Mains cable.. seen the light????

I blame it on the fairy dust.

Be interesting to swap back in the original lead to see if the improvements (alterations?) go away.

Well it was free.   

I agree mains cables can make a big difference. Whether it is a good or a bad influence depends on system synergy. 

Also does it have the same effect on source components?

One can look at it this way - it's not what it adds, but what it does not take away....

Ha ha... fascinating isn't it? Miles and miles of all sorts of cable & connections from the powerplant to your house, then the usually shitty standard wiring in the walls of your house and then the last meter/3 ft to your component can make make a (huge) difference. Right... 

Jawdropping but true nonetheless. Truth is, everything makes a difference as every piece of wire (mains and signal), joint and connector does 'something' to the signal it carries. Hence why a decicated spur with less joints & connections, better wire and less contamination from the rest of the house etc. usually works so well. Regarding mains it seems that the closer to the component, the bigger the effect (the famous last meter).

The trouble is that people tend to dismiss things they don't understand and/or that seem to defy logic. BTW, if you dig out the web there is lots of technical to be found on cables, what they do and why etc. But although interesting (imo), it doesn't really matter. We are surrounded but hundreds, if not thousands, of things, processes and phenomenon we don't understand or even know about every day. And we don't question or dismiss those either.

Just hook up those powercords, mains blocks and spurs, listen and be amazed and/or intriqued! 

Richard

Before spending on posh mains wires it's a good idea to install dedicated mains. 

It's not the last metre, but the first metre of wire seen by the system. Source first starts there.

Alternately (pun intended) as it's an AC supply, then it's neither the first nor the last metre, but the middle one.  

Marksnaim - I did swap back to the standard Naim mains cable and the difference is very clear.... so taking the comments given on a dedicated mains feed, I will look into this option as well - although is this means redecorating of any type will mean then it wont be an option for a while.... but I will look to experimenting with a Naim Powerline - a £500+ mains cable seems a bit crazy to me - but I will with an open mind at least try it, to see if I get another jump in sound improvement...

I will also look at trying an aftermarket mains cable on the power amp to see if there is further improvement that can be gained... I cant use the freebie Atlas cable I have as it's not rated at 13A which is the specification needed  

fernar posted:

...

I will also look at trying an aftermarket mains cable on the power amp to see if there is further improvement that can be gained... I cant use the freebie Atlas cable I have as it's not rated at 13A which is the specification needed  

 

OMG! your audio system is rated at 3kW?  

There are enough electrons in a meter of 6mm copper to provide 20 Amps of current at mains parameters without the electron average speed exceeding 1/30cm a second. Put another way having good copper etc  in the mains cord irons out the mains condition on entry to the box.

Its not in the interests of the manufactures to educate us, because then they can claim their bit of kit has some magic to it. Bit like the medicine man of the Wild West.

I found the Isotek Elite power cord better than the Powerline at half the cost. The Optimum is even better at slightly under the price of the Powerline for 1m, and uses Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) to produce a square wire made into an array. OCC copper can create wires that effectively have no crystal boundaries in far greater lengths than a power cord. OCC was invented quite a long time ago. From a physics point of view the electrons flow better when they don't have to cross crystal boundaries. They move as a current wave in a very coherent fashion within regular crystal structures.

If you want an extra meter it adds a few hundred pounds rather so you can see the cable is pretty expensive. It transformed my Rega Aria phonostage by reducing the background noise and taking the roughness out listening carefully - a very smooth realistic sound to all the instruments and voices.

Hope this helps to demystify a bit.

Phil

Hungryhalibut posted:

Before spending on posh mains wires it's a good idea to install dedicated mains. 

This.

[@mention:29161622620269955] I think claimed a 10mm SWA made his worse. I'm not claiming the dedicated radial is not a benefit.

Different parts do different things and it depends on the details of your home and national wiring standards. My home is large so ring mains enclose larger areas even though I have 6 rings. I don't keep SMPSs running 24/7 other than the hub. You need to know how these devices are connected. It is a shame you can't buy a transformer to power the hub and other stuff as that might be a lot cheaper than a dedicated radial supply.

A new radial is not like a power cord than you can try before buying.

Perhaps the bulk of improved quality audio sound that is achieved by power leads is by the type that incorporate a shielded wrap that omits local HF radio waves 'interference'.

The amount of 'local' HF wave 'air contamination' will assumably differ depending upon where one lives, so this could explain why some notice a big difference and some not.

Debs

 

fernar posted:

.... but I will look to experimenting with a Naim Powerline - a £500+ mains cable seems a bit crazy to me - but I will with an open mind at least try it, to see if I get another jump in sound improvement...

I will also look at trying an aftermarket mains cable on the power amp to see if there is further improvement that can be gained... I cant use the freebie Atlas cable I have as it's not rated at 13A which is the specification needed  

I totally agree with the advice to get good dedicated mains/spur first before flushing funds on power cords, mains blocks etc. H3ll, before anything really... Otherwise there is a fair chance to make choices upstream that mask or compensate aspects that root in poor mains downstream.

No sure if this is allowed to discuss but... if you know what you're doing it's not difficult and not too expensive (can be though!) to make your own power cords with good connectors and decent cables. The fun part of this is that you can hear just how much difference cables and connectors/plugs can make. Swap out a piece of cable with the same connectors and you'll 'hear the cable', vice versa, swap connectors on the same cable and you'll hear what connectors do. 

I'm in this process myself for the spur in my new house and the improvement or deterioration can be so big that I've found myself powering down my system a few times just to double check if something else was wrong (never was) as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. 

High quality connectors/plugs from the likes of Furutech, WattGate, iEgo, Oyaide, Marinco, etc. are usually available in Gold and Rhodium plated versions. The plugs are identical but the sonic difference between Rhodium and Gold plating alone is ermm.... 'amazing' to say the least. To my ears it's jawdropping but your mileage may vary.

All this goes for wall sockets / power outlets in mains blocks too. 

I've not heard anything Rhodium plated. How does is sound? 

Finkfan posted:

I've not heard anything Rhodium plated. How does is sound? 

General rhodium impact can be described as: fast and detailed.

Thanks Adam 

For any of you who are interested the hum/noise the mains leaves a time stamp on recording that can be used to detect when the recording was made. It's used in criminal forensics! By implication playback also. Click the link below to read what goes on with the national grid 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scie...environment-20629671

Phil

Page not found Phil 

Thanks Finkfan - it's fixed and was

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scie...environment-20629671

Clever stuff! 

Can the Police tell if you accidently put on a Take That cd?