Mains conditioners, are they worth it?

[James the Albarry lover]

I'm all for blowing my money on hifi but I'm curious about how big a difference main conditioner make to your system, I use a cheap one myself and noticed a nice improvement in sound quality but are the more expensive ones worth it?

[hifinutt]

mmmm is it worth buying a jag? , some would say yes , others will say a fiesta does just as good a job transporting you from a-b

i have had 3 isotek syncro`s and they make a substantial difference and improvement , and i am 10 years into my 25 year guarantee on my excellent isotek sigmas

[paulf-2007]

I've heard some that made no difference and one that cleaned up the bass noticeably, not in my set up I would add. Whether they are worth it is a personal thing. My set up sounds so good I don't think I could take any more improvements:)

[Jazid]

I'm all for blowing my money on hifi but I'm curious about how big a difference main conditioner make to your system, I use a cheap one myself and noticed a nice improvement in sound quality but are the more expensive ones worth it?If your mains is good then it's money wasted, if it's all over the place then maybe it will make a big difference. I have a regenerator and good mains so I use it for regulating my valve testers, cant be bothered on the hifi as it seems just another lump!

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[wee tee cee]

There was a thread on here a few years back regards mains re generators v balanced mains.

The Scottish boys(aka mafia) quite often get together and try different things.

Most of us bought airlink ballanced mains transformers......ugly bastards-but great vfm and clean up your mains as mentioned if they are a bit shitty.

Any members near you that could lend a wee hand?

[struth]

If your mains is good then it's money wasted, if it's all over the place then maybe it will make a big difference. I have a regenerator and good mains so I use it for regulating my valve testers, cant be bothered on the hifi as it seems just another lump!

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^ this is basically true. Have a look around your immediate neighbourhood for businesses that use heavy machinery etc, or blocks of flats; that sort of thing. If there are a few then there is a fair chance it will help. Ive a mains regenerator and it helps mine a fair bit.

[James the Albarry lover]

There is a few large businesses around my area and I know a few hifi nuts nearby that might have something along those lines cheers

[Yomanze]

I would start by taking your Tacima mains filtering strip out of your system, not the other way around. :)

There are many other things that will have much more of an impact on your system, but if you do want to try, then I'd say balanced mains of at least 1.5KVA is the way to go. Conditioners tend to 'sit on' the sound and affect dynamics.

Interestingly I plugged in an Amazon Fire TV stick into my Tacima (I use it for my TV & router), which forced it into a slow power-saving mode - it's because it checks for current ability, which the Tacima obviously interfered with - back into a wall socket & the Fire TV worked perfectly again.

[WESTLOWER]

I would start by taking your Tacima mains filtering strip out of your system, not the other way around. :)

Those Tacima blocks can really suck the life out of your system...

[MikeMusic]

PS Audio P300 was my start which led me to upgrade to a PS Audio PPP then the awesome P10.

Now I have the even better Audio Magic Transcendence.
Plus various cheapo plug ins around the also improve the sound. -Which I thought would be redundant after the AM but no.
Seems whatever I added made the sound better

[James the Albarry lover]

In my experience with Tacima it changed the sound quite abit, it tightened up the bass and got rid of slight fluffy edges. Mind you it's been a while sinse I've heard my hifi without it and these recent points have made me curious and I'll test it shorty with a normal 6 gang to refresh my memory

[Yomanze]

As with all these things there is no substitute for hearing the house mains, the room, your system etc. so YMMV! For example balanced mains worked great in my old home, but after over 2yrs in my new home I took it out and preferred the sound.

As for my experiences with the Tacima I would try finding an Olson no switch no neon mains strip instead. :)

[doodoos]

Can you not just borrow one from a dealer and find out first hand?

[James the Albarry lover]

I would but there isn't any dealers even remotely close to me so it's easier to just ask around here

[Macca]

Try it without the Tacima, see what you think. IME they can change the sound but they don't necessarily improve sound quality. I used to have a Belkin and I preferred the sound with it in the system, it gave a very pleasant sense of sharpness and clarity to the midrange. But I reckon it was a benign distortion, not a genuine improvement.

I also had a balanced mains unit for a bit, again it changed the sound but it wasn't an improvement. To me the sound was better without it.

You could also try with your amplifier plugged straight into the wall and everything else into the Tacima. You can degrade the sound of an amplifier by running it through a mains block or conditioner, although this seems to depend somewhat on the amp/speaker relationship and perhaps the specific block in question.

[walpurgis]

Not really concerned about having a mains conditioner as such for the system, but I would be interested in trying a DC blocker. I may get a kit and build one, they don't cost a fortune.

[James the Albarry lover]

Try it without the Tacima, see what you think. IME they can change the sound but they don't necessarily improve sound quality. I used to have a Belkin and I preferred the sound with it in the system, it gave a very pleasant sense of sharpness and clarity to the midrange. But I reckon it was a benign distortion, not a genuine improvement.

I also had a balanced mains unit for a bit, again it changed the sound but it wasn't an improvement. To me the sound was better without it.

You could also try with your amplifier plugged straight into the wall and everything else into the Tacima. You can degrade the sound of an amplifier by running it through a mains block or conditioner, although this seems to depend somewhat on the amp/speaker relationship and perhaps the specific block in question.

Yes I'll be trying my setup without it shortly once I can work up the courage to enter the tardis of cables, as for the pre amp idea mine is a passive so I don't have that option but good idea none the less

[Macca]

Yes I'll be trying my setup without it shortly once I can work up the courage to enter the tardis of cables, as for the pre amp idea mine is a passive so I don't have that option but good idea none the less

Oh yes, there are times I have looked at the rat's nest behind the rack and thought 'Not today.' :)

Re the amp what I meant was power amp straight into wall and digital sources through the Tacima. Running a turntable through the Tacima will make no difference, obviously.

[Yomanze]

Not really concerned about having a mains conditioner as such for the system, but I would be interested in trying a DC blocker. I may get a kit and build one, they don't cost a fortune.

Some really nice ready made boxes from ATL around at the moment. Based on the Lamm power amp DC blockers. PCBs and ready built boards also available. Am going to take the plunge myself I think as I do get intermittent buzz from DC.

[Primalsea]

I think that a good mains conditioner can do wonders but the passive ones need to be correctly specified for the current you are looking to run through it. This can have a huge effect on how well or terrible they work. I use a BT isolation transformer to isolate my NAS drive from my analogue gear. It seemed to make a difference.

[Audio Al]

I've heard some that made no difference and one that cleaned up the bass noticeably, not in my set up I would add. Whether they are worth it is a personal thing. My set up sounds so good I don't think I could take any more improvements:)


:D:lol::D