Tacima Mains Conditioner.

[biggzy]

Hi all, will be getting new mains block soon and wanted some advice on them, now i don't want to go mad and spend much (£30 max), i found this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tacima-CS929-6-Way-Mains-Conditioner-RFI-Filter-Surge-/190499939393?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item2c5aae6441) on ebay, any body know if its a ok mains conditioner?

Or any others to look out for?
Must have 6 sockets.

Thanks,
Adam.

[jantheman]

Mostly regarded as good for the price, however many report that it strangles the sound. The best compromise seems to be to use it for everything except amps, plug them direct into the mains......

[biggzy]

Mostly regarded as good for the price, however many report that it strangles the sound. The best compromise seems to be to use it for everything except amps, plug them direct into the mains......

Trouble is my main wall outlet is too far away from my amp, i have no choice but to use a extension lead.

Any others for around the same price that wont mess up my sound?

Thanks loads,
Adam.

[jantheman]

If you have a double socket you could always use a plain extension for the amp alongside the Tacima.....Just a thought.
You could try the amp into the Tacima and see how you get on. Might be OK, might not. If you dont like it , run a plain extension.
Not aware of others for 30 squid that are any better.

[biggzy]

If you have a double socket you could always use a plain extension for the amp alongside the Tacima.....Just a thought.
You could try the amp into the Tacima and see how you get on. Might be OK, might not. If you dont like it , run a plain extension.
Not aware of others for 30 squid that are any better.

Thanks for the help/info, suppose it wont hurt to try.

Adam.

[Maximum]

I have one of these. Occasionally I move things onto it to test it out again when things change. I recently moved the beresford onto it to see if the gator and maplin bench supply worked well with it on headphones. It did seem to make things easier to follow, and bass seems to flow better and less hardness on treble, time will tell if it stays, as with the old opamp/12V smps setup I ended up removing it, but things are looking better this time. With the amp it can tame things down with boomy bass when its a problem, but can lack a little weight, the current setup running from its own socket seems better.

[biggzy]

I have one of these. Occasionally I move things onto it to test it out again when things change. I recently moved the beresford onto it to see if the gator and maplin bench supply worked well with it on headphones. It did seem to make things easier to follow, and bass seems to flow better and less hardness on treble, time will tell if it stays, as with the old opamp/12V smps setup I ended up removing it, but things are looking better this time. With the amp it can tame things down with boomy bass when its a problem, but can lack a little weight, the current setup running from its own socket seems better.

Thanks Rob for the info :)

Will give it a go and see what happens.

Adam.

[MCRU]

This is what you need boss, decent 6 way block, with light dis-abled, wired with good quality cable and a decent plug, will do the job nicely. The listing is actually closed as I shut my e-bay shop for a while, if you want one drop me a pm mate.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350329237695&ssPageName=STRK:MEUS:IT

P.S Don't be tempted to buy off bedroom sellers on e-bay who are not registered as a business and who use SY cable because it looks nice but is no use for audio applications.

[biggzy]

This is what you need boss, decent 6 way block, with light dis-abled, wired with good quality cable and a decent plug, will do the job nicely. The listing is actually closed as I shut my e-bay shop for a while, if you want one drop me a pm mate.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350329237695&ssPageName=STRK:MEUS:IT

P.S Don't be tempted to buy off bedroom sellers on e-bay who are not registered as a business and who use SY cable because it looks nice but is no use for audio applications.

Thanks David, just had a look on your site, the next mains block up from this one looks good (the £50 one), so will give you a shout once im ready to buy.

Thanks,
Adam.

[Gazjam]

Have to say this thread got me curious...
I've one of the Tacima mains blocks which I've been using to hook up my AV stuff, as I think it gives a better picture with it in place.

My amp and Touch/Caiman is direct into the wall.

I tried my hifi into the Tacima before but found that for the Caiman Dac and my old Squeezebox 3 they both sounded better direct from the wall.

Couple of things have changed since then though..
My Caimans had the "passive mod" done, with no opamp stage and a couple of film caps in place - as well as the Mutara's/Elna's etc.
..basically its now "full bhoona" Caiman.
Also, I'm running it with the Maplins linear bench supply at 15V

Also, I've got a SB Touch now, with a better switching supply, SPDIF out etc.

Not tried the Touch yet, but theres a worthwhile improvement running the caiman/linear supply from the Tacima.
Tighter sound yet more open soundstage?
Acoustic sets have a better sense of seperate people playing and it sounds more like real people rather than recordings...this is probably down to there being more air in the mids and top end detail compared to before.
Good stuff.

I swapped it back and forth several times...then went away and tried the same thing later.
Yup, a definate improvement.

Not tried the Touch yet, will do the Touch later.

[chris@panteg]

I have a couple of Tacima's and yesterday i did a quick A-B with my old Living Voice 4 way in my AV system (Yamaha RXV1700/QL1)

It was very apparent that there was quite a difference ! The LV seemed a little more dynamic but also quite harsh at the top end and touch of grain creeping in , the Tacima appears more refined and less forward , seemingly less dynamic ?

