Mains filters
 

Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

Have been doing some investigation and there may actually be something
in this. Not talking Russ Andrews style £250 mains cables here, more
like sticking a plug with a filter onto a standard IEC lead, and
possibly using one of those Masterplug RFI filtered 4-way blocks.

Has anyone done any serious experimentation on this? I did hear a quite
convincing demonstration at the Sound & Vision show in Bristol a few
years ago, but the mains there is probably a lot dirtier than your
typical home installation.

What myself and a few others have figured out is that the level of RFI
introduced onto your ring main by something like the switching PSU in a
typical PC is quite high.

Opinions, people?

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Mains filters
 

"Glenn Richards" wrote in message
. uk...
Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

If you're going to upgrade your power cable you really ought to do it all
the way back to the substation, otherwise it's a bit pointless...

Mains filters
 

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:39:53 +0000, Glenn Richards
wrote:

Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

Have been doing some investigation and there may actually be something
in this. Not talking Russ Andrews style £250 mains cables here, more
like sticking a plug with a filter onto a standard IEC lead, and
possibly using one of those Masterplug RFI filtered 4-way blocks.

Has anyone done any serious experimentation on this? I did hear a quite
convincing demonstration at the Sound & Vision show in Bristol a few
years ago, but the mains there is probably a lot dirtier than your
typical home installation.

What myself and a few others have figured out is that the level of RFI
introduced onto your ring main by something like the switching PSU in a
typical PC is quite high.

Opinions, people?

You're really ready to believe, aren't you :-) Or is Squirrel
thinking of moving into the magic cable market?

Mains filters
 

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:39:53 +0000, Glenn Richards
wrote:

Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

Have been doing some investigation and there may actually be something
in this. Not talking Russ Andrews style £250 mains cables here, more
like sticking a plug with a filter onto a standard IEC lead, and
possibly using one of those Masterplug RFI filtered 4-way blocks.

Has anyone done any serious experimentation on this? I did hear a quite
convincing demonstration at the Sound & Vision show in Bristol a few
years ago, but the mains there is probably a lot dirtier than your
typical home installation.

What myself and a few others have figured out is that the level of RFI
introduced onto your ring main by something like the switching PSU in a
typical PC is quite high.

Opinions, people?

Glen,, please give it a rest. You aren't funny any more and this is
all becoming just a little boring.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

Mains filters
 

Rich Wilson wrote:

If you're going to upgrade your power cable you really ought to do it
all the way back to the substation, otherwise it's a bit pointless...

Well that was my initial thought... but apparently not.

In a conversation I had with a friend, we determined that power cables
are good at carrying low frequencies, and poor at carrying higher
frequencies. So RFI picked up at the substation won't make it to your
house, but interference sources in your house will cause RFI to reach
your kit.

For the record, at the moment my hi-fi equipment is plugged into a surge
protected 4-way strip, nothing more elaborate.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Mains filters
 

Laurence Payne wrote:

Or is Squirrel thinking of moving into the magic cable market?

Well, perhaps... ;-)

I've figured out a method of constructing a filtered power cable for
less than £10 materials cost, depending on quantity. Which, if the hi-fi
mags are anything to go by, will sell for anything up to £60.

And if it does make a perceptible difference, however tiny, that means
£50 profit each time...

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Mains filters
 

Don Pearce wrote:

Glen,, please give it a rest. You aren't funny any more and this is
all becoming just a little boring.

And herein lies the problem with this group.

I ask a serious question, expecting some sensible responses, and instead
all I get are sarcastic comments.

The theory is sound anyway, if sticking an LCR filter across the mains
input does indeed reduce the noise floor. As reducing the noise floor
(by whatever means) improves dynamics. And this I have tested, I've
recently been involved in cleaning up some recordings made about 25
years ago on analogue equipment. This process involves re-EQ followed by
digital noise reduction, and the results before and after applying the
noise reduction are nothing short of dramatic.

This is using Nero Wave Editor (that comes with Nero Burning ROM), so no
fancy expensive software.

My question was a serious one, as it's obvious to anyone with any
knowledge of audio that lowering the noise floor will improve the sound.

So, I repeat. If you've got a lot of electrically noisy equipment on the
same ring main as the hi-fi (eg switching power supplies in PCs etc)
that's kicking out a lot of RF interference on the ring main, would it
not follow that eliminating (or at least greatly reducing) this noise,
and therefore providing a clean power feed to the amplifier and other
equipment, would lower the noise floor?

