Power conditioners
Posted by: dolorem on 07 June 2018
Hi all quite getting into these forum's and thank you so much for all the advice so far. It has been beyond useful. I finally put all the amps in place on a good rack cables the right way around ect. Then I dropped a very basic power conditioner into the power board supplying the system. Wow what a difference. I'm only using a basic UPS. does anyone have experience of power conditioners with Naim kit. I know Naim pride themselves on great power supplies.
I'm wondering if I should shell out some cash on a better audio grade power conditioner
I haven’t tried but the forum wisdom suggests not using power conditioners — unless maybe your mains are terribly dirty...
My experience with Naim and mains conditioners of many different types is that you alwYs tend to lose something important - somethingbof a particular quality that you get with Naim kit, an “engagement factor” - with a mains conditioner. Even just having one plugged in on the same circuit has an effect, so beware of thAt.
Lots to read on this subject in past threads on here.
Whatever happened to the dirty great isolation transformers that were discussed a year or two ago, someone bought one I remember, is it still in use?
Hi Yeti,
Still very much in use. The original thread was entitled "Suffering from those transformer hum blues?", or something like that.
I had tried some well regarded power conditioners but didn't like what they did to the music.
Best regards, FT
Completely agree with Richard on the effects of mains conditioners, and not just with Naim gear either in my experience. They do weird things. Perhaps the strangest thing is that initially, for me anyway, it seems like an improvement, but then over time the lack of engagement becomes very apparent.
Now Richard has given me something new to worry about with the 'Even just having one plugged in on the same circuit has an effect...' comment. Whoops, guilty. The conditioner I tried with the Hifi some years ago and disliked, has been plugged in the next wall socket and powering the TV and Blu-ray player since the Hifi kit was removed. Time for an experiment. Where's my other MK Duraplug?
A short answer, agree with all.... and Richard.
Main conditioners also cut the transient peaks, and the entire music rendition becomes more laid-back and boring.
/Peder ????
SongStream posted:Completely agree with Richard on the effects of mains conditioners, and not just with Naim gear either in my experience. They do weird things. Perhaps the strangest thing is that initially, for me anyway, it seems like an improvement, but then over time the lack of engagement becomes very apparent.
Now Richard has given me something new to worry about with the 'Even just having one plugged in on the same circuit has an effect...' comment. Whoops, guilty. The conditioner I tried with the Hifi some years ago and disliked, has been plugged in the next wall socket and powering the TV and Blu-ray player since the Hifi kit was removed. Time for an experiment. Where's my other MK Duraplug?
Songstream,
it's worth having a read of my reply to this thread here:
Foot tapper posted:Hi Yeti,
Still very much in use. The original thread was entitled "Suffering from those transformer hum blues?", or something like that.
I had tried some well regarded power conditioners but didn't like what they did to the music.
Best regards, FT
I gave one some consideration too but have nowhere I can put it that would be acceptable domestically. Good to know it's still doing the trick and hasn't led to listener fitigue or lack of engagenment.
Richard Dane posted:SongStream posted:Completely agree with Richard on the effects of mains conditioners, and not just with Naim gear either in my experience. They do weird things. Perhaps the strangest thing is that initially, for me anyway, it seems like an improvement, but then over time the lack of engagement becomes very apparent.
Now Richard has given me something new to worry about with the 'Even just having one plugged in on the same circuit has an effect...' comment. Whoops, guilty. The conditioner I tried with the Hifi some years ago and disliked, has been plugged in the next wall socket and powering the TV and Blu-ray player since the Hifi kit was removed. Time for an experiment. Where's my other MK Duraplug?
Songstream,
it's worth having a read of my reply to this thread here:
Thanks, Richard. An interesting example of the strange effects these things can have. I've now swapped the conditioned power block mentioned above for something basic. Initially I thought there was an improvement, but not totally convinced and thought I was probably imagining it. Now playing Tingvall Trio - Cirklar and soar it does. Then again, it wasn't exactly restrained before, but I now do think it might have got even better. The change certainly hasn't done any harm, that's for sure. Thanks for the tip.
How about surge protecting extension leads? Does anyone have any experience with those affecting the sound?
When I had a 282/250 combination and a bad case of transformer hum (our residential area is pretty bad in that respect), I did try a number of conditioners which cured the problem and sat on the music like a pillow. I’ve used a modified Furutech etp60 since then, stripped of its absorption crystals.
However I’ve recently tested and then purchased an Audioquest Niagara 1000 filter. I still don’t fully trust it, but so far it does seem to do what it promises for transparency and pacing, even with a current hungry Accuphase amp hooked up to it. It does have surge protection.
EJS posted:I’ve used a modified Furutech etp60 since then, stripped of its absorption crystals.
However I’ve recently tested and then purchased an Audioquest Niagara 1000 filter.
As I wrote earlier, but to be clearer.... I am allergic to everything called mains conditioners, net filters ,or whatever we choose to call it...but thats me.!
Hijacks transients ect....!
Better to review its electricity network in the home, go through and retighten all the screws throughout your electrical facility, the electrical-central, connectors, sockets,.... do not forget the electricity-meter and incoming electricity in the house.
Then pull a separate electrical cable to your music system from the electrical-central, use the least-loaded electrical phase, where not the refrigerator, circulation pump ect is connected.
Also check up, if anything you have in the house affects the music system,..... in that case replace, remove that power-connected product.
This will suffice for a hassle-free power supply to the music system.
◾ Then comes the question,.... how rough should the separate electric cable from the electrical-central to the music system be, what fuse ect..... but that question we take another time. Many here have probably different suggestions in this matter ????.
/Peder ????
Peder posted:EJS posted:I’ve used a modified Furutech etp60 since then, stripped of its absorption crystals.
However I’ve recently tested and then purchased an Audioquest Niagara 1000 filter.
As I wrote earlier, but to be clearer.... I am allergic to everything called mains conditioners, net filters ,or whatever we choose to call it...but thats me.!
Hijacks transients ect....!
Better to review its electricity network in the home, go through and retighten all the screws throughout your electrical facility, the electrical-central, connectors, sockets,.... do not forget the electricity-meter and incoming electricity in the house.
Then pull a separate electrical cable to your music system from the electrical-central, use the least-loaded electrical phase, where not the refrigerator, circulation pump ect is connected.
Also check up, if anything you have in the house affects the music system,..... in that case replace, remove that power-connected product.This will suffice for a hassle-free power supply to the music system.
◾ Then comes the question,.... how rough should the separate electric cable from the electrical-central to the music system be, what fuse ect..... but that question we take another time. Many here have probably different suggestions in this matter ????.
/Peder ????
It's not just you, I agree that getting the back end in order is a solid starting point. No fancy cabling in the wall or special fuses here, but we did install a separate grounded spur with its own breaker, which unfortunately do nothing to address a longstanding issue that at certain times of the day the system sounds duller than at other times, due to contaminated power coming into the house. I remain a sceptic, too, but don't close my ears to new approaches when they become available.
Cheers
EJ