I have both a home cinema and a HIFI system. I read a lot about how you can improve the sound. I elieve a lot in the cables used, interconnects, speaker cable etc... My own doubt is about the mains conduit and power supply cable. On the internet I found a lot of cables and mains conduit that are very expensive. Are these worth the money, do they do what they say? Any suggestions for the HIFI and Home cinema set up? (tight budget)

Thanks

Jonathan Galea

Hi Jonathan,

I was not a believer of mains conditioners until my Panasonic tv blew through a surge one stormy night, had tv fixed then bought a Belkin surge and mains conditioner, this had a profound difference to picture and sound, so i tried it on my hi fi and had the same outcome, so you may find that your mains supply may benefite, but for around £30 - £40, you at least get a good surge protector and piece of mind if ever you have a lightning storm !    .....Carl.

Hi Jonathon,

I agree with Carl. I really only started using mains conditioner and power leads in the last 12 months. You dont have to pay heaps - a belkin is good value. I use a simply eichmanns board with a good cheap power lead plugged into it attached to a conditioner - which means I can have 6 components plugged into the board to have the desired affect. From my experience the sound is cleaner and more open.

Cheers,

Steve. 

Hi,

Ok I will definitly go for a good mains distribution. I searched on the internet and I found that the Tacima is being sold for a very good price and is highly reviewed in What HIFI!!! what I can't understand is the big difference in price for example Tacima costs around 40 GBP and a Qed mains conduit 6 way costs 222 BBP and there are even more expensive brands. Does the big difference in price, sometimes 100 of pounds, justify the difference in sound quality?

My other query is about the kettle lead. Apart from the mains conduit, one has also to change the kettle leads that come boxed with the product? I am asking these questions because in my country, Malta, noone sells these kind of items so I cannot try before I buy. I just have to trust the reviews and buy over the internet. Thanks again

Jonathan

Jonathan Galea wrote (see)

Hi,

Ok I will definitly go for a good mains distribution. I searched on the internet and I found that the Tacima is being sold for a very good price and is highly reviewed in What HIFI!!! what I can't understand is the big difference in price for example Tacima costs around 40 GBP and a Qed mains conduit 6 way costs 222 BBP and there are even more expensive brands. Does the big difference in price, sometimes 100 of pounds, justify the difference in sound quality?

My other query is about the kettle lead. Apart from the mains conduit, one has also to change the kettle leads that come boxed with the product? I am asking these questions because in my country, Malta, noone sells these kind of items so I cannot try before I buy. I just have to trust the reviews and buy over the internet. Thanks again

Jonathan

You can get the tacima here ~

amazon tacima

(Dont know where you stand on delieveries there, is there an amazon site 'nearer' you can use?)

generally speaking, the more you spend the better they are, but you may as well give the tacima a go as if you dont hear a difference with that then your probably not going to a hear a difference in a much more expensive one.

I have found with mains leads that the best ones are 'braided' to reduce 'mains interference' and lessen 'emi' interference.

I use these guys ~

tm3 ebay

The ones I REALLY recommend are 16 core solid copper machine 'braided' cables. About 50 quid for a meter ~ you will NOT do better for the money I swear. I have also used a 16 core solid silver one on my av amp to great effect (Though they are NOT cheap) and have one coming for my main amp in a  few days.

heres their mains site ~

http://www.tm3connections.com/

Justs send them an email with what it is your after and theyll give you a quote. Ive used them loads (though again, i dont know how youll get on for postage).

I ask for things like ~

"1 meter length of 16 core solid copper machine braided mains cable with silver plated plug and IEC connector"

(What connector and plug type is it where you live?)

Actually I bought the QED 6 way mains, and yes there is a great improvement in sound quality. Thanks all for your help.

Jonathan

Arthur Mowe wrote (see)

Actually mains conditioners can't and therefore don't affect the performance of connected equipment but a good surge limiter is well worthwhile. Those that report performance differences are experiencing the placebo effect.

