Power Upgrades!

[Opti-cal]

Been doing some upgrades to my power setup.

First in is an 8 way Schuko plug mains block. Half the outlets are filtered half are direct so useful for seeing which components benefit from it or not. My experience is usually DAC's/Streamers/digital sources = filtered. Power amps/Phono stages/Turntables = unfiltered, but there are times the opposite has sounded better. All about trying it though.

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I have made a load of cables with Schuko plugs and rhodium plated IEC connectors. They are made with Belden 19364 cable (with RFI drain wire) and some black braid sheath with blue shrink wrap. I'm well happy with how they look to be honest.

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A wired Schuko plug, Better than the UK 3 pin. The design does away with any fuses. The connectors are solid and can be connected to L&N with more contact area from the wire. The layout is more logical and way less stress on the cables. The design of the earth also makes a lot more sense and means the plug can be inserted into an outlet either way (although all mine will be orientated the same way!).

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Better connectors, less fuses (8 less!!). Probably the best upgrade I've made to the whole system. Just sounds better, way better.

Cheers.

[joolz]

Hi Chris,
looks good, i tend to run Schuko for the same reasons. Any pics of the RFI drain wire ?
Best,
Julian

[Opti-cal]

Hi Julian,

yes here are some pics illustrating the drain wire.

Its basically a wire of maybe 16awg running the length of the cable wrapped in a foil sheath.

Here is the foil unwrapped from the cable:

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A pic of the drain wire connected to earth (runs parallel to it) in a Schuko plug and then in a UK plug which is easier to see. The wire then meets the foil where the outer sheath starts just before the strain relief:

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If you like I can send you a Schuko or UK terminated cable to try, I've made quite a few!

The Belden cable used is basically as good as its going to get south of £30 per meter.

Let me know,

cheers

Chris

[Hibster_2000]

Schuko may be better, but I do not believe that they meet BS standards.
Please be aware of this, as if there are any problems, they will invalidate your insurance etc.

But yes, they do sound much better.

[Opti-cal]

Schuko may be better, but I do not believe that they meet BS standards.
Please be aware of this, as if there are any problems, they will invalidate your insurance etc.

But yes, they do sound much better.

Agreed Kev, thanks for the input.

Certainly wouldn't want anyone potentially voiding insurance policies. As I'm not a business I doubt I'd be liable but certainly worth mentioning all the same.

It is amazing the difference they make though.

I think my home insurance guys might have a heart attack if they saw my listening room. Not that its unsafe but I doubt they'll be expecting giant power amps and many glowing tubes of various sizes . . . .

[Opti-cal]

In addition to the stated above the mains block outlet I use is fused internally (15A) as well as running a power cable to it from my mains wall outlet with a standard UK 3-pin plug with 13A fuse.

The setup is also on its own spur with RCD protection. I haven't got a death wish as such!

[Hibster_2000]

That sounds pretty safe to me, and very similar to my setup, except I have hard wired the extension block in to the wall, using something similar to a cooker point.

[YNWaN]

Hi Chris, nice job :).

I did something similar but hard wired all the cables together to make, what is known as, a Hydra.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h90/markemark_2006/Hydra%20Mains%20Lead/F9B50782-E7B4-4CCD-9F70-84CDFC8F60CD_zpsdtesij9m.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/markemark_2006/media/Hydra%20Mains%20Lead/F9B50782-E7B4-4CCD-9F70-84CDFC8F60CD_zpsdtesij9m.jpg.html)

Inside the box all the cables are twisted together into individual groups, then soldered, then wrapped tightly with electrical insulation tape and finally the whole thing is fully potted with electrical potting compound. The pic below was taken half way through the potting process:

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h90/markemark_2006/Hydra%20Mains%20Lead/3662ECAE-6C42-44D7-BEC1-53A5BD4F8CD3_zpspankl8ge.jpg (http://s62.photobucket.com/user/markemark_2006/media/Hydra%20Mains%20Lead/3662ECAE-6C42-44D7-BEC1-53A5BD4F8CD3_zpspankl8ge.jpg.html)

I used the same cable you did.

