Surge protectors!

[jase fox]

aliEnRIK:Can you point out EXACTLY which block your using jase?
Ye sure Rik, it's a "olson sound fantastic 8 way" ive had it for some years now it got a 5 star award winner in the now expired "home entertainment" magazine (dont know if you remember that mag Rik) it got a great review in that & it was a great mag .

The specs on this block are as follows:

13A sockets
10A panel mount fuse
RFI 10A mains filter & surge suppressor
External earth stud
2m x 1.5mm screened cable
UK plug-10A fuse fitted

And the write up about it is " each unit is fitted with a 10A mains RFI filter with earthline choke and transient suppressor, designed to filter mains bourne transients, switching surges, RF interference, intermittent spikes and other disturbances.

Im sure you may know all this Rik im just typing down whats on the sheet that ive still got that came with it mate.

Ive also got a RA silencer plugged into this aswell.

 

[jaxwired]

I live in the USA. Our wall sockets are running half the voltage of UK residential power. So I think it's more of an issue over here. I'm still convinced the wall is better. I need more time to be sure, but so far, bass is more powerful and amp performance more consistent.

 

[Anonymous]

Tarquinh:Plinius aren't the only manufacturer who recommend plugging the amplifier directly into the wall socket, Bryston do also.

Naim also recommends wall socket only................

 

[Anonymous]

This is very amusing to read, but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music? It's obvious to me that as long as each item receives the mains at the correct voltage sound quality isn't going to be altered by the way things are plugged in and to what.

 

[Anonymous]

Alec Trickle:This is very amusing to read, but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music? It's obvious to me that as long as each item receives the mains at the correct voltage sound quality isn't going to be altered by the way things are plugged in and to what.

If only HiFi were that simple....ÿ

 

[jase fox]

Alec Trickle: but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music?
Ohh this is exactly what i do Alec, but its all in the name of science, if you dont try these little experiments out how will we ever know? And if nobody carried these tests out we wouldnt have a WHSAV magazine now would we?

 

[Anonymous]

Tarquinh:
Alec Trickle:This is very amusing to read, but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music? It's obvious to me that as long as each item receives the mains at the correct voltage sound quality isn't going to be altered by the way things are plugged in and to what.

If only HiFi were that simple....

The mains side really is as simple as that.

Unless you get an earth loop hum, in which case you make sure everything goes to one 13A socket. Been there, done that.

 

[Anonymous]

Alec Trickle:Tarquinh:
Alec Trickle:This is very amusing to read, but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music? It's obvious to me that as long as each item receives the mains at the correct voltage sound quality isn't going to be altered by the way things are plugged in and to what.

If only HiFi were that simple....ÿ

The mains side really is as simple as that.

ÿUnless you get an earth loop hum, in which case you make sure everything goes to one 13A socket. Been there, done that.

Of course, but there's a whole industry employing lots of people who want you to believe otherwise.

 

[Anonymous]

jase fox:Alec Trickle: but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music?
Ohh this is exactly what i do Alec, but its all in the name of science, if you dont try these little experiments out how will we ever know? And if nobody carried these tests out we wouldnt have a WHSAV magazine now would we?

Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

 

[idc]

Alec Trickle:This is very amusing to read, but isn't it time you all plugged in your surge limiters, conditioners and whatever, chilled out and listened to some music? It's obvious to me that as long as each item receives the mains at the correct voltage sound quality isn't going to be altered by the way things are plugged in and to what.

Welcome to the chilled out world of hifi Alec. We get excited (but not in a deadly serious way, even if sometimes posts read as if there is a war going on) about stuff like surge protectors. I am listening to music as I type and I suspect that the vast majority of forum members are the same. I believe it is called multitasking!

Incidentally I have rearranged the sockets on my mains extension so that it is amp rather than the RA Silencer first and there has been a subtle but definite improvement in the separation between instruments. Though I should qualify that and say the amp is still new and has been burning in over the past couple of weeks. I shall try the 'leave it two weeks or so and switched back' method of checking the worth of such changes.

