UK Mains Supply.

[Barstool]

Apologies if this has been done to death but there is so much conflicting information out there and I`d be keen to hear some thoughts on this.

I have a fairly decent system, B&W 803 D4`s, 2 off JL 10" Subs, Auralic G2.1, Musical Fidelity Tri Vista 300 (John Sampson Upgraded) and Eximus DP1 DAC, so a mixture of old and new. I worked in the HiFi industry for several years and have heard some amazing systems, Personally I think my system performs really well most of the time.

I am lucky enough to have good hearing and as a muscian (guitar) I have a limited understanding of production techniques and have near perfect pitch.

Having recently installed a number of acoustic panels and some better (silver) cables all round, the focus and sound stage have shown dramatic improvements, well in HiFi terms at least.

In then dawned on me, my amp and DAC are plugged in to a cheap crappy power bar, how did I miss that one ? The Streamer is fed from a twin socket wired directly from the mains, albeit again via a not great power bar, due to locations of equipment.

There is no audible noise from the speakers, and I am not convinced by line or mains conditioners but, am considering a good quality power bar like the Isol 8 at around £600.

I`m not a constant `tweaker` but this is perplexing me so would very much appreciate some advice and opinions.

Thanks!

 

[voodooless]

Hi there, and welcome!

Frankly: don’t spend useless money on something like that unless you want some kind of surge protector for things like lightning strikes and such. For that you don’t even need to spend that kind of money either.

There is no audible benefit to such products, nor to your “silver” cables.

 

[Galliardist]

You don't need to worry about it at all. The system will work fine with what you have and you don't need anything fancy: no special power cables, no special power boards or similar.

If by the slightest chance your MF amp (the oldest component here) has a detachable lead, and is being used with a lead that does not have a moulded mains plug, you may want to check for corrosion inside the plug, or replace it with a basic power lead with a moulded plug. That's all.

You report great sound. Why so paranoid?

 

[JayGilb]

As mentioned before, power conditioners would only help with surges or spikes.
However, I am an advocate for a decent power bar/strip. I personally only use power bars that have actual outlets on them as opposed to the cheaper ones that use parallel strips of metal to pass power to all connections. There is no initial audible benefit to the quality power bars, but I have found that the plug connections on the cheaper ones do seem to loosen after time and repeated plugging and have had some ground issues arise.

 

[Galliardist]

As mentioned before, power conditioners would only help with surges or spikes.
However, I am an advocate for a decent power bar/strip. I personally only use power bars that have actual outlets on them as opposed to the cheaper ones that use parallel strips of cheap metal to pass power to all connections. There is no initial audible benefit to the quality power bars, but I have found that the plug connections on the cheaper ones do seem to loosen after time and repeated plugging and have had some ground issues arise.

You're unlikely to run into a really bad design in the UK as long as the device is certified to the relevant British Standard. I've been in Australia for the last 20 years and things may have gone awry in that time, of course.

 

[Mart68]

It's worth spending a bit extra over 'centre aisle at Lidl' price to get a power strip made to a high standard, with durable plastic case to prevent fall-apart.

I paid £100 some years ago which is way over the top, but nothing's too good for my system

No need to spend £600.

 

[chelgrian]

The right search term is 'PDU' or power delivery unit. You can get something robustly built with enough individual 13A sockets and surge protection, if you feel you need it, for significantly south of £100.

You can also pay a lot more if you want fancy features like per socket remote control and power metering.

This is going to make no difference at all to the sound of your system though it's just about robustness and general niceness of the items.

Steer clear of *any* hifi retailer selling mains items at best they will be pointless at worst they may be dangerous.

The non hifi world runs on all and sundry electrical distribution and wiring items from MK Electric (owned by Honeywell) and Schneider (who also own APC)

 

[Soniclife]

You're unlikely to run into a really bad design in the UK as long as the device is certified to the relevant British Standard. I've been in Australia for the last 20 years and things may have gone awry in that time, of course.

Still the same, as long as it's rated at 13 amps, the really cheap ones are usually 5 amp.

 

[Barstool]

Thanks for the input chaps, appreciated.

It`s a difficult one, I`ve been looking at the Isol 8 Integra, it gets some pretty convincing, positive reviews, my trusted dealer, doesn`t sell them but they use this unit and tell me the improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

They are lending me one so I`m looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks again!

 

[badboygolf16v]

The improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

Load of bollocks as us Brits say.

 

[RayDunzl]

would very much appreciate some advice

There are some tests of power appliances here.

Generally, "no difference" is found in measurements of the audio gear attached.

Search results for query: "power conditioner"

www.audiosciencereview.com

And power cords

Search results for query: "power cord"

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[chelgrian]

Thanks for the input chaps, appreciated.

It`s a difficult one, I`ve been looking at the Isol 8 Integra, it gets some pretty convincing, positive reviews, my trusted dealer, doesn`t sell them but they use this unit and tell me the improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

They are lending me one so I`m looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks again!

You can't say anything without a blind test with near instant switchover which is obviously difficult in this case.

Confirmation bias will mean that you will notice a difference when you put this thing in your system despite the fact no physical difference exists.

