Why not 5 stars?

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Surly Sid

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Feb 6, 2020
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If you like something, give it a 5 star review yourself. Your ears are probably just as good as those of a reviewer on here. The reviewers here think mains leads sound different, so i wouldn't worry about what they say.
I agree that my ears and listening experiences are just as valid. I disagree about mains power cables. They do make a difference!
 

chris661

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Oct 30, 2019
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I agree that my ears and listening experiences are just as valid. I disagree about mains power cables. They do make a difference!

Okay, I'll bite.
Marketing BS aside, why do mains cables make a difference?

I can't see any particular reason they ought to, but maybe you know something I don't.

Chris
 

Sliced Bread

Well-known member
I’ve not a/b tested any mains cables at all so I’m of not real opinion on this. I have two budget copper line alpha cables. One I bought for cosmetic reasons as my cables at the time we’re on show and one was free with my WHF subscription, so I thought, what the hell.

I can’t say I heard any real difference, but liked them anyway as they looked neat :)

However it occurred to me:
Our houses are all made to a budget as the housing companies are cheap. So even if we have high quality cabling all the way up to our house, courtesy of the electricity company, we then have a big length of cheap cabling all the way to the socket. By plugging in an expansive mains cable all we are doing is adding a quality shielded cable to the last meter of that long length. Logically I don’t think it’ll make a difference.

But maybe. Maybe if that was not the case or if you are rocking a very capable mains treatment device (I do believe in these), then I can see an argument. HoweverI would still need to hear the difference for myself to be convinced one way or the other.
 

SteveH72

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Feb 25, 2020
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I know many things you don't. I just have no motivation to explain them to you.
What a completely pointless response. There is no no empirical evidence to state cables make any difference. Ask any dealer/manufacturer to provide scientific proof that cables make a difference and they can’t. End of story. No motivation? No bloody proof more like it.
 

chris661

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Oct 30, 2019
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I know many things you don't. I just have no motivation to explain them to you.

Lovely, thanks. Did you join the forum to enjoy knowing "many things" and sharing nothing, or is it me specifically that you have a problem with?


SB, you're right about the internal wiring and how little difference the last metre or so ought to make. Since the power flows through the circuit breakers, we ought to have audiophile-grade RCDs and the like to really make sure we're getting the best out of our systems. Yeah, right...
I've said it before, but IMO if a bit of sound equipment can't make a good clean DC power supply rail with a bit of noise on the mains supply, then that equipment is faulty. There should be adequate filtering in place without having to treat the incoming supply.
I do have a power amp that'll put out the 240v RMS required to power equipment directly, so I suppose I could try using it as a very-high-quality mains power supply.

Chris
 
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Deleted member 160668

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Have you tried this yourself though Trev?

You think all amps sound the same as per your earlier posts, which is tripe in my opinion. I've spent the past few years buying/trying/selling amps and other hifi stuff doing side by sides. I can guarantee you, that unless you have cloth ears this is not the case.

Power cords is a rabbit hole to fall down, do they work? Well I've got shunyata and furutech ones in my setup so that answers what I think.

However, aren't we moving entirely away from the thread point.
 

TrevC

Well-known member
I’ve not a/b tested any mains cables at all so I’m of not real opinion on this. I have two budget copper line alpha cables. One I bought for cosmetic reasons as my cables at the time we’re on show and one was free with my WHF subscription, so I thought, what the hell.

I can’t say I heard any real difference, but liked them anyway as they looked neat :)

However it occurred to me:
Our houses are all made to a budget as the housing companies are cheap. So even if we have high quality cabling all the way up to our house, courtesy of the electricity company, we then have a big length of cheap cabling all the way to the socket. By plugging in an expansive mains cable all we are doing is adding a quality shielded cable to the last meter of that long length. Logically I don’t think it’ll make a difference.

