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Effect of mains extension block?

Colonel_Mad

Colonel_Mad

pfm Member
I've never been the type to worry about cables, power chords or separate spurs and that malarkey. Mainly because the system generally sounds fine as it is, I'm not made of money and I also don't have the time to be constantly ABX testing these things to make sure I'm not getting 'snake-oiled'.

However last night I had a play around with the extension lead that my system gets its power from. The reason was I've been having a bit of trouble with pitch instability on a Roksan Radius 5 that was largely sorted out by changing the platter. However some wow is still evident on decaying piano and guitar notes and I thought I'd try a few different power configurations based on a hypothesis that current fluctuations could be affecting the synchronous motor.

First thing I noticed was the turntable has been plugged into the 6th position away from the lead in a 6-gang extension up to now. I'll have to do more listening to make sure I'm not fooling myself, but I'm sure the pitch instability had gone when I changed it all round so that the TT was plugged directly into a wall socket. I even think moving the TT plug to the first position on the extension lead reduced the pitch instability I was hearing as did using a far higher quality extension lead that I had lying around (but that doesn't have enough sockets for my system).

Unfortunately plugging the TT direct into a wall socket as a permanent arrangement is impossible due to practicalities of living in a family house and not wanting unsightly leads running everywhere.

I'm therefore thinking of buying a high quality extension lead for the system and paying a bit of attention to which order the units are plugged in to see if that can improve my vinyl playback.

Do any of you with more experience than me of this sort of thing think there's any logic to any of that? Like I say, I'm all too aware that my ears may be deceiving me and it all could be a complete waste of time.

Jonathan
 
The main thing I've found with extension blocks is that things work when further away from the sockets than usual. Apart from that, nothing.
 
I guess borrowing a Heed Orbit might be a good idea. I'll look for a local dealer. If it works it'd be well worth the £350. The Roksan sounds ridiculously good in every other way (clear, dynamic, imaging etc) but that slight amount of pitch instability does interfere with full enjoyment of it.

I sold a 10 to 15 year old Rega Planar 3 to upgrade and the pitch stability on that was never a problem.

Jonathan
 
I am unsure if you had a time when it didn't experience pitch instability to your ears ?

If this so , cleaning it may help , or new belt .

If not the case , then for many , some belt drives [ all ?] suffer from pitch instability and it may not be a problem cured by a power supply .I would certainly borrow one first .
 
I`d recommend you get hold of one of the well known Russ Abbot mains extensions, not only will it sort out your pitch instability problems but it fix the jitter problem you didn`t know you had and widen your soundstage to the point where you will need a larger listening room.
 
Play a record that gives wow & flutter late at night when the mains is cleaner and see what happens.
 
True, their is less demand on the mains - but then background noise levels are lower and one is likely to be more relaxed etc.
 
Gerald said:
I am unsure if you had a time when it didn't experience pitch instability to your ears ?

If this so , cleaning it may help , or new belt .

If not the case , then for many , some belt drives [ all ?] suffer from pitch instability and it may not be a problem cured by a power supply .I would certainly borrow one first .
Click to expand...

No, it has always had the pitch instability. Changing platter massively improved things. It came with 2 (second hand from PFM member tvheadhunter), and one was clearly better)

I know the usual cable dismissers may scoff but the problem was clearly better (solved?) by plugging the TT straight into the wall socket as opposed to using a slot on the extension.

I'll have a better listen over the weekend and decide whether the position in the block makes any difference. I am quite aware (as I stated) that my ears may be deceiving me. To be honest pitch instability or stability is probably the most easy to determine of all audio differences. Wall socket clearly made a difference.

Jonathan
 
Colonel_Mad said:
I know the usual cable dismissers may scoff but the problem was clearly better (solved?) by plugging the TT straight into the wall socket as opposed to using a slot on the extension.
Click to expand...

Not scoffing, honestly, I've just never heard a difference myself. I wouldn't rule it out - and will be in trouble with some for asking whether you've done any blind testing to test that it really is making a difference in your setup?
 
O.K. I`ll stop being facetious. If you are absolutely sure that there is a difference between plugging straight into the wall socket and through the extension it suggests that you have a dodgy connection somewhere, either in the extension or the unit itself, or that the unit is faulty in some other way. Turntable motors take very little power and should not be susceptible to the couple of Millivolts extra drop you will get through any normal extension cable.
 
OK, we've had some comments to say that the mains can't be making the difference you perceived. So I think it's time for somebody to say the opposite, and it might as well be me. I do think that changing the mains position could be making a difference, and I'd suggest a trial of a dedicated audio type mains block (Russ Andrews was mentioned, doubtless there are other recommendations at similar or less cost than the Heed unit being recommended). If the mains block does the trick, the advantage is that it could also have a beneficial effect on amp, and other sources too, so you win in several ways.

Most manufacturers will offer a risk-free trial period. What's the harm in trying it for yourself?
 
If you want to remove all doubt (and a lot else besides, I'd imagine :)) have a multiple radial circuit dedicated mains system installed. Or stick to a twopennyhalfpenny extension lead. Don't think you can get further apart.:(
 
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