You seem to have already made up your mind to buy this thing despite what we are telling you about there being no mechanism for it to make a difference to the sound of your system. All of the things is claims to do are already done by any competently design power supply in a piece of equipment.

Issues with an incompetently designed power supply would be obvious as effects such as 50hz hum, obvious noise etc.

You know what I said earlier about incompetently designed equipment being dangerous, well that isol8 Integra is dangerous in a home environment. It appears to use an original neutrik PowerCon for connection to the mains. These are not rated for connection and disconnection under load and the manufacturers instructions say they are not for use in a domestic environment.

Thus if you had an issue such as your house burning down and it was traced back to this thing is it very likely your insurance would not be valid and not pay out.

 

[Galliardist]

You can't say anything without a blind test with near instant switchover which is obviously difficult in this case.

Confirmation bias will mean that you will notice a difference when you put this thing in your system despite the fact no physical difference exists.

You seem to have already made up your mind to buy this thing despite what we are telling you about there being no mechanism for it to make a difference to the sound of your system. All of the things is claims to do are already done by any competently design power supply in a piece of equipment.

Issues with an incompetently designed power supply would be obvious as effects such as 50hz hum, obvious noise etc.

You know what I said earlier about incompetently designed equipment being dangerous, well that isol8 Integra is dangerous in a home environment. It appears to use an original neutrik PowerCon for connection to the mains. These are not rated for connection and disconnection under load and the manufacturers instructions say they are not for use in a domestic environment.

Thus if you had an issue such as your house burning down and it was traced back to this thing is it very likely your insurance would not be valid and not pay out.

That surprised me. I went and looked, and it appears to check out. The ISOL 8 website confirms the powerCon in its specs, and it is as described on the neutrik website.

If you must buy any of these things, make sure they are properly designed.

 

[threni]

my trusted dealer... tell me the improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

They are lending me one so I`m looking forward to trying it out

I'd not trust that dealer. Sounds like they're deluded or shysters.
Trying one out won't prove anything either as it'll be impossible to properly blind test, so all you'll be doing is proving to yourself what you already believe to be the case - that it has to sound better. But there's no reason why it should.

 

[Mart68]

Thanks for the input chaps, appreciated.

It`s a difficult one, I`ve been looking at the Isol 8 Integra, it gets some pretty convincing, positive reviews, my trusted dealer, doesn`t sell them but they use this unit and tell me the improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

They are lending me one so I`m looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks again!

either your dealer is lying to make a sale or he knows little about a subject that he should really be an expert in (unless it's his first day). I wouldn't trust what he tells you either way.

'Only works on higher end systems' is standard objection handling. If after trying it you go back to him and report no difference he can just say 'Well that just shows that your system could be better, have you thought about getting a better amplifier and better speakers?' and so on.


You have a very capable system. In good acoustic it will be approaching the limit of what is possible for domestic replay. Be content and enjoy it, and spend the money on something worthwhile instead.

 

[JeremyFife]

Try to read around the subject - reputable sources; no hi-fi vendors or review sites.
What is it about a UK mains supply that could influence audio gear and the resulting sound. What difference can it make to the end to end power supply if you change just the last couple of meters. What does your equipment actually do with that signal?
Spoiler; nothing, nothing and your kit filters out anything bad anyway
Surge protection is different.

(Huge simplification of the subject, sorry for that)
Our brains want there to be differences, so they make us hear them ... Your hifi salesman probably actually believes that the kit they sell makes a difference - it doesn't.

 

[chelgrian]

That surprised me. I went and looked, and it appears to check out. The ISOL 8 website confirms the powerCon in its specs, and it is as described on the neutrik website.

If you must buy any of these things, make sure they are properly designed.

powerCON is used a lot in industrial, pro audio and pro lighting environments. However even there things slowly moving to the newer 'True1' version which is rated for mating under load.

You'll note that even 'dual use' equipment such as most of the active PA that Thomann sell will have IEC inlets on it rather than powerCON.

 

[CleanSound]

Having recently installed a number of acoustic panels and some better (silver) cables all round

Cables does not make any difference aside from eye candy at best.

then dawned on me, my amp and DAC are plugged in to a cheap crappy power bar, how did I miss that one ?

As long as it let sufficient current pass without tripping, it's all you need.

If you care about power protection, get yourself a whole house surge protector.

 

[Audiofire]

Our brains want there to be differences, so they make us hear them ... Your hifi salesman probably actually believes that the kit they sell makes a difference - it doesn't.

Glad there are still believers out there for those who have buyer's remorse and want to get rid of stuff.

 

[tw99]

Thanks for the input chaps, appreciated.

It`s a difficult one, I`ve been looking at the Isol 8 Integra, it gets some pretty convincing, positive reviews, my trusted dealer, doesn`t sell them but they use this unit and tell me the improvement over just plugging into the wall is palpable in higher end systems, as it gives units the opportunity to operate towards the peak of their performance, a cheap set of tyres on a Ferrari thing.

They are lending me one so I`m looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks again!

"Palpable" is a trigger word that tells you the person speaking is an audiophile lunatic.. you should run away screaming