Mains Conditioning

D

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Has anyone used a product that has worked well, in so much as they have plugged it in and the sound quality has got better? If so, would you mind sharing the details?

I am pretty sure I have noisy electrics here (new build house, moved in approx 18 months ago), I could never get powerline networking adapters to work, in fact just plugging one in made the powered subwoofer start to hum. And, when I use a power amp, I get hum / buzz from the speakers, I cured that with a Behringer hum destroyer.

But, now I am curious to know whether these noisy electrics are deteriorating sound quality, so I am thinking of trying some products on a sale or return basis. But I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money, somewhere around £100 to £200.

Also, I don't have a lot of room, so looking for something small. I am considering the Tacima power strip, the Russ Andrews Silencer, or Kimber mains cables (kettle leads). If I was to go for replacing / upgrading the mains cables, should I focus on the amp, or the sources?

Thanks!
 
Home demo Isotek products - lots of dealers carry this line so a home demo should be easier.

If you want to check the noise on your mains Blu Horizon (spin off company) did sell a mains noise analyser - its since been removed from their site. Its very expensive so again a loan of one would be ideal. Please let me know if you find somewhere that offers this as I would be interested to try one as well.

Tacima are great for the money - but only ok overall.

Other companies are PS Audio, Torus Power and there are others - AudioQuest Niagra series for going all out
 
This looks interesting:

Noise Sniffer & Silencer 7 Day rental

£30 to hire a sniffer and a silencer for 7 days. Although for £52 could just buy a silencer on the 60 day money back guarantee scheme.

I suppose it would be interesting to 'sniff out' the noise, but it is whether the silencer, or similar, improves the sound on the AV system that is important.
 
Do a search on Ebay for "BT Mains" . The power conditioners that BT use are extremely well made. They were manufactured by Oneac and are built like tanks. Best conditioner I have used.
 
Do a search on Ebay for "BT Mains" . The power conditioners that BT use are extremely well made. They were manufactured by Oneac and are built like tanks. Best conditioner I have used.
Thanks, they look interesting, and affordable.

How are you using yours, just one device connected to it, amp or source?
Or, can you put them between the wall socket and a power strip, or would that be overloading.
And importantly, does the sound quality improve with it in place?
 
You could run an amp through it as long as the load doesn't continuously exceed 1amp (240watts).
I use one to condition power for my DAC, HTPC.

Do I notice a difference? Can't say I do - but then I don't know if I have noisy mains. I do know that these will protect my equipment from spikes.

I thought it a worthy investment.
 
Thanks, I checked those all out, they are very interesting.

The end of the review seemed to sum it up for me, where it talks about actual effect on hi-fi sound.

I am pretty convinced the house has got noisy mains power, due to the issues I had with the power amp and the networking power plugs not working here. But I am not sure what actual effect, if any, that noise is having on the sound quality of my AV system. I am pretty sure that all of my components and cables have their own filtering systems built in - I know my amp has a toroidal power supply, for example, and that is reported to help with mains intereference, I think.

I also have my equipment plugged into a fairly inexpensive surge protected power strips. Plus it's a new house with a modern consumer unit, so that must offer some surge protection, I think.

I am really wanting to know if Hi Fi would sound better with a power conditioner. I suppose there is only one way to find out! I think I'll start at the affordable end, and see if I can home trial a Tacima power strip, and a Russ Andrews silencer.
 
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I use 3 conditioners in my system - they are fundamental to me - I use an Isotek Titan, Nova and Orion purely for the subs.

Hence the suggestion of a home demo - demo an Isotek Aquarius on the whole system and see what you think. Russ Andrews blocks dont really do much filtering, they probably go as far as using ferrites and thats about it

Good video on the problem and how its solved in the Niagra 7000 - concentrate on the problem this solution is mega money.
 
I use 3 conditioners in my system - they are fundamental to me - I use an Isotek Titan, Nova and Orion purely for the subs.