Once again, I'm not for a moment advocating spending £250 on something
from Russ Andrews. What I'm actually talking about is getting a standard
IEC lead for a couple of quid, then fitting a filtered 13A plug to it,
also for a couple of quid. At trade prices in single quantities this
will cost less than a fiver (which is actually less than you pay for a
standard IEC cable at places like PC World).

So, would someone like to provide a serious answer now?

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Mains filters
 

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 08:18:33 +0000, Glenn Richards
wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Glen,, please give it a rest. You aren't funny any more and this is
all becoming just a little boring.

And herein lies the problem with this group.

I ask a serious question, expecting some sensible responses, and instead
all I get are sarcastic comments.

No, you were trolling.

The theory is sound anyway, if sticking an LCR filter across the mains
input does indeed reduce the noise floor.
No it doesn't. Nobody who knows what they are talking about has ever
told you any such thing. Did you make this up, or read it in one of
the audio comics?

As reducing the noise floor
(by whatever means) improves dynamics. And this I have tested, I've
recently been involved in cleaning up some recordings made about 25
years ago on analogue equipment. This process involves re-EQ followed by
digital noise reduction, and the results before and after applying the
noise reduction are nothing short of dramatic.

Cleaning up recordings most certainly does *not* involve eq. That
would be changing recordings.

This is using Nero Wave Editor (that comes with Nero Burning ROM), so no
fancy expensive software.

My question was a serious one, as it's obvious to anyone with any
knowledge of audio that lowering the noise floor will improve the sound.

Read above - you can filter the mains til you turn blue and you won't
change your noise floor by even a milli dB.

So, I repeat. If you've got a lot of electrically noisy equipment on the
same ring main as the hi-fi (eg switching power supplies in PCs etc)
that's kicking out a lot of RF interference on the ring main, would it
not follow that eliminating (or at least greatly reducing) this noise,
and therefore providing a clean power feed to the amplifier and other
equipment, would lower the noise floor?

Turn your amplifier on, with no music playing and listen. Leave the
volume control in the normal listening position and sit in your
listening chair. What can you hear? Anything? Of course not. And what
little hiss there is comes from the front end of the amplifier. None
of it comes from the mains.

Once again, I'm not for a moment advocating spending £250 on something
from Russ Andrews. What I'm actually talking about is getting a standard
IEC lead for a couple of quid, then fitting a filtered 13A plug to it,
also for a couple of quid. At trade prices in single quantities this
will cost less than a fiver (which is actually less than you pay for a
standard IEC cable at places like PC World).

So, would someone like to provide a serious answer now?

Good old Russ Andrews - he has successfully conned £250 out of you.
Now wise up and stop waving your stupidity like a flag of honour.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

Mains filters
 

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 10:39:13 +0200, "Iain Churches"
wrote:


"Glenn Richards" wrote in message
.uk...
Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

Have been doing some investigation and there may actually be something in
this. Not talking Russ Andrews style £250 mains cables here, more like
sticking a plug with a filter onto a standard IEC lead, and possibly using
one of those Masterplug RFI filtered 4-way blocks.

Has anyone done any serious experimentation on this? I did hear a quite
convincing demonstration at the Sound & Vision show in Bristol a few years
ago, but the mains there is probably a lot dirtier than your typical home
installation.

What myself and a few others have figured out is that the level of RFI
introduced onto your ring main by something like the switching PSU in a
typical PC is quite high.

Opinions, people?


Hello Glenn. A couple of days ago, I popped in for 30 secs to
an audio demo at a local dealership to take him some audition
material. He was demonstrating a mains filter unit. He had a
tunable RF gadget with a small inbuilt speaker which he plugged
into a wall socket. Radio transmissions and very loud hash could
clearly be heard. Then he plugged the gadget into one of the
filtered outlets. Silence.


It had a filter in it - what would you expect? This has nothing
whatever to do with audio noise.

The unit was about 4U in height, and had ten mains outlets
on the rear panel.

I was there for only a few seconds, (car parked on a yellow
line) The dealer has promised me some literature.

Regards to all
Iain



Don't be conned; there is no need.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

Mains filters
 

In article , Glenn
Richards wrote:
Just a quick straw poll...

What are people's opinions of mains filters, upgraded power cables etc?

That mains filters may be useful if you are having a problem with audible
'clicks and pops' from the mains, and can't suppress them at source.

Ideally, though, the audio equipment is well enough designed to prevent
such problems being audible.

However, simply chainging 'mains cable' with no filter or surge suppressor
is probably a waste of effort.

Slainte,

Jim

--
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Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html