Grahams Hydra Leads

3-in-1 for XPS, Hicap, 200 and use the other wall socket for NAPSC.

4 headed for the whole lot.

Nigel

Just a thought i had yesterday. If someone was using 2 napsc units (perhaps for a 202 and one for a headline) would it be worth getting a 2-1 hydra for these?

Many thanks for the advice. I thought Id check here, before ringing up the dealer so the advice I got had less of an ulteria motive!

Thanks again

Jon

Just make sure if you go for it to get the genuine article, there is some truely poor copies on ebay at the moment.

Hi again.

I am perplexed about the quality improvements to expect from the Grahams Hydra. If everyone on this forum can improve their sound for as cheap as £80 are they? This is regardless of system quality of course!!

What I mean is, is the Grahams Hydra the same as having a special spur for the hifi, away from any other household items - like a direct link to the power station so to speak?

Does it also remove the mains background 'hum'?

I apologise for the naive questions, but I love being a member of this forum and thrive on the tips I pick up from you all!!

Jon

NAPSC has a captured lead so the question is irrelevant surely.

I'm pretty sure it's not as good? as a dedicated spur/ring. It is quite a cheap item though and might make the "back of house" a bit tidier also.
I tried a home made version with Wattgate plugs and did not notice any difference but YMMV.

Howard

quote:

Originally posted by hungryhalibut:
4 headed for the whole lot.

Nigel

Seconded.

quote:

What I mean is, is the Grahams Hydra the same as having a special spur for the hifi, away from any other household items - like a direct link to the power station so to speak?

No, it's not the same. The hydra is a very effective way of plugging in a number of components, and will improve the sound if plugged into you ordinary ring main. It's much better than using a normal multiway extension.

A mains spur gives a dedicated supply to the stereo that is unaffected by other things plugged in - like computers, fridges, lights etc.

A hydra is definitely worth having, and so is a spur. To give you an idea, my spur, which has 10mm2 wire and a separate consumer unit, cost under £200.

I'd go with the hydra (get a proper one from Grahams - they are really helpful and efficient) and think about a spur later. The hydra will take a week or so to sound right, so don't judge it straight away.

If you have a naspc1 with a captive lead, simply terminate it with a female IEC connector and plug the hydra into that. If you have a napsc2 it has a normal socket like all the other boxes.

Nigel

Thanks for the advice, Nigel, I'll do that and let you know.

You say that the dedicated spur you have cost £200... I have to admit that my knowledge in electricity isn't too hot - do you mean that to have a nice power source for your hifi equipment (not interfered with by other electronics) cost you under £200??

If thats the case then its definitely an upgrade I'll do after the hydra. Would I presumably have to book an electrician into my house?

Im so sorry for the naivety, but my knowledge aint the strongest!

Thanks

Jon

Hi Jon,

The spur thing - A pictorial guide.

As Nigel has explained, a separate mains spur can be a cost effective upgrade of the REAL source. It should get rid of the deleterious effects of other household items on the ring main. PCs are a notable example. Before my separate spur, a powered up PC had an obviously negative effect on sound quality.

But ......... a separate spur is not a panacea for a shitty mains supply. If you have distortion on the mains in your area (and most of us do to a greater or lesser extent), toroidal transformers will still buzz. Fortunately, this does not seem to have an audible effect on sound quality.

Ideally, your incoming household supply should be split, and fed to a separate consumer unit (basically a 30/40 amp fuse box) - which then feeds the system. Again, ideally a single unswitched socket from which I run a 3-way Graham's Hydra to feed the three powered items of the system.

The black box at the bottom of this picture is the splitter.



One set of 'tails' from that box feeds the household fuse box - the other goes directly to the lower smaller box in this picture, which is the dedicated consumer unit, feeding the system via heavy duty 'electric cooker' type cable.



My installation cost under £200 too. A veritable bargain.

I hope that helps.

John.

PS. Be prepared for some electricians shaking their heads in dismay, and telling you that it's unneccesary for a Hi-Fi system!

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
NAPSC has a captured lead so the question is irrelevant surely.

I'm pretty sure it's not as good? as a dedicated spur/ring. It is quite a cheap item though and might make the "back of house" a bit tidier also.
I tried a home made version with Wattgate plugs and did not notice any difference but YMMV.

Howard

A new napsc has an iec socket on it.

Ok re NAPSC I was speaking about the original ones.

I have a Grahams Hydra one for the five components as recommended by Grahams and it is a cheap and very effective upgrade. I then got a dedicated spur fitted by a qualified electrician for less than £200. I think that the cost of the spur is going to depend to a considerable extent on how easy it is to do the job. In our case it was simply a matter of running the cable from the mains box in the garrage round a few feet of wall and into the lounge. This together with the hydra is, I would say, a better up grade then flatcap to hicap.

I spent about £250 on a spur, but in my case, there was no perceptible difference to the sound.
I later invested £60 on a 4-way plug fitted with Naim power cables, and gained a very clear improvement in clarity.
The improvement is maintained if I plug the "4 in one" into the ring main. The ring I use for audio has TV, PVR, VCR and phone chargers on it, but no computer equipment or fridge. I don't know whether this is significant.
Judging form the variety of opinions on this subject, I assume that the quality of the existing supply is the determining factor in establishing whether a spur will give any inprovement.
I would go for a trial of the Hydra, Powerigel or "4 in one" plug first. All provide star earthing, though with huge differences in cost. It's a bit more difficult to take a spur back to the suuplier if you don't like it!
Ken

I have a Powerigel on a ring main. A spur would be relatively easy but at the present time I'm not hearing any incentive to do so. My system is CDX2/XPS2 202/200 H-Cap2/NAPSC2. Sound familiar? Best advice - audition the various options at a dealer. If they have the option of testing a system of a ring main and a spur then even better.

Mike

I put in a separate spur for my system and took the trouble to earth it with a 3 foot copper rod. I did all the work myself and got a qualified electrician to make the connection. It did not cost anything like £200. He, the electrician, thought I was off my trolley but I genuinely believe I can hear quite noticeable audio benefits for doing so. JMTPW.

I have a Hydra and can heartily recommend getting one. It is a reasonably cheap way of improving your sound quality.