I'm going to have to invest in one of David's block's and do some more comparison's.

[Gazjam]

I have a couple of Tacima's and yesterday i did a quick A-B with my old Living Voice 4 way in my AV system (Yamaha RXV1700/QL1)

It was very apparent that there was quite a difference ! The LV seemed a little more dynamic but also quite harsh at the top end and touch of grain creeping in , the Tacima appears more refined and less forward , seemingly less dynamic ?

I'm going to have to invest in one of David's block's and do some more comparison's.

Its defo more refined in my system..but refined in the way that everythings tighter and more organised?
Listening to some film soundtrack stuff earlier (Hans Zimmer:Inception) and if anything the music is MORE dynamic when it needs to be.
BIG musical swells are felt more rather than just heard?

I agree though that compared to being plugged straight into the wall SOMETHING is happening with the dynamics...not less exactly but "different".
I prefer the difference.

Trying not to over-analyse it too much (been there done that :)), its just sounding better.
More foot tapping, more "natural" sounding rather than refined in my system.

[chris@panteg]

Its defo more refined in my system..but refined in the way that everythings tighter and more organised?
Listening to some film soundtrack stuff earlier (Hans Zimmer:Inception) and if anything the music is MORE dynamic when it needs to be.
BIG musical swells are felt more rather than just heard?

I agree though that compared to being plugged straight into the wall SOMETHING is happening with the dynamics...not less exactly but "different".
I prefer the difference.

Trying not to over-analyse it too much (been there done that :)), its just sounding better.
More foot tapping, more "natural" sounding rather than refined in my system.

I think i have to agree with you ! Could it just be more noise and hash I'm hearing with my old LV block ? giving an impression of a slightly louder sound , when in fact its just more noise , I think i need to get hold of a quality proven mains block , but not too much money just yet (would like the MG@ £200) .

I think the Tacima seems to work very well in my AV system , I'm wondering if my old LV block is major weak link in my other system now .

[hifinutt]

david, what is sy cable ?

[Gazjam]

A wee update to my trying out the Tacima with my Touch and Caiman Dac?

As I said, the Dac sounds better.
It didn't before I fitted a linear PSU and modded the beejezus out of it. Thats Passive mod with film caps, Elna caps, Mutara Regs and the wire link mod.
Only thing I haven't done, but would like to, is replace the big black smoothing cap with something more fitting the Mutara's.

Anyway, with all that in place the Dac sound better through the Tacima, so its staying.

Plugged the Touch into it today and had a good listen.
It too sounded better, very transparent now. A smoother "bigger" sound with better dynamic swings and a fair bit more bass. I would assume its because theres less electrical "mush" getting in?
Go figure... the Touch stays plugged into the Tacima as well.

Nice little upgrade have to say, happy with that!

[Gazjam]

Oh, forgot to say. :doh:

Things improved even more when I changed over my digi coax to one of the Belkin PureAv ones being mentioned on another thread?
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/50228/Belkin-Digital-Coaxial-Audio-Cable-3-6m?source=AffiliateFuture?source=AffiliateFuture

£5 delivered..and its as good in most areas and even better in some than my NVA Sound Pipe I was using before..and thats worth a BIT more than the Belkin.

BONKERS value for money, as others have said elsewhere its a terrific digi cable.

[Covenant]

Only thing I haven't done, but would like to, is replace the big black smoothing cap with something more fitting the Mutara's.


I will be interested to hear what you select to replace the smoothing cap Gary. I guess its the next logical thing for me to try although I must say, I wonder how much better my Standac can sound.:)

[Gazjam]

Ok Jerry..
I;ve a PM somewhere from MartinT where we spoke about that, with some specific recommendations.
Need to dig that one out.

[Stratmangler]

Oh, forgot to say. :doh:

Things improved even more when I changed over my digi coax to one of the Belkin PureAv ones being mentioned on another thread?
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/50228/Belkin-Digital-Coaxial-Audio-Cable-3-6m?source=AffiliateFuture?source=AffiliateFuture

£5 delivered..and its as good in most areas and even better in some than my NVA Sound Pipe I was using before..and thats worth a BIT more than the Belkin.

BONKERS value for money, as others have said elsewhere its a terrific digi cable.

I'm pleased that the cable works for you too Gaz, but £4 postage is a bit steep.:lolsign:

[Maximum]

I'm pleased that the cable works for you too Gaz, but £4 postage is a bit steep.:lolsign:

It's not so bad if you live around the Manchester area as you can just pop into the store.

[Gazjam]

I'm pleased that the cable works for you too Gaz, but £4 postage is a bit steep.:lolsign:

sure you dont have any Scottish blood in you Chris? :ner:

[Stratmangler]

I'm a Lancastrian with a Yorkshire surname - you figure it out ;)