Does a separate mains spur for hifi make a difference?
- Thread starter junk01
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Pterodactyl
pfm Member
Does it ever get hot under there?
Does that make you feel angry?
Pterodactyl
pfm Member
One bloke on a similar thread on the Naim Forum yesterday did say that his SQ got worse when he did it.
He showed pictures of it - both a dedicated radial and a dedicated ring - one with 10mm and one with some eye-watering Furutech cable.
He got fed up waiting for it to improve and then went back to the mains ring.
But then he fitted some AQ power cables between mains sockets and hifi boxes, and balance of his (non-Naim) system was restored and he resumed using the dedicated lines.
Pterodactyl
pfm Member
Well, either listen to your inner engineer - or take a punt and try it and see what it sounds like.
If you do it and hear improvement you can spend years pondering why it might sound better, despite what they teach in engineering school saying that it's impossible.
One part of an explanation could be that human ears are amazingly sensitive to tiny differences.
Another is that posh hifi systems are amazingly sensitive to tiny changes in the 'room/system/leccy/listener complex'.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
Quirky ones with poorly designed power supplies.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
Oh so you mean stuff like some Naim kit. Never thought of it as 'posh' though. Overpriced yes but not posh. That why I asked the poster what was considered to be posh.
Cheers,
DV
westsea
Retirement present
Why should I take a punt on on spending money and time on an activity so fruitless in my judgement. I don't have a problem, with a perfectly adequate 32 amp ring main, and a pair of Active amps rated at about 350 watts each, the amps date from 1996/7 so are not posh. Engineering training does not proscribe to impossibilities, anyway I have picked up odd bits of information since I started my engineering education and training over 60 years ago. Yes I understand your point about human hearing, and the complexity of hi fi, some of which is beyond my understanding. However my current punt is whether to replace the tweeters in my K100 speakers from Wilmslow Audio circa 1996. In my judgement a much more likely prospect than farting about with mains cables.
In McCauley's textbook on materials, he has short quotes at the heading on each chapter. The one I remember vividly - 'An engineer is someone who can do for a penny what any fool can do for twopence'
Translated - Engineering is about value and economics
Now I must go and mow the lawn
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I have a theory that audiophools and Brexiteers have much in common... probably all audiophools voted leave in fact!
Both make a point of ignoring all facts, both, when confronted by highly complex subjects say "we don't need experts" and take advice only from those who patently don't know their arse from their elbow and often even from those with highly dubious ulterior motives, both when confronted by irrefutable evidence that they are wrong will stick their fingers in their ears and go la la la very loudly, both seemingly believe in unicorns but not books on economics or electronics... The rumour that they only use Made in Britain wire, with white insulation, I couldn't possibly comment on....
Both make a point of ignoring all facts, both, when confronted by highly complex subjects say "we don't need experts" and take advice only from those who patently don't know their arse from their elbow and often even from those with highly dubious ulterior motives, both when confronted by irrefutable evidence that they are wrong will stick their fingers in their ears and go la la la very loudly, both seemingly believe in unicorns but not books on economics or electronics... The rumour that they only use Made in Britain wire, with white insulation, I couldn't possibly comment on....
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
I think this ancient idiom is spot on "The blind leading the blind". So these sorts of situations have been going for for thousands of years.
This also around the same age "Nor does the non-expert teach the non-expert - any more than the blind can lead the blind."
You could also call them mugs ready for harvesting by snake oil marketing/sales.
Cheers,
DV
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Pardon ? D'you mean 'subscribe'?
Lovely ! Pity you put 'in fact', though; spoils the crazy illusion ! My theory is that valve enthusiasts voted for Brexit because they've got the bottle. POSH hifi is stuff which has crossed and re-crossed the Pond (think about it !). Jez, only you could conflate politics with hifi !
At THIS time of year? Have you got posh grass or are you just dedicated?
I do find it telling when those who eschew dedicated mains installations are sufficiently interested to negatively post on such a thread. Psychologically pretty obvious, I s'pose, but interesting nonetheless.
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westsea
Retirement present
[QUOTE="Mike Reed, post: 3625170, member: 4161"]Pardon ? D'you mean 'subscribe'?[/QUOTE]
If you say so!
If you read carefully I was trying to be helpful, but perhaps you have shares in Doncaster cables. I'm really worried about my psychology profile, are you a consultant?
I will leave you to ride your hobbyhorse in peace
If you say so!
At THIS time of year? Have you got posh grass or are you just dedicated?
If you read carefully I was trying to be helpful, but perhaps you have shares in Doncaster cables. I'm really worried about my psychology profile, are you a consultant?
I will leave you to ride your hobbyhorse in peace
cruster
pfm Member
I've had a radial fitted in two houses for my hi-fi. In the first house the listening room was just above the main consumer unit (which was in the cellar) so it wasn't difficult for my electrician to do. In my second house the previous owner had already fitted such a circuit for the electric shower that he had fitted to that room - I removed the shower (which wasn't in a bathroom!) and reused the wiring for the hi-fi. I never get any noises from the central heating, fridge, Hoover etc coming through the mains and it does sound pretty much the same whatever hour of the day I listen (the previous owner had also had the mains input fuse upgraded by the electricity board to a higher rating - which was convenient
All this talk about mains and spurs, when what we should really be talking about is this electric shower which...wasn't in a bathroom?!
YNWOAN
100% Analogue
Yeah, weird huh. The house is quite large and it looks like the previous owner was really into cycling and had seconded the whole of the top floor to his hobby. Their was a gear ratio sorting chart on the wall and a stand alone shower (a self contained plastic cubicle). I guess he was sweaty after a strong bike ride.... anyway, I also know he was a retired engineer so all the wiring was done entirely to code (belt and braces). Good for me mind you .
.For anyone really interested in the theory, practical and safety issues of optimum mains supply, grounding etc, I would suggest getting hold of a copy of “Audio Systems Design and Installation” by a Philip Giddings - it's somewhat an 'industry bible' in the wiring of recording studios etc. It's quite expensive but I managed to get hold of a second hand copy a year or so ago.
He very clearly explains all about the obvious impedance issues leading to reduced interference, also all about Technical Ground Systems (best chemicals to use on earth systems) etc etc. Clearly there's scope to go a long way if you really want to!
Cheers. Bill
He very clearly explains all about the obvious impedance issues leading to reduced interference, also all about Technical Ground Systems (best chemicals to use on earth systems) etc etc. Clearly there's scope to go a long way if you really want to!
Cheers. Bill
Mike Reed
pfm Member
I will leave you to ride your hobbyhorse in peace
Not my hobbyhorse at all nowadays, Westsea. It's simply that I started laying radials for my hifi in the mid eighties and each room and house move has necessitated a new or revised installation, now numbering five or six. I guess it started when I accidentally tripped onto the Naim ladder, but a generation later a solitary 01 tuner is all the Naim I had left. Doubt that my valved kit of some years ownership benefits anywhere near as much as my Naim gear on my mains but it's there, doesn't eat anything and is still a convenient way to feed those 8 boxes.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
'Posh' is deemed to have derived from very early in the twentieth century when the moneyed classes used to travel to America and back by ocean liner on a basis of 'port out, starboard home' and was a commonly used adjective by the outbreak of WW1.
Tigerjones
Bagpuss
Is posh hifi expensive?
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
But would these posh people have benefitted from a dedicated feed to their EMG
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Well, those who travelled with the Titanic in 1912 sadly became deadicated.