zoog

I had some high quality mains cable with RF blockers made up last week by a friend who works for a very High End Hi Fi maker, at very cheap price. Works just as well as the £150 per meter stuff IMHO. £180 for 4 cables plus a multi-socket.

Have you got a dedicated spur ?

edit : email me if you want the contact details.

[Edited by zoog - 7/1/2003 5:50:36 AM]

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Get a load of batteries and convert it all to DC

I can't see how the cable can make any difference

[Teckie-Geeky mode]

Cleaning up mains AC is possible, but its costs, and i'm not on about fancy cable either. You need proper active filtering, then that'll just give you a nice 50hz 230v mains voltage.

But it doesn't end there....

What about the rectifyer in your equipments power supply? Under load when the mains is at its lowest voltage (as it sweeps from peak to peak). How good are the capacitors and regulator cicuitry? can it maintain a constant DC voltage under load?

If it's an audio amplifier. You will get voltage variation at the supply under heavy loads, which in turn affects the output signal to the speakers. It'll never be perfect, unless you can afford £10k+ of system.

[/Teckie-Geeky mode]

[Edited by ALi-B - 7/1/2003 10:47:49 PM]

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I've heard cleaning the wax out of your ears can massively improve the clarity of your Hi-Fi

[Edited by ALi-B - 7/1/2003 11:22:01 PM]

Luke

Looking for the "RollsRoyce" of mains cable. Must have excellent anti RF ability.

Anyone??

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Can you be more specific? What's it for?

You can reduce the amount of high frequency noise picked up by (or radiated from) the cable by putting ferrites on it - is that an option? Do you need a screened cable?

Luke

direct mains cable with good RF screening. OFC cable maybe silver plated strands etc.

Its for my "project"....

mj

ring a company called anixter - if its carries elastictrickery they sell it.

I've got the No at work if you get stuck.

David_Wallis

should I ask??

How big is the project?

How about a small amoured cable

design a better psu? with better RF rejection?

David

Luke

David

Thats right. Looking to build my own Braided type .

TelBoy

Luke, you're practically defining Kimber Cable! I use their Hi-Power mains cables (they do a "standard" version too), and you can have an all-singing all-dancing Wattgate 350 connector on it as well. They come with an adapted MK mains plug, and all the connectors are treated with their De-Oxit contact cleaner. Although i haven't heard all mains cables, the Kimbers do a good job. Upstairs, i use XLO, and i'd recommened that too. All manufacturers at this level will sing the praises of their RF reducing capabilities, but Kimber make a specific point of it because of their "unique" woven design. Worth a look.

Toonman1

I've used Kimber mains cable from RATA for over 12 years now - excellent results.

Cheers

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I don't get this at all. What's the point in having a perfect cable when it's connected to an imperfect source?

The wiring in your house is all unscreened solid copper joined together with screw terminals. Your hi-fi (or whatever) is connected to a ring main, which is just one giant loop aerial. All the conducted noise from every other appliance in your home (and all your neighbours' homes) will be present on the supply already.

There's only one good reason to use a really well shielded mains cable, and that's to prevent noise generated inside a particular product from radiating out and interfering with other products. It's a trick occasionally used by manufacturers to get their products through legally required radio emissions tests.

What benefit are you hoping for exactly?

TelBoy

Andy, very true. All this upgrading is basically to minimise the weakest link. Most mains cables are as bad as the mains ring stuff, and by switching to a high current one, you're just maximising what the mains has to offer. To do it properly though, you'd need a dedicated mains circuit - tricky unless you're building a brand new house.

With regards to the RF shielding - it's been proved that cd/record reproduction is better in the absence of RF interference, so the theory goes that by minimising RF output from the system, the sensitive parts, like the cd player, tuner and turntable cartridge, will benefit. Minimising RF from mains leads is just the most convenient way of doing it, but it doesn't do anything to reduce RF from the components themselves.

David_Wallis

the easiest way would be run a spur using 4.0mm or 6.0mm T&E to a good quality IE MK fused Unswitched flex outlet.. IE the sort used for radiators etc.. and do away with a plug all together..

Then fit a 16a MBC in the distribution board... oh no mcb's must be worse than fuses


David

Toonman1

"I don't get this at all"

Then don't use it Andy. I heard a difference with my ears that I liked, so kept the cable. I could've returned it for a refund.

Cables are one of the more contentious issues in HiFi. Some find they make a difference, others don't. For me it was the "icing on the cake" to a system that cost over £12,000.

Cheers

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I don't think there's too much debate over the virtues of quality interconnects and speaker cables - after all, they're supposed to carry a nice clean signal from one place to another without distorting it. (Personally I use cheap cable, but thats a decision born of lethargy rather than extended listening sessions )

The mains is different - it's horrendously noisy to begin with, so I'm just not convinced of the benefit of screening the cable. If you hear a difference then I'm happy for you, but my professional advice (I'm an electronic engineer) would be not to bother and to spend the money on CDs (or SACDs, or vinyl, or whatever turns you on) instead.

pslewis

What a load of absolute bollocks!!

They have run experiments aimed at the Hi-Fi enthusiasts, they set up a amplifier with a Graphics Equaliser system on it at a Hi-Fi show. The trick was this, they ONLY connected the volume!!!

The Graphics Equaliser was NOT connected to ANYTHING!!!!!

Guess what?? Yes, correct!!! These gimps came along and ADJUSTED the Equaliser for the 'Perfect' sound!!

Fair enough you say - BUT - even when shown NO WIRES they wouldn't believe it and SWORE they heard a difference!! Muppetts!!

All this complete bollocks about cable is just that, a bunch of mugs being taken to the cleaners by some clever marketing!! And the denials are all here for all to see!!

Pete

Toonman1

I know I liked what I heard; end of story for me.

Cheers

Toonman1

And make your car sound like a bag of hammers!