Mains cables & PSUs

[Reid Malenfant]

Just received a delivery of some nice Mark Grant figure of 8 screened mains cables today. Now as my TV happens to use this type of mains connector i'll be plugging this into the back of my Belkin PF40 & seeing what happens very soon.

On another note i just realised something else that may well make a difference to picture quality & this will also be tested out to see if there is any picture improvement

I just realised that the wall wart that feeds power to my Octava 5 x 2 distribution amplifier is an SMPS type As i'm no longer using any of the wall warts that fed various Freeview boxes i realised after a trawl of ebay that i happen to have a linear PSU (regulated) at precisely the right voltage. Now we all know or should by now that changing from an SMPS to linear supply improves the sound on various bits of kit, i'm hoping the same will happen to the picture with this new supply...

Watch this space

[colinB]

[Reid Malenfant]

I have been running the Octava distribution amp on it's original SMPS wall wart since i installed it so i guess i'm used to how the picture looks on my TV.

The standard unit is rated at 2.5A, i have no idea why as 12.5W is quite a bit to dissipate in a 7" x 3" x 1" case. I thought i'd try out this linear regulated wall wart which is rated at only 1.2A

Needless to say it works...

Very well indeed!

Upon powering up the TV & blu ray player i was faced with the BD players splash screen, i immediately noticed it was different! There was always a bit of distortion to certain parts of it that looked visibly better with this linear PSU There was simply less distortion in the picture, it looked more "solid" for want of a better word..

Onto a film i know very well indeed Mr Cameron & his film Avatar... I think the easiest place to start is to say what hasn't changed & that would be the sound as i'm not listening to the sound via the TVs speakers

In every other respect things have changed though. Contrast is up, colours are more saturated, there is less visible noise. Edges are sharper, motion appears to be better & the whole picture appears to be more 3 dimensional with increased detail

I'm beginning to think that i'll have to recalibrate the TV as the differences are that startling. Before i do that though i have just purchased a new 3.5Amp CB power supply that i'll modify to output 5V DC - Yes it has made that much difference As i'd much rather have an overated PSU than underated this is the way i'm going, i'm also pretty sure that the CB PSU will be better regulated than this wall wart which can only possibly benefit things further. I'll also install a screened DC lead to the Octava, thanks to Chris (The Grand Wazoo) i happen to have some nice Mil spec silver plated screened cable here that is ideal for the job

I'll test the Mark Grant mains cable another day, possibly tomorrow.. For now though it's back to the music & bye bye Pandora

I'll be honest & say that this has got me wondering if a linear PSU powering the blu ray player wouldn't be a bad idea. I happen to have a couple of the same model so while one might be in the rack i can play with the other one at my leisure

[colinB]

Nice one Mark. Love to know if the cable does any thing to the picture.

Can you recommend a PSU for a playstation slim?

[Reid Malenfant]

Nice one Mark. Love to know if the cable does any thing to the picture.

Can you recommend a PSU for a playstation slim?

Yes me to Colin, the fact that it's screened & with a properly twisted pair of centre conductors should help a bit

I have gone back to the SMPS wall wart to test it out though as i know the picture very well indeed. As well as i don't like running an underated PSU.. I think i have sussed why the Octava needs up to 2.5A of current, my guess is it needs the extra to power two displays as it can do this.. While i'm only ever likely to use one at a time i still prefer to have an overated PSU any day of the week

Isn't the PSU built in to the slim playstation?

[colinB]

Er ...yeah its built in.

[Reid Malenfant]

Er ...yeah its built in.

Do you know the voltages & currents required to run it?

I'm pretty sure like i mentioned with the BD player that linear PSUs will be of benefit, if you can find out what is required you might find something out there, but at a price

[colinB]

Probably picking one up tomorrow. Ill let you know if thats ok.

[HighFidelityGuy]

This is an interesting one. I too have an Octava HDMI switch box and I've been wanting to swap it's SMPS for a linear one for a while but the high current requirement has put me off. I think I have a 1.2A Maplin linear supply somewhere so I guess I could give that a try. My HDMI box isn't a distribution amp, it's just a switch box, so hopefully it won't need the full 2.5A.

[HighFidelityGuy]

Darn, my Maplin supply doesn't do 5V. The closest settings are 4.5V and 6V.