Power Conditioner....What a difference

joeyowen · March 2018

About 12 months ago I purchased a Samson PB10 from @sherpa_man ;;

I haven't really used it to be honest, didn't get round to ordering extra cables.

I've been getting some hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss from my speakers so I thought I would try it.

Feck Me. What a difference. They are totally silent. I'm almost imagining hissing because I was so used to it.

Happy days

guitarfishbay · March 2018

So they make that much of a difference? I've never tried one.

joeyowen · March 2018

For me it did!

I can have the speaker volumes all maxed, and not a sound, not even the smallest hiss. Crapped myself pushing play to check they were on.

viz · March 2018

What are you plugging into it?

joeyowen · March 2018

viz said:

What are you plugging into it?

Currently,

KRK Rokit 5s x 2
Kemper
Focusrite 18i20
My monitor (just to cut down on wall plugs..)

ICBM · March 2018

Sounds like the hiss was line-borne HF noise from something else in the room/nearby - computer or (TV) monitor power supplies are a good candidate.

joeyowen · March 2018

ICBM said:

Sounds like the hiss was line-borne HF noise from something else in the room/nearby - computer or (TV) monitor power supplies are a good candidate.

I have literally no idea, but I do know it is better now. It's nice to be a dunce in some areas, I was very happy with the change ha

ecc83 · March 2018

I am of the opinion that in UK at least, our mains supply is so clean and stable (fekkin SHOULD be at the price!) that power "conditioners" are not needed (and some of the 'diss' board types can actually make earth lines 'dirtier') .

If indeed it can be proved that the conditioner cured the hiss I would look for a fault or design defect in the rest of the signal chain. Monitors are the most likely suspect.

Dave.

octatonic · March 2018

I have power conditioners in the studio but they are just glorified power strips that fit conveniently into a rack and make the cabling neater.
Unless you go for high end balanced power options they are no better than a power strip in almost all cases.

prowla · March 2018

In the world of hi-fi, power conditioners are frowned on because they suck the life out of the music.

Sporky · March 2018

prowla said:

In the world of hi-fi, power conditioners are frowned on because they suck the life out of the music.

In the world of hi-fi, reason is frowned upon because it sucks the voodoo and superstition out of kit sales.

Rocker · March 2018

Forty years ago, the hi-fi world suggested that cables and the quality of the electricity supply affected the sound the listener hears. Not everyone agreed or still agree for that matter, but some of those who actually checked out the claims, found that they enjoyed music 'more' as a result of using said cables and power cleaning devices. Not everyone but some.

Some musicians are arriving at the same conclusions but from a different direction. Guitar players use distortion but need to be in control of the distortion rather than put up with the (probably) unneeded additional distortions supplied with their electric power.

Basically we listen to music. A guitar player listens to the sound he is creating. If there is a problem, it becomes a choice between ignoring it or fixing it.

ecc83 · March 2018

Until someone can explain why the mile or more of cable from the substation (of bog S 99.9% Copper) is somehow 'perfect' and it is only the last 2 mtrs or so that dramatically improves the sound I shall continue to call the beardy tweaks "'king audiophool idiots".

Dave.

Rocker · March 2018

@ecc83 Good question Dave, to answer it as fully as I can, we need a brief history lesson.

In and before the 1970s, hi-fi was simple. Buy a few boxes and connect them up and you get sound. Around the mid 1970s, the hi-fi press carried infrequent reports of Japanese enthusiasists experiments with different types of wires to improve the sound from their systems. Most felt this was impossible and the reports were treated as humourous and not taken too seriously.

Suddenly Naim Audio announced that the usage of Litz wires as speaker cables, blew up the output transistors in their power amps. Naim Audio brought out its own speaker cable which the company claimed did not harm its amps.

Those of us who think about these things wondered that if a cable could damage an amplifier, could a cable improve the sound of an amplifier. Experiments showed that this is actually the case. Why or how hardly matters if the audio result is better. Naim Audio subsequently introduced a superior speaker cable to the market, an action that suggested the cables did more than carry the speaker current.

That is where we are at at the moment. Some refuse point blank to think that cables affect what we hear. Others are totally convinced they do. On this forum a lot of very highly respected members favour the former camp. And very vocally too. Which is a pity as such dissenting comments might prevent others from checking for themselves.

So the answer to your question Sir, is that I don't know why. I do know that in my system it does. I am not too concerned how it does, I am too tied up enjoying the music to even care.

But even the best system with the best cables cannot do anything about or improve the sound of low or mid bitrate music files. Music from Spotify etc is only a pale shadow of a CD or 12" LP. But that is a subject for another day.

joeyowen · March 2018

Just to add some more detail,

I got the power conditioner to cut down on the amount of plugs being used. Seems like a good extension lead to have.

The hiss went, and I'm happy. No idea if it was coincidence etc, but also don't care... it's gone woo!

I do feel I can hear some better high harmonics, most probably don't to some crystal lattice structure. ahem.

Sporky · March 2018

Rocker said:

Some refuse point blank to think that cables affect what we hear. Others are totally convinced they do. On this forum a lot of very highly respected members favour the former camp. And very vocally too. Which is a pity as such dissenting comments might prevent others from checking for themselves.

And many of us have done proper double blind tests and found that they back up the science and show the marketing bullhonky for what it is.

Preventing others from wasting vast sums of money on mains cables that can be shown both theoretically and in practice to make no audible difference is most certainly not "a pity".

You even loaned a cable to some people here - they found it made no difference but you carry on calling them liars.

There are obvious differences between a power conditioner and a cable. You have claimed to be an electrician so you ought to understand that.

Rocker · March 2018

Good work @joeyowen. ; Result!

prowla · March 2018

Sporky said:

prowla said:

In the world of hi-fi, power conditioners are frowned on because they suck the life out of the music.

In the world of hi-fi, reason is frowned upon because it sucks the voodoo and superstition out of kit sales.

Some things are pure snake oil, it has to be said.

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Power Conditioner....What a difference

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