 

[Anonymous]

Tarquinh:
Of course, but there's a whole industry employing lots of people who want you to believe otherwise.

It's human nature to believe in the unbelievable. Look at religion and homeopathy.

 

[Anonymous]

I cannot for the life of me understand why you spend your hard-earned on getting a good quality system in place and then buying a device that strangles it, absolute nuts.............

 

[idc]

Alec Trickle: Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

Right thats it ..let the war begin! 'Science' is a very broad term and it is wrong of you to wholly dismiss it in the context of hifi and differences to sound. There are physical reasons why mains can affect your hifi, especially surges and variations in voltage over a day. Since so many of us report hearing differences in the sound of our kit when using surge protectors and differences to the sound of our kit at different times of the day, it is reasonable and 'scientific' to explore such.

 

[jase fox]

idc:
Alec Trickle: Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

Right thats it ..let the war begin! 'Science' is a very broad term and it is wrong of you to wholly dismiss it in the context of hifi and differences to sound. There are physical reasons why mains can affect your hifi, especially surges and variations in voltage over a day. Since so many of us report hearing differences in the sound of our kit when using surge protectors and differences to the sound of our kit at different times of the day, it is reasonable and 'scientific' to explore such.
Here we go again, well, im behind you idc i just say leave em to it as long as we believe we get benefit from what we do, having said that i may try what you suggested & plug my amp in on the 1st socket & silencer nxt to that.

I enjoy doing these experiments & thats all that matters to me, & im in the reverse hear as when i spend my hard earned on my stuff i like to feel im getting the best from it, i just wished the sceptics could hear my system? Then id ask them again.

 

[Anonymous]

idc:
Alec Trickle: Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

Right thats it ..let the war begin! 'Science' is a very broad term and it is wrong of you to wholly dismiss it in the context of hifi and differences to sound. There are physical reasons why mains can affect your hifi, especially surges and variations in voltage over a day. Since so many of us report hearing differences in the sound of our kit when using surge protectors and differences to the sound of our kit at different times of the day, it is reasonable and 'scientific' to explore such.

No let's not spoil a perfect day. It's the weekend, England are winning at the cricket and I've just opened my tax bill.ÿ

 

[jase fox]

Tarquinh:idc:
Alec Trickle: Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

Right thats it ..let the war begin! 'Science' is a very broad term and it is wrong of you to wholly dismiss it in the context of hifi and differences to sound. There are physical reasons why mains can affect your hifi, especially surges and variations in voltage over a day. Since so many of us report hearing differences in the sound of our kit when using surge protectors and differences to the sound of our kit at different times of the day, it is reasonable and 'scientific' to explore such.

No let's not spoil a perfect day. It's the weekend, England are winning at the cricket and I've just opened my tax bill.ÿ
(deep breaths) your right Tarquinh, it's the weekend, i dont follow much cricket but it's nice to hear that were winning, i cant wait for wimbledon ! & the new roof is going to be unveiled on sunday !! Cool !!!

 

[Anonymous]

idc:
Alec Trickle: Whatever name it's in, it isn't science. Science fiction possibly.

Science' is a very broad term and it is wrong of you to wholly dismiss it in the context of hifi and differences to sound. There are physical reasons why mains can affect your hifi, especially surges and variations in voltage over a day.

If you don't concentrate on them the "differences" will melt away. Try it. It's your perception that's changing, not the mains.

 

[aliEnRIK]

jase fox:aliEnRIK:Can you point out EXACTLY which block your using jase?
Ye sure Rik, it's a "olson sound fantastic 8 way" ive had it for some years now it got a 5 star award winner in the now expired "home entertainment" magazine (dont know if you remember that mag Rik) it got a great review in that & it was a great mag .