[Opti-cal]

Mark, that's awesome looking.

Like Neo being extracted to the "real" world.

I've heard about the hydra before (and not just in year 6 Greek Mythology). It's definitely next level stuff.

I like the idea of it being in a wooden box too. I use a heavy gauge power cord to the inlet of the mains block. A real pain to terminate but industrial grade.

I think I've opened a slightly inquisitive rabbit-hole in my mind of how power can affect things (or removing all bottle necks to improve it anyway!).

Good to know there's guys out there already where I want to go.

Nice one.

[YNWaN]

Thanks Chris :). Yes, the black epoxy reason does look funky! It all looks a bit untidy but that’s because of the sheer quantity of thick cabling involved - it’s all completely insulated and electrically safe.

I also used a thicker gauge input cable, also Belden. Oddly, although the diameter of the conductors is greater the overall cable is thinner, because of the much thinner Teflon insulation used. It’s also very much stiffer!

[struth]

looks tidy to me

[Gazjam]

Good work Chris, looks very tidy.
Well worthwhile improving the power side of things.

Been down this rabbit hole myself:
The main system is powered from a hardwired Balanced mains transformer, feeding a Schuko mains block, all schuko cables to the bits of kit.

The mains block is fed from a UK 3 pin socket fed by the balanced mains, and a UK fused cable, so insurance box ticked.

The BMU on the other hand...know what you meant when they come in and see glowing valves and the like... ☺️

[Opti-cal]

Good work Chris, looks very tidy.

The main system is powered from a hardwired Balanced mains transformer, feeding a Schuko mains block, all schuko cables to the bits of kit.

Thanks Gazjam, I do fancy getting a mains re-generator at some point but I'm not sure my system quite justifies it (yet) . . . Although its pretty much a guaranteed improvement.

Cheers

[Bigbird]

This all looks great Chris and im glad to hear that its made positive improvements to the setup.

This has been the only part of my system that i haven’t bought into until last week when i took the plunge on a Merlin Scorpion 6 way mains block which is star wired, HCT cores and NAS noise reducing system etc etc. i also had made up some cables using some of the good quality MCRU cable and plugs.

Unfortunately im without a TT at the minute as ive sold the Linn and am in the final stages of putting together the new Garrard project so its looking like early feb before i get the chance to see what, if any improvements it will bring. The waiting is torture.

Anyway hope you had a good xmas and new year and are still enjoying the new cables

Cheers

Karl


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[killie99]

Chris

Just a couple of points about your plugs. You should use a piece of insulation sheath (or heatshrink) on the drain wire, it really shouldn't be bare like that all the way back to the clamping point. Then use a bit of heatshrink to cover the joint at the cores/sheath. Also, you should be clamping the outer sheath of the cable not the cores, here's a link to show (https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/Wiring-a-UK-Plug)

[Opti-cal]

Chris

Just a couple of points about your plugs. You should use a piece of insulation sheath (or heatshrink) on the drain wire, it really shouldn't be bare like that all the way back to the clamping point. Then use a bit of heatshrink to cover the joint at the cores/sheath. Also, you should be clamping the outer sheath of the cable not the cores, here's a link to show (https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/Wiring-a-UK-Plug)

Hi Stuart,

thanks for your suggestion there. The UK plug in the picture was a much older photo and only taken to illustrate where the drain wire was, on my other plugs they are heat-shrink-ed. (I've refined my method somewhat for sure!).

In the schuko plugs the layout is much better (as illustrated in the first schuko plug picture) and means that the drain wire can be put a lot further away from L&N. The outer sheath is also easier to align and ensure proper strain relief.

Cheers

[Opti-cal]

This all looks great Chris and im glad to hear that its made positive improvements to the setup.

This has been the only part of my system that i haven’t bought into until last week when i took the plunge on a Merlin Scorpion 6 way mains block which is star wired, HCT cores and NAS noise reducing system etc etc. i also had made up some cables using some of the good quality MCRU cable and plugs.

