What's Your Power Block.

[garyi]

Various ancient second-hand MusicWorks blocks here. I say various as Larry changed the spec every Thursday evening and no two are ever the same. I need switched outlets as a lot of my stuff either has no power switch (Quad 303, Leak TL12 Plus), or has one in a profoundly stupid place on the back (DPA). I’ve got three of them, one in each system, mostly bought second-hand for less than I could make one for. It amazes me how many audiophile mains blocks don’t have switched outlets these days. Just totally unfit for purpose IMO.

I have a power block almost identical to that I got at a booty for a quid. Separate single plug sockets x 6.

 

[graystoke4]

Hi, thanks, larry came round many years ago, to show me the mains block and MIT cable's, he Alas does not sell Spectral audio gear, in my thinking a bad mistake, but we have no distributor in the uk, i think he was looking into that, but no deal was to be done, pitty Spectral gear is first class, i only sold mine as there is no back-up in the uk, but europpe still sell it, it is cracking gear, had spectral for over 22 ish years not a problem,

 

[Tony L]

I have a power block almost identical to that I got at a booty for a quid. Separate single plug sockets x 6.

Bargain! FWIW I’ve paid £50-75 a piece for my three, which is cheaper than I could make equivalents, especially given the grey RS socket tray is no longer available.

 

[the caretaker]

Various ancient second-hand MusicWorks blocks here. I say various as Larry changed the spec every Thursday evening and no two are ever the same. I need switched outlets as a lot of my stuff either has no power switch (Quad 303, Leak TL12 Plus), or has one in a profoundly stupid place on the back (DPA). I’ve got three of them, one in each system, mostly bought second-hand for less than I could make one for. It amazes me how many audiophile mains blocks don’t have switched outlets these days. Just totally unfit for purpose IMO.

My Quad 909 has a switch on the back..is it ok to leave it on and switch it on and off at plug?

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Hi, thanks, larry came round many years ago, to show me the mains block and MIT cable's, he Alas does not sell Spectral audio gear, in my thinking a bad mistake, but we have no distributor in the uk, i think he was looking into that, but no deal was to be done, pitty Spectral gear is first class, i only sold mine as there is no back-up in the uk, but europpe still sell it, it is cracking gear, had spectral for over 22 ish years not a problem,

Spectral is good kit, but the latest top end Accuphase does more, IMHO. Spectral starts to feel like a bit of a one trick pony - speed is what it does.
If you like what Spectral does, you’d love CH Precision. Larry has recently taken that stuff on as well as doing Accuphase.

 

[Tony L]

My Quad 909 has a switch on the back..is it ok to leave it on and switch it on and off at plug?

Yes, absolutely. I do it with everything aside from the record deck. It saves wear on the kit‘s on/off switch, keeps the front panel free of fingermarks etc. If I’m going to wear anything out I’d far prefer it to be an easy to replace bog-standard switched mains socket!

 

[herb]

None, those that I used many years ago added coloration and reduced dynamics. I don't need more than two wall MK sockets. One is for my integrated amp and one for my CD player. The integrated amp was chosen deliberately to avoid the need for a block. Having said that my overhead wire electricity supply is not the best

 

[ryder]

Nordost QB6 v2 here, and a MusicWorks Reflex ultra. Absolutely certain my system would not sound this vibrant without this level of attention to power distribution. Tried a Puritan conditioner; that was, to use a familiar phrase, the day the music died.

May I ask which Puritan model the music died.

 

[Mike1965]

I use a 6 way one of these https://www.hammfg.com/fr/news/311-hammond-19-rack-mount-and-stand-alone-power-distribution-strips

 

[Mike Reed]

I’ve got a dedicated spur with unswitched MK sockets and a Wireworld Matrix off one of the sockets.

Be careful the Sparky police will be on you! No such thing as a dedicated spur! Dedicated Radial.

A spur CAN be dedicated (to hifi) but only in a linguistic sense. In an electrical sense, as you say, no.

 

[Heckyman]

I use a 6 way one of these https://www.hammfg.com/fr/news/311-hammond-19-rack-mount-and-stand-alone-power-distribution-strips

Interesting, does this mean there are no fuses in the plugs?

 

[Martyn Miles]

My four way one came from my University Lab.
The Management decided to buy new all-plastic ones.
The old ones were metal boxed, with two double sockets in the casing.
Quality switches, unlike the new ones.
Still working after 25 odd years.
I expect the all plastic ones went to the tip decades ago.

 

[Mike1965]

The radial was first and made a slight improvement, less grainy sounding. Next was the block and I had to reterminate my power leads with Schurter IEC plugs. This was an all round improvement like a source upgrade, no grain, more clearly defined everything really. A cumulative effect for sure and I'm using standard cables for all the mains. No complaints at all with the performance.

 

[matt j]

A Tacima one, it was flavor of the month for a while, about 15 years ago.

Cheers BB

Same here, although they are nearly £40 now and I reckon I only paid 20 tops.

 

[Brown Bottle]

Same here, although they are nearly £40 now and I reckon I only paid 20 tops.

I got mine from Maplin, about £20 sounds about right.

Cheers BB

 

[Heckyman]

The radial was first and made a slight improvement, less grainy sounding. Next was the block and I had to reterminate my power leads with Schurter IEC plugs. This was an all round improvement like a source upgrade, no grain, more clearly defined everything really. A cumulative effect for sure and I'm using standard cables for all the mains. No complaints at all with the performance.

Thanks, I will give this a shot sometime!

 

[Rosie]

Music Works ' Straight six ' the one Tony likes . The (Malaysian ?) sockets on both of mine had begun to get brittle and were cracking from the slots. They are very old now and there are many different versions . Still a great power block .
Replaced with a Music Works Gen 3 Ultra with the AccuPlex base plate . Simply sublime .
And a MusicWorks Reflex Lite ( Modified ) . I have replaced one socket with a switched socket so I can turn off my Naim Napsc and a cheeky AccuPlex base plate that Larry supplied to - a nice upgrade .

In the past I used a Musicline Powerigel , good but the MusicWorks Ultra Gen 3 is much better .

And also in the now quite distant past , where did the years go . Two of the four cables into one mains plugs thingys sold under different brand names . Ridiculously good value for money .

So Musicworks !
But phone the shop The Audioworks cos the Musicworks phone number didn't work for me .

 

[Rosie]

Oh yeah went to a Naim factory visit with audio T Oxford just before Christmas and Jason recommended the MusicWorks

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

May I ask which Puritan model the music died.

I think it was the 136, but not certain about that. Was one of the earlier ones, probably 5 years ago?

 

[Craig B]

Don't forget massive improvement in expectation bias, Mike.