Hence the suggestion of a home demo - demo an Isotek Aquarius on the whole system and see what you think. Russ Andrews blocks dont really do much filtering, they probably go as far as using ferrites and thats about it

Good video on the problem and how its solved in the Niagra 7000 - concentrate on the problem this solution is mega money.

Thanks. I just followed the link in your signature, home cinema done right! :eek: Very impressive :)

I can't imagine myself ever spending £1500 on a power conditioning unit, but it certainly would be interesting to have a home demo and see what difference it makes. I'll certainly look into that.

Where you say that your 3 conditioners are fundamental to you, is that because they have massively improved the sound quality? Any chance you can describe how it sounded before and after?
 
Its hard to say exactly - all added in stages - the Titan I bought first was a revelation to me. I was using a tacima until then £25 vs £1k second hand the difference was massive. The Tacima was causing my amp to shut off so that had to go. Plugging the amp in the wall sounded worse than plugged into the tacima so I needed a solution. The Titan still does power my whole system - its all plugged into it so there is a shared earth.

Harmonically much richer is the first thing I noticed - cleaner and clearer. Main products help to remove haze off the sound thats very obvious once you hear it gone - hence why I suggested a home demo. The Titan helps with the scale of sound from your system - which seems odd but I have taken it to my friends house and tried it on his system and it did the same thing. When you watch the Garth Powell from Audioqiest video I linked to he mentions masking effect - well that is probably how you get more scale of sound from using it.

In my build thread I built my own power distribution block like what you would buy from RA just with much better bits. Well that was hindering my system - you have to watch what gets plugged into what. Its not just the mains coming in that causes pollution - its more the local area - i.e whats plugged in next to your kit and whats also plugged in around your house.
So going over to the Isotek Nova separated all my source components from each other and from my subs and amplifier. Much cleaner sound, more separation and definition - again haze being removed.

I have demo'd systems recently using Torus Power Conditioners which are massive torodial transformers creating a balanced power supply. These were high fi systems and they sounded ultra clean. These are Much cheaper, more industrial looking but audio orientated versions of the same thing

Reason you need to demo is because when my friend heard my system with the added Isotek conditioners he seemed to think it removed something from the sound. To me it removed whats not supposed to be there but we all like different things.
 
'Surge Protected Power Strip' - I'd read the small print carefully before you assume it is anything other than a power strip!

If you have a Mains problem you could consider identifying and sorting the problem vs 'masking' it.

Joe
 
If you have a Mains problem you could consider identifying and sorting the problem vs 'masking' it.
Joe

Thanks Joe, I don't think I can. If the testing I did was right, the noise seems to be coming from outside the house.

I have a power amp that emits a buzzy / static noise from the connected speakers, unless I put any source components through a Behringer Hum Destroyer. So that's what I used to test.

In the consumer unit there is one socket (circuit?) that is for the hob and a wall power socket, next to the hob. If I connect the power amp to that (via a long extension lead), the static / buzzy sound from the speakers is still there, although the pattern of static sounds a little different.

If I then switch off every other circuit in the consumer unit, so all the sockets, lights, smoke detectors, including the boiler, so everything else in the house is switched off at the mains, apart from the hob and this one socket where the power amp is plugged in, the noise is still there.

Incidentally, if I route the source to the power amp through the Behringer hum destroyer, there is no noise at all, it seems to clean it 100%.

Any thoughts you have on this would be appreciated!
 
Speaking of power conditioners,
Got this High Fidelity PRO Helix Signature Power Conditioner burning in currently.
This is one serious conditioner!!
Reminds me of something Nicholas Tesla would have invented!!



49451476498_cf87cdb926_b.jpg
 
Why not look at an on-line UPS (not an in-line interactive). They have built in conditioners that totally isolate the incoming supply from the clean regulated output voltage, by double conversion. These are designed for sensitive IT equipment and are much more cost effective and more efficient than most mains conditioner HiFi products.
 

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