Plug it in!

Grahams Hydra works well

Yep the Hydra is a very neat and excellent sounding solution.

Thanks for the feedback - It's very rare that 3 out of 3 agree on anything! 

I've had a quick look round for these Hydras but can't see them for sale. 

Does anyone know who sells them?

Steve

Grahams Hifi sell them.

You could 'double up' leads into the mains plugs. Not sure how many boxes / plugs you are trying to rationalise here.

I'm having problems in finding out how to buy these - the web page for Grahams Hifi oddly lacks any mention of the Hydra...

Mike, I think you need to ask.  I'm not sure it's something that can be advertised as such.

I heard a grahams hydra and found that three seperate naim mains leads sounded much better.

Have a look on a popular auction site,search for grahams hydra

Ah - thanks, Richard / gents.

My Happy

Can you expand please?

The problem I have is this...............I have only one double 13amp socket near the HiFi (272& 250DR) /TV /Sky + Box/DVD/Sonos Connect and an apple TV.

I have an Isotek Mini Sub that provides 6 sockets but I read everywhere that this is a no no for Naim. 

So I'm looking fro a better solution and a extension lead with a multi socket at the end seems crude.

What is wrong with the Hydra

A friend had a top end naim system and tried changing from the standard naim mains leads to a three head grahams hydra, as he read many good reports about it on this forum. When I next visited him I commented that the system sounded lifeless compared to the last time I heard it.

He told me that he had installed the hydra and that he was hoping that it would get better with a lengthy warm up period. It had been in the system for a month by now. I suggested reinstalling the original leads. When the original naim mains leads were reinstalled the sound returned to the great musical sound that I remembered from my last visit, and this was with naim leads that would get even better over the next few hours as they warmed up. The lift in sound quality was bigger than upgrading a naim power supply, which costs a fortune.

I would strongly suggest installing a couple of extra sockets. They dont have to be chased into your wall, they can be mounted surface to save any mess. If you cant do this yourself then an electrician will do it for far less than a grahams hydra will cost, and the lift in sound will be worth every penny.

There's nothing wrong with a Hydra - it's an excellent solution, particularly in the context of a Naim system. I've heard them many times in many different systems and they've all worked well and, when I've compared, better than a power block. Naim's distributor for Germany, Musicline, even make a couple of super-duper hydras called the Powerigel.  The basic one uses Naim standard cable, the top version (Powerigel Plus) uses Naim Powerline cable.

You really shouldn't use things other than the Naim boxes on the hydra. 

I'd suggest that with a system of the quality of the 272/250DR you'd do well to have a separate mains spur installed, with its own consumer unit. This depends of course on how easy it is to run the cables. I use one, ending in a double unswitched socket, and it takes my two Powerlines perfectly. 

As a very minimum, wire the two Naim boxes into the same plug, plug that straight into the socket, and use any old multiway extension block for the rest. 

I used to use a Grahams hydra and it worked very well. During a Naim black box upgrade my dealer suggested I tried an alternative to the hydra which consisted of Wireworld Matrix 2 six socket block (which comes star earthed same as the Hydra which Naim kit likes) and this block has Naim style mains socket but no mains lead. This block is then connected to the mains using a Powerline mains lead.

Now I know this is not the optimal way to use a Powerline but at least all the black boxes that need power get some benefit from the isolating properties of the Powerline. This arrangement is of course more costly than a hydra but no where near as costly as putting Powerlines on everything.

Oh and I forgot to mention, this arrangement sounds much better that a hydra IMHO.

I totally agree I did the very same thing. Though I plan to add Powerlines to my equipment when funds allow.

The German Naim distributor (Musicline) sells the so called Powerigel (power hedgehog) because it looks like the real hedgehog! You can buy the standard version (with regular Naim cables) or the more expensive version (with Naim powerline cables). some time ago I tried the standard version and it sounded very good !