Rik H wrote (see)

Arthur Mowe wrote (see)

Actually mains conditioners can't and therefore don't affect the performance of connected equipment but a good surge limiter is well worthwhile. Those that report performance differences are experiencing the placebo effect.

And you sir need to get your eyes and ears tested

You sir are very rude. Anyone that lacks knowledge as you clearly do can be fooled by the placebo effect.

Arthur Mowe wrote (see)

Rik H wrote (see)

Arthur Mowe wrote (see)

Actually mains conditioners can't and therefore don't affect the performance of connected equipment but a good surge limiter is well worthwhile. Those that report performance differences are experiencing the placebo effect.

And you sir need to get your eyes and ears tested

You sir are very rude. Anyone that lacks knowledge as you clearly do can be fooled by the placebo effect.

My EYES work just fine mate. And I could tell the difference in my Pioneer tv INSTANTLY using an ISOTEK MIRA.

If you couldnt, its not that I have a placebo effect, its that your eyes are shot at.

Rik H wrote (see)

My EYES work just fine mate. And I could tell the difference in my Pioneer tv INSTANTLY using an ISOTEK MIRA.

If you couldnt, its not that I have a placebo effect, its that your eyes are shot at.

Arthur Mowe wrote (see)

Rik H wrote (see)

My EYES work just fine mate. And I could tell the difference in my Pioneer tv INSTANTLY using an ISOTEK MIRA.

If you couldnt, its not that I have a placebo effect, its that your eyes are shot at.

Those that are fooled by a placebo effect are completely unable to tell.

and you say IM rude.

As you wish mate, but id put my tv against yours ANY day

Hi All,

To tell all the story I repalced my extension to Qed 6 way and I did replace my coax cable from Profigold to Qed Signiture 75. I really did notice a very big improvement, more detailed sound. If you want to call this placebo effect or any other jurgon it doesn't matter that much as far as the sound got better. Am I right?

Thanks

Hello Arthur,

You only have to look at the many hundreds of posts on multiple threads on the subject of mains conditioners and cables to see that this subject has been done to death.

The Placebo effect is in fact itself a placebo that you have fallen for , open your mind and your ears and listen without bias to a good mains conditioner in your system ,I am willing to wager that if you are true to yourself you will notice at least a difference if not an improvement.

I predict that in your reply to me you will say that it would be a pointless exercise as you already know what the outcome will be , and that is OK, but please do not insult all of the people that hear improvements as being incapable of knowing reality.

All the best Electro.

Hi all,

 I opened a new thread in the Home Cinema section regarding a dedicated home theatre. Can anyone one give me an advice please?

Thanks

jonathan

electrohead wrote (see

)

Hello Arthur,

You only have to look at the many hundreds of posts on multiple threads on the subject of mains conditioners and cables to see that this subject has been done to death.

The Placebo effect is in fact itself a placebo that you have fallen for , open your mind and your ears and listen without bias to a good mains conditioner in your system ,I am willing to wager that if you are true to yourself you will notice at least a difference if not an improvement.

I predict that in your reply to me you will say that it would be a pointless exercise as you already know what the outcome will be , and that is OK, but please do not insult all of the people that hear improvements as being incapable of knowing reality.

All the best Electro.

Electro

Sorry, I must have missed your post condemning the rudeness exhibited by Rik H.

To suggest that a mains wire or conditioner can change the quality of sound displays a lack of knowledge of electronics and would in fact require magic, which we all know doesn't exist. You're quite correct of course when you suggest I also could be deceved by a placebo, everyone can.

All the best

Arthur.

'Arthur Mowe' seems to have a very characteristic writing style. You can see him causing problems in this link as well where they suspect that he is Oldphrt/Fred Scuttle Whathifi Link.

Moderator, would you please have a look at this and consider extending the ban?

Christopher Harnett wrote (see)

'Arthur Mowe' seems to have a very characteristic writing style. You can see him causing problems in this link as well where they suspect that he is Oldphrt/Fred Scuttle Whathifi Link.

Moderator, would you please have a look at this and consider extending the ban?