Linear vs Switched mode PSU

[Marco]

Ditto (on all counts)!

Marco.

[Bonky]

Best to keep things simple, Richard, so assume that any SMPS that isn't supplied with high-quality audio equipment is shit, so keep the components in your system well away from it/them.

A good way of doing that (although not as good as having a dedicated ring main) is only to have the main components for your system plugged into the distribution block powering your system, and the rest of your stuff plugged into separate wall sockets elsewhere (or vice versa depending on your room and set up).

Never, for example, have a SKY box or mobile phone charger plugged into the same distribution block as a phono stage, or anything that's similarly sensitive to interference. That's why many folks use two separate mains blocks: one for 'clean' components, and one for the 'dirty' stuff - and never the two shall meet...

Honestly, if you try that one simple thing (which is essentially free), you should hear a significant improvement in the sound of your system. It's just basic 'good housekeeping'

Marco.

Thanks Marco; appreciated. I have already followed this - up to a point. All my hi-fi stuff comes off two switch-less sockets. One to the amp, one to a mains conditioner that then feeds everything else. Unfortunately this means, besides all the non-amp hi-fi stuff, a BT router, a NAS and Apple AirPort Extreme with a Hitachi HD (for TimeMachine) and a Mi-Genie Central Heating controller (controlled via an app so needs the router connected. I don't have any other nearby sockets to separately feed these non-hi-fi options.Any advice greatly appreciated, especially as I feel many others may be in the same boat. I hope this explains why I may appear to have a bee in my bonnet about which of these wall-marts are injecting the most noise.
BW
Richard.

[LC1979]

I don't have any other nearby sockets to separately feed these non-hi-fi options.Any advice greatly appreciated, especially as I feel many others may be in the same boat. I hope this explains why I may appear to have a bee in my bonnet about which of these wall-marts are injecting the most noise.

My situation exactly! Ok, I know it's not exactly HiFi, but I listen from a Pi with a DAC board on top, and a D class amp (TPA3116). My router sits right next to it by necessity as it's also where the BT socket is, so that's three SMPSs right next to the Pi.

I have heard of folk who change over to linear and or something like the IFI ipower units with good results, but that would get more costly than I would want.

Hence I would be very interested in better than standard SMPSs that can be found for less than £50 a piece, or a single unit that could deliver cleaner power to all three, if such a thing exists?!

[Arkless Electronics]

By and large, mains issues are another myth. Oh and some mains regenerators ARE SMPS!

[Marco]

Thanks Marco; appreciated. I have already followed this - up to a point. All my hi-fi stuff comes off two switch-less sockets. One to the amp, one to a mains conditioner that then feeds everything else. Unfortunately this means, besides all the non-amp hi-fi stuff, a BT router, a NAS and Apple AirPort Extreme with a Hitachi HD (for TimeMachine) and a Mi-Genie Central Heating controller (controlled via an app so needs the router connected. I don't have any other nearby sockets to separately feed these non-hi-fi options.Any advice greatly appreciated, especially as I feel many others may be in the same boat. I hope this explains why I may appear to have a bee in my bonnet about which of these wall-marts are injecting the most noise.
BW
Richard.

No worries, I'll get back to you about this after lunch!

Marco.

[Edward]

Someone mentioned a dedicated ring circuit.

Does this really help, given that such a circuit is still affixed to the consumer unit and therefore, presumably, picks up all the shite that is there anyway?

Any anyway what is the difference (audio wise) between a dedicated ring circuit vs a radial circuit or indeed a spur?

I hope I have not set yet another hare running (we are already up to page 20 on my original question).

[RothwellAudio]

Is that a pint of Guinness that magically fills itself up again after you've drunk it? If so, where can I get one ?

[Edward]

Is that a pint of Guinness that magically fills itself up again after you've drunk it? If so, where can I get one ?

Far better than pints of Guinness and always free are the great responses to posts on AoS. This is the 198 free glass - so far.

So Andrew, do you have a view on mains clean up? Or perhaps the subject is to hot?

[Arkless Electronics]

Someone mentioned a dedicated ring circuit.

Does this really help, given that such a circuit is still affixed to the consumer unit and therefore, presumably, picks up all the shite that is there anyway?

Any anyway what is the difference (audio wise) between a dedicated ring circuit vs a radial circuit or indeed a spur?

I hope I have not set yet another hare running (we are already up to page 20 on my original question).

Non of the above will make any difference whatsoever.... but I have no doubt 90% of the other answers you get will (wrongly IMO) say it will make a huge improvement. It's yet another area of hi fi where the power of suggestion combined with placebo effect and expectation bias are amplified by the echo chamber of the internet and we get to yet another situation of "yeah everyone knows that's really important and has to be addressed if you are serious about your sound" without there being any basis in fact.
Check out that diagram in a previous post of how mains current is used by equipment... It comes in in the form of sharp spikes at the voltage peaks of the mains waveform when the rectifier conducts. The mains is only (via a step down transformer) connected for between about 1 and 20% of the time (increases with current draw) and only at (or close to) the peaks so it doesn't really matter how distorted the waveform is! Not that adding a spur etc is likely to have any effect on that anyway unless you're running a big arc welding set on your ring main...
A synchronous motor in a TT, if powered directly from the mains, will be effected by mains distortion, hence pure sine wave TT PSU's can help.

Discuss for next 20 pages....

[Starterman]

By and large, mains issues are another myth. Oh and some mains regenerators ARE SMPS!

I agree with the 2nd sentence. It's also worth noting that the battery packs that some like to use have a switching reg on the output.

Funny, isn't it, that the battery pack protagonists seem to be claiming that the battery sorts out the mains problems.