Cheers Richard.

They are however around 10x more expensive as is the way with Maplin.

I nearly gave up with them when I wanted a sim convertor. £7.99, I said to the guy they were taking the piss and even he agreed!

Hi again Gary.  I have a hard time detecting any changes with ferrites, certainly not when adding just one & expecting an obvious change.   I can detect a change overall, but my RFI suppression is not just ferrites.   

I have a 3 branch Cat7 (screened) ethernet that’s earthed at NDX only & carried thru the switch to NAS & ISP hub were its screens are not connected – deliberately so at the NAS.   I have ferrite on the ends of each branch.  I cant detect a change on with this earthed Cat7 net with ferrites on or off; I can however hear a change when I have the switch to NDX branch temp. hooked up with 8m of Cat5 & it has a ferrite on or off.

SMPS DC cables all have x2 ferrites, x1 at each end. The extra ones I’ve added all have as many passes thru the ferrite as the cable size allows. This ferrite overload on the SMPS units has given me the most gains in replay SQ,  added clarity & detail,  its removed an inaudible haze for want of a better word.  

AC power in my set up is a little different, the Naim & other audio equipment is on a separate supply;  the power to the SMPS units that supply NAS, switch, phone & BB is via a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) & it is an effective - & audibly so - barrier to EMI/RFI with internal common mode choke & isolation transformer. Even so I have ferrite on the AC power cable to the UPS & on the 3 UPS AC outputs.   

Finally I have a ferrite on both phone & broadband lines, phone lines pick up a lot of noise, overhead especially; less so underground (nothing with fibre-optic).  Each line is passed thru its ferrite 5 times (4 turns).

Yes I know the ferrite Nay Sayers will proclaim madness, & I’m not disagreeing with that, but on other grounds.  The thing is I know my ferret farm is OTT, but I also know I’ve done all I can in that direction - I'm dun. 

I avoid Maplin as a matter of course, high pricing & low spec no-name everything

I get ferrite from www & are either TDK or Wurth - with the data specs 

I didn't know you had a ferret farm. What do you do with them all?

They don't take much in the way of feeding,  they are very clean so very little grooming & we all go walkies twice a day.  

If you put one around your neck, it would be a ferret choke.

Are you lot on the Vino already!

Agreed Mike, much better on www. So many different sizes though! Are you, or anyone else on this thread, able to assist me what diameter I need for the following cables. I have checked the web, but it only gives the cable length, not the diameter.

Naim supplied power cable

Naim supplied Din to Din

Netgear mains cable

Coaxial audio cable

RCA to Din cable

Ethernet cable (flat and round)

Various other SMPSs

Thanks guys

Ferret farming is the way to go...

I have 32 of the little b*****s  on each end of the cables on:

mains cables to TV, BluRay, computer (typically 12mm Ø, 2 or 3 turns)

telephone cable (9mm Ø, 3 turns)

mains cables to SMPS (typically 12mm Ø, 2 or 3 turns)

DC from SMPS (typically 6 or 9 mm Ø, 3 turns)

mains cables to Audio components (typically 16mm Ø, 3 turns)

Interconnects SMPS (typically 9mm Ø, single pass, 2 different types in series)

CAT7 Ethernet (typically 6mm Ø, single pass, 2 different types in series)

Cat6a Ethernet (typically 6mm Ø, single pass)

Where a ferrite is loose on a cable that mustn't be bent tightly, I use a soft squidgy sleeve to take up the spare gap

Note these aren't just on the audio components, but also anything that can inject RFI into the mains or emit RFI via a cable.  I also have a homebrew mains filter specifically designed for Naim kit and my mains environment.  It's clear that I live in an area with very high levels of RFI, so most people probably won't need to go quite as far as I have.

I can't say that I'll hear a difference made by every single one of these, but I have tried removing many of them individually, and with a lot of them and I can hear a subtle difference.  Removing half a dozen of the most critical positions and the difference is no longer at all subtle.  The effects of the ones on the audio kit are cumulative, the first one makes relatively little difference, but all together the difference is substantial.