But maybe. Maybe if that was not the case or if you are rocking a very capable mains treatment device (I do believe in these), then I can see an argument. HoweverI would still need to hear the difference for myself to be convinced one way or the other.
It's not a religion. Believe all you like, but none of the mains stuff makes the slightest difference to performance.
 

TrevC

Well-known member
Have you tried this yourself though Trev?

You think all amps sound the same as per your earlier posts, which is tripe in my opinion. I've spent the past few years buying/trying/selling amps and other hifi stuff doing side by sides. I can guarantee you, that unless you have cloth ears this is not the case.

Power cords is a rabbit hole to fall down, do they work? Well I've got shunyata and furutech ones in my setup so that answers what I think.

However, aren't we moving entirely away from the thread point.
I never said all amps sound the same. Mains leads do though. Obviously.
 

Sliced Bread

Well-known member
It's not a religion. Believe all you like, but none of the mains stuff makes the slightest difference to performance.
British Telecom use them.
They wouldn’t spend the money doing it if there wasn’t a measurable improvement on their equipment. Fair enough it’s not HiFi, but likewise I don’t think we can completely dismiss it either.
I’m going to keep my mind open on this one, though I wouldn’t throw cash at it.
 
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Lovely, thanks. Did you join the forum to enjoy knowing "many things" and sharing nothing, or is it me specifically that you have a problem with?


SB, you're right about the internal wiring and how little difference the last metre or so ought to make. Since the power flows through the circuit breakers, we ought to have audiophile-grade RCDs and the like to really make sure we're getting the best out of our systems. Yeah, right...
I've said it before, but IMO if a bit of sound equipment can't make a good clean DC power supply rail with a bit of noise on the mains supply, then that equipment is faulty. There should be adequate filtering in place without having to treat the incoming supply.
I do have a power amp that'll put out the 240v RMS required to power equipment directly, so I suppose I could try using it as a very-high-quality mains power supply.

Chris
He's just a troll, Chris, ignore him.
 

TrevC

Well-known member
British Telecom use them.
They wouldn’t spend the money doing it if there wasn’t a measurable improvement on their equipment. Fair enough it’s not HiFi, but likewise I don’t think we can completely dismiss it either.
I’m going to keep my mind open on this one, though I wouldn’t throw cash at it.

What do BT do with what exactly, and how can this thing they are supposed to use affect the performance of what?
 

Sliced Bread

Well-known member
What do BT do with what exactly, and how can this thing they are supposed to use affect the performance of what?
Mains conditioners.
British Telecoms use mains conditioners to reduce mains interference. In fact they manufacture their own. None such model is the BT MCU5A/125.
Just saying that if mains does not impact sensitive electronic equipment they would not bother as it’s nothing but a cost to them.
A Hifi is nothing if it’s not a sensitive piece of electrical engineering. Yes they should be able to handle noise on the mains, but there is a limit to everything. Not all Hifi is made equal and we don’t all have clean mains rings. My old subwoofer in my previous house used to pick up the 60hz mains hum. It was subtle but there and quite common. Maybe a mains conditioner would have helped , who knows. I don’t as I didn’t bother trying, but I’m going to keep my mind open to the idea.
With that said I would Only entertain the idea if It was cheap.
 
Last edited:
Mains conditioners.
British Telecoms use mains conditioners to reduce mains interference. In fact they manufacture their own. None such model is the BT MCU5A/125.
Just saying that if mains does not impact sensitive electronic equipment they would not bother as it’s nothing but a cost to them.
A Hifi is nothing if it’s not a sensitive piece of electrical engineering. Yes they should be able to handle noise on the mains, but there is a limit to everything. Not all Hifi is made equal and we don’t all have clean mains rings. My old subwoofer in my previous house used to pick up the 60hz mains hum. It was subtle but there and quite common. Maybe a mains conditioner would have helped , who knows. I don’t as I didn’t bother trying, but I’m going to keep my mind open to the idea.
With that said I would Only entertain the idea if It was cheap.
Unfortunately you are preaching to the unconvertable. Sometimes best to just move on.
 

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