The specs on this block are as follows:

13A sockets
10A panel mount fuse
RFI 10A mains filter & surge suppressor
External earth stud
2m x 1.5mm screened cable
UK plug-10A fuse fitted

And the write up about it is " each unit is fitted with a 10A mains RFI filter with earthline choke and transient suppressor, designed to filter mains bourne transients, switching surges, RF interference, intermittent spikes and other disturbances.

Im sure you may know all this Rik im just typing down whats on the sheet that ive still got that came with it mate.

Ive also got a RA silencer plugged into this aswell.

Yeah I actually have one

Like the tacima ~ its not really designed for amps. You might find its better without the RA silencer though

 

[jase fox]

When i added the silencer i thought it improved things somewhat to be honest Rik, nothing major but improved all the same.

just out of curiosity Rik what makes you believe it maybe better without the silencer?

 

[aliEnRIK]

The conditioner and the silencer do rob the amp of 'dynamics'. It probably helps all the other components (dvd player, cd player etc). But ideally the amp shouldnt be used with either (Clearly youve heard it sounds better than directly into the wall, but id hazard a guess its lost some of its overall 'oomph')

Its why I bought the RA block and the Isotek Sigmas. The block is ONLY a block with no fancy filtering in, but wired with 'braided cable' so it at least lessens mains bourne RFI. The sigmas is plugged through that and all components are plugged into the sigmas. The sigmas has 2 outputs designed specifically for amps as they condition the mains but DONT rob the amp of dynamics (In short, you cant really get it sounding any better, short of buying the Isotek TITAN). It also has 4 outputs for cd players etc. They aint cheap, but the difference its made is staggering.

 

[jase fox]

Yes Rik it definately loses some "ooomph" for sure whilst plugged directly into the wall socket but it seemed to of gained a little more dynamics, but i do prefer the more "oomph" to my sound even though i lose a little dynamics i dont find the loss massive enough to lose sleep over, it comes down to which i prefer.

So if folk say amps are best plugged directly into the wall socket how come you do lose the "oomph" to the sound then? Any ideas Rik?

 

[Anonymous]

A note of caution - as with all things, different people have different hearing, and different houses have different degrees of mains noise. A £1200 Istoek Sigma conditioner fed with fairly "clean" mains in a rural setting near a sub-station may not make a material difference, but a £30 Tacima fed with fairly "noisy" mains in an industrial area may well make a bigger difference.

So it doesn't really matter what some folks say, it is what works for your ears in your house that counts.

 

[Anonymous]

Conditioners and filters mostly affect performance negatively in Europe, actually. Manufacturers design and build their amplifiers with mains supply at or within the EU standard in mind, so adding an extra filter works against their objectives, which is why many recommend plugging directly into the wall socket. UK electricity does meet the EU standards.ÿÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Just done some A-B testing.

There is a night and day difference in my set up.

I've always used my amp plugged into the mains conditioner so I think this is my preferred sound but the unconditioned sound is growing on me. The top end is a little more pronounced and 'ommph' reduced a tad, but it does seem a bit more detailed, can't really describe it. Music sounds more 'powered' more 'welly', particularly in the mids. But I am missing the lower end thump I get with the conditioner. I getting some clearer audio copper mains cable on a trial to see if it makes any difference.

 

[jase fox]

Brisk:Just done some A-B testing.

There is a night and day difference in my set up.

I've always used my amp plugged into the mains conditioner so I think this is my preferred sound but the unconditioned sound is growing on me. The top end is a little more pronounced and 'ommph' reduced a tad, but it does seem a bit more detailed, can't really describe it. Music sounds more 'powered' more 'welly', particularly in the mids. But I am missing the lower end thump I get with the conditioner. I getting some clearer audio copper mains cable on a trial to see if it makes any difference.I get the same results as you Brisk, my preferred sound is definately with the amp plugged into my mains block, i just cant live without the lower end oomph! even though there is a little more detail to the sound unconditioned it makes it sound a tad brighter than what im used to & i hate bright sounding gear.