scaryrobot Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 What's everyone's opinion of the expensive £50 mains conditioning 13A->IEC cables you can buy now? (especially on eBay, there seems to be quite some competition)... Do they really offer any marked improvement over a simple £15 mains inlet filter, such as the one below (but with IEC input and output): http://www.rapidelectronics.co.uk/rkmain.a...29141&XPAGENO=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danburns Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Are these like the "Pro Hifi" ones they sell in Maplins? I don't think IMHO they are worth the money... :unsure: Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scaryrobot Posted January 16, 2005 Author Share Posted January 16, 2005 Well, the description of these cables on eBay is that by using (rediculously) overscreened cable they can eliminate interference between the internal cores of the cable... Surely, without an MCU these cables can only stop further RF interference as the power comes out of the wall, and have absolutely no ability to stop EMI? As this cord will be plugged into an unscreened mains line which probably runs round your house a few times, the difference 1.5m of screening will make must be negligible? Or am I just cynical and uninformed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 If anybody wants to buy expensive "mains conditioning cables" then perhaps I could also interest you in a lovely bridge, currently connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan. ...guess you better put me down as a cynic on this one...the cables are snake oil and pseudo science as far as I'm concerned. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 It is all a marketing scam, relying on the gullibility of the general public, and the inability of HiFi nerds to accept the laws of physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 its been said by me before - I used to work at audio t, and they tried to get me to tell people that it WOULD make a difference, but it just doesn't, as andrew said the laws of physics cant be re-written with a cable... (infact at all!!!) its what you feed into it that makes the difference, if you have a S*** supply in the first place it aint gonna do any better... and if you want to listen to your hifi when the power will probably be at its best listen to it at night when a majority of the industry (factories etc..) has turned off. coming from an ex hifi shop employee DONT PART WITH £50 FOR THOSE ISOTEK CABLES THEY AINT WORTH IT!!!!! (am I allowed to do that or not?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 and if you want to listen to your hifi when the power will probably be at its best listen to it at night when a majority of the industry (factories etc..) has turned off.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> What? Please explain that statement. It is ILLEGAL for a factory to interfere with the supply. It is practically the only thing you can get cut off for. The other being non-payment! There should be no need to filter against normal usage. Lightning, switching spikes and the like, well maybe. The first component in MOST HiFi equipment is a transformer, followed by a rectifier and then smoothing capacitors. This set-up would out-perform (as a filter) any 'plug top' filter except in very peculiar circumstances. PCs are much more vulnerable to external influence, hence UPSs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmonk Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 also many factories do not shut down just because it is night time! Many still work overnight, and the others will usually keep a machine online rather than shut it down overnight and reboot in the morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 OK, just to let you all know where you are going wrong with your sound installations. You don't use these!. By the Gods some people are gullible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 OK, just to let you all know where you are going wrong with your sound installations. You don't use these!. By the Gods some people are gullible!<{POST_SNAPBACK}> ....from the same people who brought you these !!! :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 reading that just makes me laugh, and I doubt any fo those manufacturing processes they describe are actually true, probably made in some sweat shop in indonesia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 ....from the same people who brought you these !!! :blink:<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Their piece begins by saying it will "Improve the performance of any DVD player ", then later guarantees that "Your system will ... gain speed and be much more dynamic" I'm not sure I want my DVD player to gain speed!?! Please tell me nobody actually bought one of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P. Funk Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detai...=APSACSTATE3.0M I think that mains cable costs more than my whole hifi... On the useful side though, does anyone have any idea how I can stop the 'click' that comes through my hifi when I hit a light switch? I'm using an AMC 3020 amp, and cant afford a UPS or anything stupidly expensive like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detai...=APSACSTATE3.0M I think that mains cable costs more than my whole hifi... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Christ!! Did you read this bit? " New “Screw-in/out-Ground Pin†solves a decades old problem of having to lift grounds with 50 cent cheater plugs on expensive aftermarket power cords. Quite ingenious! Every xStream PC that ships, beginning January 2004, will have a removable ground pin. Leave it in and you have a three-prong, grounded Power Cord. Unscrew the ground pin and you keep the perfection of the xStreams' solid, machined, polished and nickel plated connector intact but the ground loop hum is gone!" OK, They only have to deal with 115VAC, but Jeez... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 I laughed that they call it a "power delivery system" rather than a "mains lead". One of my concerns about hifi nonsense is that the products are rarely tested under scientific conditions. If you know what it is you're listening to, that will cloud your judgement. The closest analogy I can think of is medicines research - the subjects aren't told whether their drugs are the real thing or a placebo. Of course, if you've just spent $600 on a bit of wire, you have to choose between saying that it makes a vast improvement to your hifi or admitting that you're a stupid idiot.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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