Russ Andrews Power Purifier ?

[Audio Al]

Not wanting to thread crap , now said item is sold , can someone tell me how this works ?

National grid mains into your home and then what ?

It goes over my head :confused:

[The Black Adder]

It's a box with a light in it. LOL

I wouldn't know what it actually does.

IMO, probably very little in real world terms. But if it's expensive, then it must 'seem' to do something.

I would give it a go I suppose, always open to stuff. Some people like R.A.

[The Black Adder]

If someone here of a more technical mind would like to attempt to explain, that would be good.

[Pete812]

Looks an interesting device, have you seen this?

https://hifipig.com/russ-andrews-power-purifier/

[The Black Adder]

Yes. It sounds good.

Still remain very skeptical though. :)

[Pharos]

I have a considerable amount of experience with RA.

In the 90s when I was building my distribution boards, one 9 and one 11 way, they were from varnished wood, and I decided to copy a BBC design in which mains inlets to amplifiers had 0.01uF caps across all three of the mains connections, in delta form.

I increased the values to 0.1uF and contacted RA, and without realising his stance, discussed what I was doing, and IMO he took all of this and used it to further his business.

He introduced several mains filters, one of which is a plug in wall wart called "The Silencer", and out of interest I bought one in about'02 to test it.

With three switches, one in series with each leg I measured any change in noise levels on the mains, and it was undetectable, but my own filter was in place at the time. It seems to be composed of what I used, three caps, but with the introduction of a voltage dependant resistor, which he revealed in a subsequent discussion.

Other products I do not know about, but he has made a lot of money and is very good at marketing.
When I told him of my measurements he discontinued sending me his literature.

[Pigmy Pony]

Sounds like a bit of a turd. It is possible to make money AND friends.

[Haselsh1]

Could this be a bit of 70's Peter Belt 'technology'...? OK so his headphones were bloody good but I think it all went a bit 'Icke' later on.

I'm a bit surprised it's not in a blue box.

;)

[anthonyTD]

https://www.markgrantcables.co.uk/uk/mains-power/mains-filters/tube-distinctions-mains-power-filter/

[Flo]

Tried most of Ra range, one of the few makes I now universally dislike. I’ve come across nothing else that kills the musical message so effectively.
Peter belt was a man out of time, most stuff he espoused is in realm of quantum mechanics, and the nano universe. Most bonkers but fun finding out.
Both sell snake oil.

[Barry]

Since the RA 'blue box' plugs into a convenient mains socket without facility to plug anything into the box, whatever components are in the box can only appear in shunt with the mains supply. Without speculating exactly what each of the internal black boxes that can populate the 'blue box' do, their internal construction is only likely to contain components that are wired between any and/or all of the three mains conductors.

A typical mains filter often comprises an 'X' capacitor of 0.1 - 0.22uF placed across the L and N, with a pair of 'Y' capacitors of 0.01 - 0.1uF wired between the L and N to earth. A pair of inductors of ~ 0.5mH might be wired in series between the X capacitor and the Y capacitors.

Spark or spike suppression is achieved with either a VDR (voltage dependant resistor) or a sealed gas-filled spark gap.

None of these components ought cost any more than, say, £30 in total.

[chris@panteg]

A good friend of mine bought the power purifier, he tried a couple of the plug in modules too which to him only made subtle differences?

But he kept the whole package and seems to be happy with the results, appears to be a smoother less fatiguing sound.
Having heard it myself, it seems to work but I'm not interested in trying one myself, quite happy with my mains set up as it is.

[Pharos]

Since the RA 'blue box' plugs into a convenient mains socket without facility to plug anything into the box, whatever components are in the box can only appear in shunt with the mains supply. Without speculating exactly what each of the internal black boxes that can populate the 'blue box' do, their internal construction is only likely to contain components that are wired between any and/or all of the three mains conductors.

A typical mains filter often comprises an 'X' capacitor of 0.1 - 0.22uF placed across the L and N, with a pair of 'Y' capacitors of 0.01 - 0.1uF wired between the L and N to earth. A pair of inductors of ~ 0.5mH might be wired in series between the X capacitor and the Y capacitors.

Spark or spike suppression is achieved with either a VDR (voltage dependant resistor) or a sealed gas-filled spark gap.

None of these components ought cost any more than, say, £30 in total.

That is almost exactly what I posted about The Silencer, a little 'wall wart which was pluggable into a socket aside the used ones.

And BTW, I think health shops are often frequented by people who are placebophiles, which of course serves the profits of the shops.

[earsopen]

Since the Power Purifier in its current form is black, all references to a 'blue box' are irrelevant. Totally irrelevant! Prove that it is the same thing rather than speculate.

If somebody thinks they can do exactly the same box, with exactly the same results for £30- then do it!

Then source the boxes, the modules, and market and employ staff to assemble it and I for one would buy it for £30-.

Yes, I use an RA Power Purifier fully loaded alongside an RA Mains Abzorber in the first 2 sockets of my distribution block, and they work very well together to remove noise. The effect was obvious from first installation and I am very happy with the results although of course I wish they were priced lower.

Describe the results? No way! Anything said would make me a target for all the snipers, so read the review which was linked to in a previous reply.

RA is a very clever man (who must be very thick skinned) to market products that are often so often negatively presented by comments on a forum like this. My early opinions were affected by that negativity, but recently have found that the RA bits I use do work, pretty much exactly how he describes.

