RA Silencer

Posted by: Naheed on 06 November 2000

I have been using this for around a week now, it works in Parallel (the current goes past, rather than through the filter), and is mounted either near an offending device (washing m/c, fridge, etc...) or in a spare outlet near your hifi. (I used it near my hifi and listening was done at around 7-9 pm)...

To be honest there was an immediate improvement, mainly in terms of less 'glare' of harshness from the HF, there was more low-level detail (background ambience) coming through and bass-lines firmed up.

Generally, the music flowed with greater ease (less congestion), I just sat back and closed my eyes, the increase in low-level detail really helped here giving a further sense of realism, additionally vocalists/instruments/etc where easier to pinpoint as well.

Two days in, many tracks had lost that HF leading edge, but I'm not sure if this is just down to the Silencer giving a 'blacker/quieter' soundstage, either way it sounded 'robbed' of 'something' but at the same time more detail (separation of bass lines) has been revealed.

There seems to be a lot of fluctuation in performance, but yesterday it was working a treat, no loss in dynamics, just enjoyed music with mega amounts of PRaT... RA do suggest a week or so run-in.

The Silencer is £40, and the Purifier/Super P. are £250/£250 respectively, however Jimmy Hughes reviewed these any reckoned the Silencer does around 95% of the job, and the Purifier/Super P. take you the extra 5%, based on this I opted for the Silencer.

Other observations were p/supplies and p/amps ran quieter, with transformer less hum...

I intend removing it this weekend, Jimmy Hughes stated in his review that this is when you REALLY notice things.

But, at the moment £40 doesn't sound bad, for a significant improvement, ultimately though I thinks it depends what state your mains supply is in.

naheed...

Posted on: 06 November 2000 by Darren Miller

I fully agree with Naheed that the RA silencer makes a difference but only if you have bad mains. If I use mine in the daytime when there is a lot more noise on the mains then the improvements are staggering. However at night when all is quiet, including the noise on the mains, then the system sounds better without the silencer in place.

Conclusion.

Good if you have problems but not needed if you have good mains.

Darren Miller

Posted on: 06 November 2000 by Top Cat

I tried this a while back, but found it made no difference to the sound. Then again, perhaps my mains is quite good. I *did* find an improvement when I used the Kimber powerchords, however. In fact, I ended up buying some. I was actually tempted to take The silencer apart to see if it actually contained anything

John

Posted on: 09 November 2000 by Naheed

******************************************"My technical background says to me that if you can detect a difference then someone has not done his job when designing the equipment"
********************************************

Stef, at the Hifi Show @ Novatel, the Russ Crew had a 'Noise Sniffer' (uses an internal circuit which converts mains noise to a signal that drives an internal speaker – giving a idea of what noise and harmonics are on the mains).

Simple stuff but it just went to show what sort of 'crap' resides on the mains… naim transformers being more particular to mains grunge can 'maybe' benefit from this device in certain cases/tastes.

But, you say you’re an expert, you 'should' know …

naheed...

[This message was edited by Naheed on THURSDAY 09 November 2000 at 13:30.]

Posted on: 09 November 2000 by Andrew L. Weekes

I think the one thing that has to be understood is that it is perfectly possible to manufacture electronics that is relatively insensitive to the noise / impedance etc. of the mains supply, but I believe that Naim would argue this would reduce the performance that it is possible to obtain from their equipment. In effect, reducing everything to the lowest common denominator.

They take the same approach with regard to EMC susceptibility - there are modifications which reduce susceptibility, but reduce sound quality also, these are the often unavoidable compromises that have to be made when designing electronics - something you will no doubt be aware of.

At least if you are fortunate to have better mains, the performance of your kit will increase also, an approach I, and many Naim users, would favour, despite the inconveniences it sometimes brings.

There's plenty of other equipment that may offer a slightly more consistent performance, but I'm not sure I'd want to listen to any of it

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com