The Mains

Cheers, Ben.

Sounds like you’ve done quite a bit of experimenting.

I’m not as clued up as many but I have heard that balanced mains works in some situations and not in others. Is there any way of predicting whether it will help.

For instance, I have continental radial mains circuits, only about 6 years old with no hum or noise and no deterioration at any time of day. No industry anywhere near me either. Would these factors make it less likely for me to benefit?

I also don’t really understand DC blockers but would the same lack of mains issues make it less likely that I’d get a decent result?

Funny you should mention the CB 160. I had one and sold it, only for the buyer to reporr it had arrived damaged and buzzing loudly. I got it back and it was as silent as ever. Took it to a mate’s and it was still silent. Sold it again with no quibbles. I later read of a few people suffering from buzzing 160s due to their mains. Seems it’s a common issue depending on where you live.
A mini BMU might be more interesting to me. The normal one is fugly IMO. Plugs sticking out the top and wires shooting off in different directions is something I couldn’t live with. I’m with Jammy on ugly wires. It’s the reason I prefer integrated amps, the reason I ditched the Hera for my Iso and the reason I ditched my two box DPA DACs. In fact it’s the reason I don’t do transports and DACs anymore.

I couldn’t live with one of those industrial tin box jobs from Airlink either. DIY would be a possibiiity but it’s not sufficiently interesting to me tbh,

It’s another subject where I’d be Ok with spending tens of pounds, but I would need some convincing to get into 3 figures for anything mains related. I might change my tune if I heard something important in terms of improvement. So far I’ve heard nothing I couldn’t live without and nothing I could be sure wasn’t psychological or perceptual.

Some parts of the U.K. seem to have very bad mains. It’s a pity the supply companies aren’t held to a tighter standard and compensation paid/fines levied for failures. I’ve heard of people with big variances in voltage from the specified level too.

Never had any problems with mains in the 11 different residences I've had hi-fi in. Never had a piece of equipment that had a buzzing traffo except for an AV amp I got as part of a job lot. That wasn't mechanical buzzing but 50Hz hum through the speakers. Gave it to a mate who fixed it with no bother.

Maybe I've just been lucky?

As DSJR says I did have a loan of a BMU. It put a weird echo type effect on the bass and supressed dynamics a bit. Sound was better with it removed. maybe I am just unlucky here as everyone else seems to have a 'couldn't imagine living without it' experience.

I have one fancy mains cable, bought used, it doesn't do anything a generic cable doesn't, regardless if what it is powering.

I did a back-to-back test of various extension blocks, I fancied I could hear small differences although this was quite possibly imagination. To settle any doubts I splashed out £100 on a Russ Andrews job. Just a well constructed mains block, it does not filter or anything. That doesn't get used anymore as I'm down to one source and I don't need it.

I did have a Belkin 6 way block one time that was recommended to me as an upgrade. Cost was £50 new. It was a surge protector designed for use with computer equipment. With the pre-amp plugged into that there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality, noise floor dropped etc etc. I have no explanation for that but I noticed that visitors would remark on the sound quality completely unprompted which seemed to indicate the effect was real.

When I had a new leccy meter fitted I forgot to unplug it and it went haywire and I had to bin it. I can't recall the model number now. I've since tried a couple of other similar units by Belkin and they did not do what the old one did. I no longer use an active pre-amp so it doesn't matter to me anymore but that is the one and only time I heard a definite improvement with any mains-related device.

Should point out I live alone and usually the only things drawing power when I have music on, aside from the system, are the fridge and the cable box (in standby). The fridge is a larder fridge, no icebox, and works on convection so it doesn't have a big, nosy motor. So I don't have dozens of devices plugged in all over the house like a lot of people do. Maybe that is the difference?

I am very pleased with it to honest in both build and sound quality.

Plenty of them available on ebay.

My Electricity is made from pure Highland water.

Courtesy of Scottish Hydro Electric.

No bloody mains cure malarkey for me, We have a lovely power supply.

Thanks for explaining. I hadn’t come across them before

UPS are designed for computers to protect from sudden power loss. Not for hi-fi. I'm another one who didn't entirely find the BMU positive. It sort of tightened the sound up but gave it a harder edge. Maybe the large transformers are overkill and the smaller version may be better. Used the carbon rings with digital components (on the mains cable) to good effect.

I wouldn't be without my BMU. Clarity greatly improved with it. No down side that I can hear.

I think my DC blocker is a little on the small side and have considered getting the one Mark has built. I may still do so.

Built some fancy mains cables and they are beneficial in my system. The DAC I had benefitted the most. I'll be making two more soon when I take delivery of my Monarchy Audio SM-70 PRO's.

Also added some RFI filters into the Preamp and the Phonostage. Well worth it imo. Reduced the background noise further. Some will say I'm talking Sh#t, but I'm convinced.

I don't know about the rest of it but fancy mains cables? forget it. Waste of time and money. It's all in the mind. Doesn't matter if your mains are dirtier than a ten dollar whore, makes no difference at all.

BMUs do at least do something, it just doesn't seem like it is always a positive something. No doubt there is a technical explanation for that, no idea what it is though.