[walpurgis]

That sounds a bit defensive. Thing is, what are you defending, RA products or your equipment choices and why?

[Macca]

I did once have a Belkin mains block that had a beneficial effect on the sound, sweetening it a little. I know it wasn't just me as several visitors commented unprompted on the sweet sound after I had installed it. Only cd player and pre-amp were plugged in though not the power amp. The power amp clearly lost dynamics when powered through it.

What it was doing and how it was doing it I have no idea, but it did do something.

I was given the tip on it by a bloke I bought a pre-amp from on eBay, and he had the tip from a mate who ran a full Naim system. Belkin didn't make any SQ claims for the thing IIRC, it was just a large 6 way block with surge protection 'crowbar' and came with a supposed 'million dollar' guarantee. I didn't unplug it when they changed my electricity meter and it died so I binned it.

They no longer make them and I tried the replacement model but that does nothing.

EDIT - I actually now do use a Russ Andrews mains block, but not one that he makes any claims for other than it is made of quality parts. Which it clearly is. It cost £100 which is probably too much to spend on a mains block. I must have had a knock on the head that day or something.

[earsopen]

Not defensive about my system or choices.

Offended by people who post about particular products without fully knowing what they are and their effects, so make assumptions.

Of course, they have never tried those particular products (in this case the Power Purifier) which makes them experts! I think not. So why denigrate the product?

In this thread one person called RA a turd, another said that his products are very 'Icke'. Not helpful at all to the subject of the thread.

As I said, these types of comments negatively affected my opinion of RA products when I was starting in hifi so I would not buy them, and they could also affect others. It took me years to decide to try some of his gear and find that they worked, and most of the negativity was just people jumping on the bandwagon with no experience of what they are criticising.

[Macca]

You don't have to try something before you can be legitimately sceptical about it though. I've not tried jumping off the roof of my house but I'm still reasonably certain what the outcome would be.

[Pigmy Pony]

And I didn't call RA a turd, I said he sounded like a bit of a turd - a comment based on what I read in the previous post, by someone who appears to have had more experience of RA than just buying (and liking) his products.

Also it wasn't suggested that the Power Purifier could be made for £30, rather that the cost of the components might come to that much.

[The Black Adder]

Let's put it this way.

I'm more than confident that there are some on AOS who could make the same products which work either the same or better for a lot less than R.A. They might not look as pretty but they would do the same job.

They would also be able to give you the same type of measurements I'm sure.

If you need something making, start a thread and see how it goes.

I can't see the point in judging R.A but I can see the point of remaining skeptical, keeping a level head and reading between the lines of the shpeelo.

[Barry]

Since the Power Purifier in its current form is black, all references to a 'blue box' are irrelevant. Totally irrelevant! Prove that it is the same thing rather than speculate.

If somebody thinks they can do exactly the same box, with exactly the same results for £30- then do it!

Then source the boxes, the modules, and market and employ staff to assemble it and I for one would buy it for £30-.

Yes, I use an RA Power Purifier fully loaded alongside an RA Mains Abzorber in the first 2 sockets of my distribution block, and they work very well together to remove noise. The effect was obvious from first installation and I am very happy with the results although of course I wish they were priced lower.

Describe the results? No way! Anything said would make me a target for all the snipers, so read the review which was linked to in a previous reply.

RA is a very clever man (who must be very thick skinned) to market products that are often so often negatively presented by comments on a forum like this. My early opinions were affected by that negativity, but recently have found that the RA bits I use do work, pretty much exactly how he describes.

The RA device asked about by the OP was in reference to one that had been recently sold, and it was blue in colour: hence my calling it a "blue box". Within it were plug-in modules that were coloured black. I don't care what colour they are now: the OP asked how they worked, and I made a suggestion as to how they might work. That is all!

[Pharos]

Since the Power Purifier in its current form is black, all references to a 'blue box' are irrelevant. Totally irrelevant! Prove that it is the same thing rather than speculate.

If somebody thinks they can do exactly the same box, with exactly the same results for £30- then do it!

Then source the boxes, the modules, and market and employ staff to assemble it and I for one would buy it for £30-.

Yes, I use an RA Power Purifier fully loaded alongside an RA Mains Abzorber in the first 2 sockets of my distribution block, and they work very well together to remove noise. The effect was obvious from first installation and I am very happy with the results although of course I wish they were priced lower.

Describe the results? No way! Anything said would make me a target for all the snipers, so read the review which was linked to in a previous reply.

RA is a very clever man (who must be very thick skinned) to market products that are often so often negatively presented by comments on a forum like this. My early opinions were affected by that negativity, but recently have found that the RA bits I use do work, pretty much exactly how he describes.

The item I referred to was black, and I measured its performance, but as I said my own filter, (on which I am sure RA designed his), was in cct. I assume that you have measured your results to allay placebo effect or expectation bias.

I was not 'sniping' at anyone, but I loathe conning and plagiarism.

[anthonyTD]

Mains filters, when done correctly can have a significant affect on the equipment being run from them, the type i linked to earliar in this thread have been used in part of my own system for well over ten years, ie; from the point at which i first became aware that you could actualy make a mains filter that did pretty much what you designed it to do, without sucking out all the musicality, and life of the music, what ever your feelings are on such devices, and those who promote and sell them, the only way you will know whether such devices will work for you is to first put aside your pre existing sceptism, and try one for yourself. :)
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