Unfortunately im without a TT at the minute as ive sold the Linn and am in the final stages of putting together the new Garrard project so its looking like early feb before i get the chance to see what, if any improvements it will bring. The waiting is torture.

Anyway hope you had a good xmas and new year and are still enjoying the new cables

Cheers

Karl


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Hi Karl,

apologies for late reply, difficult enough catching up on normal work/life communications before I address the more important stuff!

Anyway, Christmas and new year were hectic with a 20 month old but we've emerged the other side so all is well thanks. I'm "still" in the final stages (must be by now!) of a house move so hopefully in a few weeks I will have a new listening area and I can go through all the joys of speaker placement and setup having gotten to a very nice place in my current environment . . . oh well sometimes change is unavoidable and does result in something even better.

Hope the same rings true for your new TT. I still love the sound of my LP12 but for some music my direct drive Audio Technica does seem to do some things better. If I were to reward it with a superior cart and phono stage I think it might better it in more areas . . . .

As for your power upgrades, if you didn't have much in regards to quality plugs/inlets/outlets and RFI filtering in there before it could make a very positive difference. If your mains is good however, it might not do a huge amount to improve things (not sure what the supply is like in Melbourne?!

At the moment I have my power amp coming from my "direct" outlet on my Schuko plug mains block and the pre-amp/DAC on the filtered outlets. It's the best combination for me but experimentation is needed as ever due to everyone's equipment/mains/environment being slightly different.

Hope the anticipation is worth the wait on your new TT. Looking forward to some pics and a report!

Cheers,

Chris

[Bigbird]

Hi Karl,

apologies for late reply, difficult enough catching up on normal work/life communications before I address the more important stuff!

Anyway, Christmas and new year were hectic with a 20 month old but we've emerged the other side so all is well thanks. I'm "still" in the final stages (must be by now!) of a house move so hopefully in a few weeks I will have a new listening area and I can go through all the joys of speaker placement and setup having gotten to a very nice place in my current environment . . . oh well sometimes change is unavoidable and does result in something even better.

Hope the same rings true for your new TT. I still love the sound of my LP12 but for some music my direct drive Audio Technica does seem to do some things better. If I were to reward it with a superior cart and phono stage I think it might better it in more areas . . . .

As for your power upgrades, if you didn't have much in regards to quality plugs/inlets/outlets and RFI filtering in there before it could make a very positive difference. If your mains is good however, it might not do a huge amount to improve things (not sure what the supply is like in Melbourne?!

At the moment I have my power amp coming from my "direct" outlet on my Schuko plug mains block and the pre-amp/DAC on the filtered outlets. It's the best combination for me but experimentation is needed as ever due to everyone's equipment/mains/environment being slightly different.

Hope the anticipation is worth the wait on your new TT. Looking forward to some pics and a report!

Cheers,

Chris

No worries mate its been a busy period for all of us by the sound of things.

Weve just done the dreaded house move ourselves so i feel your pain there. Bloody hate it. I wont be doing it again for a while thats for sure. Thats my 4th move in as many years so well and truly over it[emoji23].

Ive since borrowed a rega rp6 for the time being and have had to move the setup around to try in a couple of different rooms as i couldnt seem to get it sounding as good as in my last place. Maybe its the new rooms maybe its the Rega? Im guessing the rega is the culprit as the room size ,floors etc are all very similar as my last house . Maybe ive just become a bit of a snobby bastard with the souped up linn as the rega just isnt quite cutting it for me and definitely doesnt dig as deep. Hopefully i will be back on top and happy with the sound once i finish this new project and experiment with positioning and the new cables and mains block.

Im not expecting it to be night and day with the new cables and block in the rig but a bit of a quieter background and a more fine detail (which is what they claim) would be a bonus as at this stage in the game the improvements are few and far between so every little helps.

Regarding the new noisemaker... Ive just had the news that the new chassis has been painted now so the TT is very close to being done. Im just waiting on the plinth now which is a little behind schedule. Realistically I’m looking at sometime in feb for completion so I’m very grateful that the father in law has let me use his old spinner to keep me going.

I shall indeed post some pics and info once its all up and running.

Cheers

Karl


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