Finally , they are cheap to buy, undemanding of attention (unlike the cat), and even cheaper to feed.

"Zee ferret choke joke eeez not so funny, yes."

Naim stnd power cord 6.3mm

I would not bother ferrit'ing the IC's (Naim DIN & others)

Mains, SMPS & Ethernets are worthwhile when done as a group

What brands are the flat & round ethernets ???

I use TDK ferrite that will fit cables up to 9mm on my Supra Cat7 & AQ Pearl Cat7. Both cables are 7.7 - 8mm dia & the clamp fits snugly with its clamp grips.

If I remember,  you are planning AQ Cinnamon,  finding the dia is not easy,  nothing on 'tinernet. However when testing it on a friends system along with Supra & others some months ago & I recall it being thinner than Supra, & considering its smart fabric outer cover, I would get it first & measure up for the right sized ferrite - proper job etc..

On that subject, Blutak in the ferrite clamp can hold smaller cables as can a few turns of insulating tape to fatten up the cable.   

For SMPS DC cables I use a mix of 8mm & 10mm & wrap the small dia cables as many turns as the size allows around the ferrite – that multiplies the effective impedance. 

My Synology NAS has a supplied ferrite,   plus I have added another & as the cable size is >3mm I have a 13mm ferrite that allows a number of cable turns.

For AC power I use the right sized ferrite for the cable 

By putting a tape against the Cinnamon it looks like about 6mm.

Taking the bottle from my kitchen my cinnamon sticks are also about 6mm.

Absolutely,

General Semantics - The map is not the territory.

They sound very thin. My sticks are much bigger, but they are from Waitrose - none of your cheap rubbish.

Cheers HH...getting the Cinnamon after Christmas, along with a few other cable upgrades.

Mike...as always, you are so helpful. Thanks for that info.

"On that subject, Blutak in the ferrite clamp can hold smaller cables"

Where would we be without Blutak? It's what holds my house up!

So are we to put them on the cables between the components, such as din leads etc. I should imagine a hiline would get destroyed trying to twist it three times.

I have some phono leads so thats two cables in effect, do I twist the two cables or put a ring on each individual cable? If I have to twist it three times at each end, its not going to reach and also look bloody stupid.

Is this what you guys are doing?

I would not put ferrite on IC's,

Kill the RFI at source (SMPS) & yr done.

I agree with Mike.  Your Naim power cords and interconnects should be left alone.

Electrical noise issues arising from other devices, especially SMPS, and are best treated at source - both AC and DC sides.  Ferrites on Ethernet can help reduce one noise propagation vector. And don't forget the other 'always-on' electrical appliances in the home - microwave, fridge, alarm clock, etc.

So I am supposed to put them on devices around the house? I have a feeling I will be forgeting this particular plan, I have hundreds of wall warts around the house.

And as far as I am aware only the mini in the vacinity of the hifi

I actually differ from the others, i so no reason in trying chokes around interconnects and mains power leads.. If it makes no difference then remove. It was here I had a long enlightening conversation with Denis Morecraft several years ago... Long before home network players had become mainstream.. and it was here I discovered the sonic affects of wide band RFI on audio.

Simon

Contrary to Mike, I believe it depends on your environment.  I live in an environment with a lot of RFI and a significant amount of it seems to originate from outside my house.

In my environment, I find it very beneficial to use ferrites on both the power cables and the interconnects.

I think the only way to really know what's needed in your own environment is to try it.

Simon, Huge & -40' (C & F is the same number at that temp)  

Sorry but maybe I did not make my point ......  

I would not put ferrite on IC's, I would rather kill the RFI at source (SMPS) & not need them on IC's

Nothing wrong with ferrite on power cables, I have them on my audio power strip & power to the UPS that supplies all my SMPS's

-40' ..... ferrite won't do much for the noise from domestic appliances,  this noise is mostly low frequency & way below the frequencies that ferrites work at.