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Mains Conditioner s What Do Yer Think ?

Z

zeon

pfm Member
So, ive been looking to try one of these said products for some while. And when eventually an Isotek ( gemini Orion ) popped up for not too many shillings I was a happy bunny. It's the type that looks like a glorified extension block ( albeit substantial ) rather than an amplifier chassis thingy. Well, in the great hi fi world where " one thinks " that sounds a bit better... or does it ?, there s an improvement... or is there ? Well, you get the idea... we've all been in this game long enough !!
However placing the Isotek into the hi fi chain was quite a revelation... in my view !.
Mids sweeten up and flesh out, definition is better ( whatever that is, ha !) soundstage improves.
Altogether a more pleasurable listening experience, or am I talking utter garbage... I often do !
What do others think ?. I live in London though, so that may tell a story in itself !!
 
I use a an isotek minisub mainly because it was cheap, and keeps all the cabling tidy. No idea if it has any sonic advantage
 
I've tried a few bits and bobs. Started with a Tacima, progressed to Isotek and now also have a dedicated mains supply for all my kit which I had done as part of a house rewire.

If it sounds great keep it. Ignore the naysayers. Go put on another song and smile!
 
I have surge protection on all my outlets that power expensive stuff, and a DC blocker on my main system to remove DC offset on the mains that causes my amplifiers' transformers to hum. I don't feel that I need anything else
 
I use a couple of James Audio conditioners because I have them and and a six way switched Musicworks block because I have that. It is the easiest way to plug in all the stuff and turn it on and off in roughly the correct order.

Whether they “squash” the dynamics and do other nasties depends on the specification of what you buy and the nature of your equipment. Like most Naim owners I thought they were the devil’s work when I had that brand. With my present equipment they don’t seem to do any harm and may even help. Yes, I’m in London too.
 
When I had a more modest set up, I used to have Isotek Sigmas conditioners and a Syncro DC blocker.

I found that as I went upmarket the Isotek was less and less useful with the possible exception the Syndro.

PS: good sounding amps which do not have buzzing transformers (so don't need a DC blocker) do exist :)
 
Many folk I know who’ve experimented end up settling on a conditioner on sources and pre but not on integrated or power amps due to the perception of squashed dynamics.

I had a once-quite-expensive Isotek block with a couple of high current sockets for amplifiers but accidentally got the sockets mixed up and sound quality was noticeably worse. Basically I had plugged everything in and then not used the system for a couple of weeks, and when I came back to it I was underwhelmed to the point of wondering whether it was time for a change of kit; when I eventually realised what I’d done and used the correct sockets, all was once again well with the world. Eventually the power amp ended up plugged directly into the wall.
 
haha thats funny Flash, I plugged my Michell Alecto monos into the isotek and thought it much better ! Maybe we were both right... in our own particular systems !
 
rag987 said:
It might be the case - however give it a couple of weeks, then remove and re-listen. If you miss something in the sound you are on to a winner.
Click to expand...
Yes funny enough I did have to take the Iso out of the system for a while... and I did miss something... it was less musical.... and now it's more musical with it back in !!
 
I had a mini sub and done something similar to Flash. My problem was I got more than a flash, I had smoke and burning, turns out after sending the sub back to Isotek, they reckon that I must have had an over current amp plugged into one of the lower rated sockets. Needless to say the sub was not repaired or replaced as they only offered a 5% good will gesture on a new one!!
Beware and double check all your connections.
 
I emailed EAR regarding whether to plug a valve amp of theirs into the minisub or walk direct as I heard urban myths about tdp saying it shouldn't be. He gave me a one liner reply which I honestly can't remember, tried both ways and decided I couldn't be arsed so just left it plugged into it.

I can see the benefits of a regenerator if you have 242v or something, but filtering eh who knows. I doubt any surge protector will protect your kit from lightning either
 
I've found that using a grossly oversized Topaz/MGE/Taiyo Yuden/Xentek 1:1 isolation transformer, feeding a Furman Elite PFI conditioner, has not truncated any dynamics for my Supernait 3 or tube system. 2.5kVa .0005pf iso xformer for the tube system into an Elite 15 PFI; 5.2kVa .001pf iso xformer into a Furman Elite 20 PFI for the SN3 & HiCap DR.

In fact, dynamics seem accentuated.

Bonus: DC can't jump the windings, so all my power transformers are dead silent, even with my ear to the case.
 
zeon said:
So, ive been looking to try one of these said products for some while. And when eventually an Isotek ( gemini Orion ) popped up for not too many shillings I was a happy bunny. It's the type that looks like a glorified extension block ( albeit substantial ) rather than an amplifier chassis thingy. Well, in the great hi fi world where " one thinks " that sounds a bit better... or does it ?, there s an improvement... or is there ? Well, you get the idea... we've all been in this game long enough !!
However placing the Isotek into the hi fi chain was quite a revelation... in my view !.
Mids sweeten up and flesh out, definition is better ( whatever that is, ha !) soundstage improves.
Altogether a more pleasurable listening experience, or am I talking utter garbage... I often do !
What do others think ?. I live in London though, so that may tell a story in itself !!
Click to expand...
If you have the product and are enjoying the result then does it really matter what the explanation is?

I suspect that you specifically have a mains noise filter. And Isotek's blurb suggests they know how to construct a good and functional filter. However filtering is only technically needed if there is enough noise on your particular mains supply for your specific kit to be influenced by it.

I experimented years ago with building and trying out mains filters. With my mains supply and my kit I could detect no difference. I more recently ran my current kit with and without one of my filters over periods of a couple of weeks, and again no difference was apparent. I concluded both times that my own mains supply is clean enough and/or my specific kit is resistant enough to not be impacted, so there's no problem here that needs a solution.

Mains noise filtering is used in equipment other than HiFi. Although I have never heard a benefit on audio kit I assume noise filtering is needed and is effective in at least some circumstances. So, it looks like a case of YMMV, although with mandated modern conducted noise immunity standards I would hope that most HiFi kit is sufficiently immune to the usual levels of mains noise.
 
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