already spent the money on a dedicated mains supply, my suggestion was simply to add more wall sockets so the OP could plug as much as possible directly into the wall and onto that same supply. If I read the above posts correctly, I think that's in keeping with both Rick and Tonya's approach too - it has nothing to do with using fancy mains cables at all.

 

[Tonya]

QUOTE: "you seem to have some interest in casting doubt upon what a reputable and, in my opinion, amazingly honest HiFi dealer has said and comments by another forum member. I don't understand why".

Not at all, I merely stated said comments "In My Humble Opinion" and not as the definitive judge & jury.
I have never attacked anyone's belief in anything but merely served up my take on things while agreeing with Mr.Rick of MusiCraft, I just felt like chiming in, that's all!
Indeed most of the manufacturers of these things offer a money back return policy so you have nothing to loose if one doesn't perceive a difference.

My main point was actually the fact that vast improvements can be made to an existing system without spending lots of cash.

From a purely technical standpoint I personally (and technically) cannot possibly see or hear what difference a super mains cable can make to a system's audio or video, that's all!
A well made mains cable that is sufficiently shielded and fits snugly into the component will IMO deliver electrically no more or no less than any super high end one that has been "burned in with it's atoms aligned" that I have come across and I've tested a few out of curiosity in case I'm missing out on something.
But again, that is my opinion
.
We can agree to disagree

I feel some people these days tend to get too tied up in the equipment specifications rather than what actually matters, the music.

 

[Anonymous]

Tonya, it wasn't you my comments were aimed at, but idc. If your opinion is different to mine, so be it, everyone's entitled to their view. My point was I couldn't understand why idc chose to challenge you like that, that's all.

Mind you, you are wrong, you know

 

[idc]

I have re-read my first post and I don't see an attack on anyone. I just asked Rick about the use of mains products in places other than his shop and Tonya for clarification of an apparent contradiction.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi guys

This post is just to clarify things -

Mains cables - at the moment all of the equipment is connected using the standard mains cables originally supplied with the components. From the many after market mains cables that i have tried which have been on sale over the last few years frankly none of them have bettered the standard supplied mains cables. Some of them did nothing at all (which in a way is good) and the others altered the performance for the worst generally giving an almost murky grey/compressed effect on the sound. Either way these tried after market mains cables (for me) did not justify any extra cost over standard main cables irrsepective of components and locations used.

Mains extension blocks (a follow on from mains cables) - at the moment all of our equipment (when needed) is connected using extension blocks (although in the first instance i'll always plug components directly into the wall sockets) from Wilkinson stores at £5 each. From the after market extension blocks that i have tried which have been on sale over the last few years frankly none of them have bettered direct wall connection of mains cables/standard mains blocks. Some of them did nothing at all (which in way is good) and the others altered the performance for the worst generally giving an almost brash/compressed effect to the sound. Either way these tried after market mains extension blocks (for me) did not justify any extra cost over a standard mains block irrespective of components and locations used.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[idc]

Hi Rick. Have you tried such mains cables and blocks elsewhere apart from your shop? Did you hear any difference there. I understand that where you shop is you would expect noisy mains, but maybe that is not the case. Hence, you dont notice any difference in the shop.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

idc:Hi Rick. Have you tried such mains cables and blocks elsewhere apart from your shop? Did you hear any difference there. I understand that where you shop is you would expect noisy mains, but maybe that is not the case. Hence, you dont notice any difference in the shop.

Hi idc

This is what i meant by "irrespective of components and locations used".

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[idc]

Thanks Rick, sorry I missed that.

 

[PJPro]

Andrew17321:......However, might not induction from unshielded and possibly noisy mains cables affect nearby speaker leads or other poorly shielded interconnects? Complete separation of cables is not always possible.Maybe in some cases where people have noticed improvements after upgrding or conditioning their mains supplies all that was really needed was to shield all their mains leads? Just a thought.....
I agree with you. I suspect this is the reason for the improvement that some people hear.