+ Reply to Thread
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 21

Thread: Mains Distribution Unit

  1. #11
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Carlisle - UK

    Posts: 1,956
    I'm Ken.

    Default

    Aye, its a close thing on price, cases are not cheap if you do a diy job.

    I would have preferred a deeper case (front to back) as the short one means you can't stack things on it.

  2. #12
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Look out for one of these

    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  3. #13
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Carlisle - UK

    Posts: 1,956
    I'm Ken.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    Interesting... ive got the belkin purav unit and didnt find that with it. Not tried system without it for a long time of course, must try that sometime actually
    I can't comment on other units, but this basic Furman is the pits for sound quality, made Grace Jones "Nightclubbing" on vinyl sound flat, when it is a very dynamic album.

  4. #14
    Join Date: Nov 2010

    Location: Sheffield/Peak District. UK

    Posts: 574
    I'm Richard.

    Default

    Oh dear, I have one of those Pure AV units after lengthy advice on these forums some time ago. Are we now saying they are a waste of time and money?

    (I know, I should do an A/B comparison...)



    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    Look out for one of these


  5. #15
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Im not... i like mine
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  6. #16
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

    Default

    Ken,
    go balanced mains!

    Stick the BMU unit in another room or cupboard and run some meaty soliid core spur mains cable from that through a drilled hole in the wall into a hard-wired 'hydra' in the listening room...
    Can all be hidden out of sight.

    hardcore, maybe, but short of a dedicated CU to your hifi the next best thing imo.
    Didn't get on with mains filters tbh, not bad for sources but sucked the life out of amps I found.
    Didn't have the big beastie Grant has, know a lot of folk liked them.
    Last edited by Gazjam; 24-02-2017 at 08:19.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  7. #17
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

    Posts: 2,814
    I'm Hugo.

    Default

    Some years ago I was tempted to buy an Olson 'Sounds Fantastic' distribution block that incorporated an inline filter module and a screened input cable. Guess what? It sounded awful - very much reflecting your experience here. So, I ripped out the filter, replaced the inout cable with an old unterminated Kimber Powerkord that was lying around, and while I was at it, replaced the internal wiring with solid copper stripped out from ordinary twin and earth and insulated in teflon tubing. Result? Dynamics were back and the music with it.

    This made me think that any form of inline mains power filtering is musically destructive. I've heard Isotek demonstrations where they went from no filtering, up the range to very extensive designs, and in every case I heard a progressive sweetening of the sound but with a progressive penalty in dynamics and musical interest. A few years ago I bought a Belkin PF30 following forum enthusiasm and it did the same - awful squashed effect on musical dynamics, but it did work well on the telly. A Tacima block was worse, and now powers my home broadband setup, in the hope that it will stop some or all of the switching PSU noise from squirting back into the rest of the house supply.

    For anyone with mains problems, my advice would be to experiment with simple plug-in parallel filter devices; and if the problems are really bad, do as Gazjam suggests and look at balanced mains solutions, or for the wealthy a PS Audio Power Plant.

    The annoying thing is that, according to objective electrical theory, none of this should make a difference, but sadly my experience is that it does.


    Quote Originally Posted by Qwin View Post
    I tried the Furman unit in my system last night as a dry run for a couple of bake off's that are coming up.

    Aauughhhhh!

    Sounds bleedin awful. I had to double check I had everything connected correctly.
    The midrange sounds clean and transparent, but I have lost all the dynamic range.
    The description, that these things just suck the life out of the music seems appropriate.
    Left it running for 24hrs, in case something needed burning in, but it made no difference.

    I am now in the process of bypassing the filter circuit board so the box will then be just a straightforward distribution unit, which is all I needed in the first place. My advice would be to buy a case, a switch and some IEC outlet strips and make a basic distribution unit yourself. A proper balanced supply is a different prospect, but I certainly would not recommend these filtering units.

    Oh well, nothing ventured and all that.

  8. #18
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Carlisle - UK

    Posts: 1,956
    I'm Ken.

    Default

    Gaz - I initially didn't think a balanced supply was feasible for me, because of space limitations.
    However, your idea of putting it in another room has merit as I already have a desk top computer and the air pump for my linear tracking tone arm in the next room. I installed some 22mm dia plastic tube through the wall to help the cables for these slide through. The desk top computer is no longer needed so I have spare capacity to run the PSU cable through.

    Longer term this will now be my goal, a balanced supply in the next room feeding my distribution unit at the bottom of my rack.
    Thanks for the tip.

  9. #19
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Carlisle - UK

    Posts: 1,956
    I'm Ken.

    Default

    Ammonite - When I read various reviews about these devices, there were folks for and those against, so for not a great outlay I gave it a whirl.

    Like you, I found the results from this basic entry level item disappointing. I can't say about items further up the range, but I would be doubtful now of anything just claiming to be a filter.

    The 60mm square PCB inside my unit, is now being used solely to power the "ON" LED.
    I'm waiting for a couple of bus bars to arrive through the post, I'm joining all the outputs to the switched input and just passing the power through the unit unmolested.

    Its still a useful item to me, purely as a power distribution unit, keeps my cabling tidy and short and a single easily accessible switch to isolate everything at the end of a session is handy. My added Volt/Amp meter will work as before. The plan is now to eventually build a balanced supply and feed this distribution unit from that. Lots of other things to complete first though.

  10. #20
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Qwin View Post
    Gaz - I initially didn't think a balanced supply was feasible for me, because of space limitations.
    However, your idea of putting it in another room has merit as I already have a desk top computer and the air pump for my linear tracking tone arm in the next room. I installed some 22mm dia plastic tube through the wall to help the cables for these slide through. The desk top computer is no longer needed so I have spare capacity to run the PSU cable through.

    Longer term this will now be my goal, a balanced supply in the next room feeding my distribution unit at the bottom of my rack.
    Thanks for the tip.
    Nice one Ken.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

+ Reply to Thread
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •