My 2019 Update Thread - My final system I think.

[Gazjam]

Another set of my favourite Ghost+ XLR studio cables from the States.
Hooking up the Project Phonostage balanced into the Preamp.



Lets see what this Puppy can do.

[struth]

looks good, and can only help i'd think gary.

[struth]

Postie's Been.

nice one cherrie

[Gazjam]

looks good, and can only help i'd think gary.

Yeah.
They really did the business hooking up my amps and Dac, closest to a "straight wire with gain" sound I've had from any cable.
Very transparent and tonally accurate.

Take an AGE to burn in though, so expecting the usual ups n downs.

Not all bad though,
Not long had the Rega Cart rebuilt, so just plug in the cable and let em both run in over time, and just enjoy the records.

[brian2957]

That's a nice looking cable mate

[Gazjam]

Posted previouly about my Pro-Ject phonostage going linear powered from the balanced mains unit bringing a good improvment.
https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...40#post1350240

Recently moved from Virgin media to BT for broadband,
the BT router was proper "Fibre to the Home" and I found my online TV and Music services had a nice bump in quality over VM.

Lost of folks in Computeraudio land use linear power supplies for their router, and even "Audiophile" switches in their setup.
My BT Router was plugged into the wall using the supplied switch power brick,
me being me I got curious about improving the power supply for that too.

From back in the day I powered my Beresford Caiman dac (Stans suggestion) and later my music servers with Maplin's CB Radio linearpower supplies.
Comes stock at 13.8V for CD radio's but theres a pot inside to let you dial down the voltage to 12V.

Had a couple of these kicking about still, so why not lose the crappy wallwart and use one to power the BT Router, fed directly from balanced mains?


Unfortunately the BT Router's DC barrel connector isn't a standard variant, and looking in to it was impossible to source, unless from America.
So had to splice the existing connector onto the cable I was using to run from the router, through the wall and on to the Maplins supply hidden away in the next room.

Less than ideal, but is what it is and probably wont make a difference worth worrying about.
(Obviously for safety, the connection was insulated and hidden out of view)


The cable I used was Mogami 3103,
2 core 12GA OFC copper, a good solid cable with good specs.

A speaker cable actually, but 12GA cable can handle up to 20amps or so, and the router pulls about 1.5, so was fine.



Cable made up, connected to mains supply and all tested A-OK.



Connected to Balanced Mains\Maplins psu > BT Router and plugged in.

I've said for ages I found clean power gets the best out your Kit, and like the Pro-Ject phonostage, the supplied switchmode power brick was chucking all sorts of electrical mush into the Mix.

This was VERY worthwhile to do.
Aside CDs and vinyl, all my music and video enters into my system through the BT Router?
As this is my digital "source" my thinking was to reduce noise to that, to get improvements down the equipment chain?

And Yup, very much so.
A Similar level of improvement to powering the Phonostage linear from the balanced mains.

Noticed it with Apple Music and even Radio Paradise right away, sounded better across the board.

Watching Movies too.
On AppleTV theres a lot of 4K movies in my movie Library and the picture quality, in terms of resolution, contrast and sharpness, took a noticable jump.
Was taken back a few times by it actually, a couple of "Eff Me...!" moments.
It just looked much better and got very close to playing a 4K disc from my Oppo player.

Even YouTube looked better, with a sharper more dynamic picture.
Sound was better watching TV too, everything was placed better and in its own space.

I've done this a few times now,
And all these things are consistent with removing electrical noise from the line, letting the equipment better do its thing.

Good use of a couple of hours,
Cost was £27 for 2m of mogami cable and my time.

Not bad!
Systems took another wee nudge forward, so happy with that.

[Firebottle]

Something I really must try out, I have a similar psu kicking about.

Good result.

[Jimbo]

Posted previouly about my Pro-Ject phonostage going linear powered from the balanced mains unit bringing a good improvment.
https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...40#post1350240

Recently moved from Virgin media to BT for broadband,
the BT router was proper "Fibre to the Home" and I found my online TV and Music services had a nice bump in quality over VM.

Lost of folks in Computeraudio land use linear power supplies for their router, and even "Audiophile" switches in their setup.
My BT Router was plugged into the wall using the supplied switch power brick,
me being me I got curious about improving the power supply for that too.

From back in the day I powered my Beresford Caiman dac (Stans suggestion) and later my music servers with Maplin's CB Radio linearpower supplies.
Comes stock at 13.8V for CD radio's but theres a pot inside to let you dial down the voltage to 12V.

Had a couple of these kicking about still, so why not lose the crappy wallwart and use one to power the BT Router, fed directly from balanced mains?


Unfortunately the BT Router's DC barrel connector isn't a standard variant, and looking in to it was impossible to source, unless from America.
So had to splice the existing connector onto the cable I was using to run from the router, through the wall and on to the Maplins supply hidden away in the next room.

Less than ideal, but is what it is and probably wont make a difference worth worrying about.
(Obviously for safety, the connection was insulated and hidden out of view)


The cable I used was Mogami 3103,
2 core 12GA OFC copper, a good solid cable with good specs.

A speaker cable actually, but 12GA cable can handle up to 20amps or so, and the router pulls about 1.5, so was fine.



Cable made up, connected to mains supply and all tested A-OK.



Connected to Balanced Mains\Maplins psu > BT Router and plugged in.

I've said for ages I found clean power gets the best out your Kit, and like the Pro-Ject phonostage, the supplied switchmode power brick was chucking all sorts of electrical mush into the Mix.

This was VERY worthwhile to do.
Aside CDs and vinyl, all my music and video enters into my system through the BT Router?
As this is my digital "source" my thinking was to reduce noise to that, to get improvements down the equipment chain?

And Yup, very much so.
A Similar level of improvement to powering the Phonostage linear from the balanced mains.

Noticed it with Apple Music and even Radio Paradise right away, sounded better across the board.

Watching Movies too.
On AppleTV theres a lot of 4K movies in my movie Library and the picture quality, in terms of resolution, contrast and sharpness, took a noticable jump.
Was taken back a few times by it actually, a couple of "Eff Me...!" moments.
It just looked much better and got very close to playing a 4K disc from my Oppo player.

Even YouTube looked better, with a sharper more dynamic picture.
Sound was better watching TV too, everything was placed better and in its own space.

I've done this a few times now,
And all these things are consistent with removing electrical noise from the line, letting the equipment better do its thing.

Good use of a couple of hours,
Cost was £27 for 2m of mogami cable and my time.

Not bad!
Systems took another wee nudge forward, so happy with that.

Try plugging one of these in next to your hifi and you will be amazed. I was. You may be amazed at the price too!

https://chord.co.uk/product/poweraray-professional/

[Gazjam]

Hence my Post Alan.

Sometimes the small things make a big difference.
This one... wow.

Something I really must try out, I have a similar psu kicking about.

Good result.

[Gazjam]

Try plugging one of these in next to your hifi and you will be amazed. I was. You may be amazed at the price too!

https://chord.co.uk/product/poweraray-professional/

Happily,
running all things Hifi balanced now (and knowing the 'science bit' behind it), I fart in that nonsense's general direction.

Dissapointed in Chord
Mr Watt's... seriously?

(from experience.. knowing Me I'd probably take a Punt on it LOL)