mains lead question...

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003.

  1. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    If ,as a large percentage of the chaps on here and other hifi forums seem to agree that R/D, eupen, et al do have a genuine
    and positive effect on sound quailty, why do the mid to high end manufacturers NOT supply the leads ? at a cost too us of say£35
    surely the manufactures could buy huge volumes for prob less than half that ...... they win.....R/A Eupen ect made more money
    we get better vfm.......Its a win win for all.......or am I missing something
    :confused:
    the floor is open.......
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  2. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    Or is the Mains lead thing a load of bollocks ?

    A Quote from one hi-end manufactuer.."[mains} is just a load of hype and overblown black art b/s"
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  3. Ya-Boo

    Robbo

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    The reason why they say that is that they dont want you spending money on mains to upgrade your sound, they would rather you spend £££ on a nice new box!

    Robbo
     
    Robbo, Jul 19, 2003
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  4. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    If a v good lead was £150+ i would agree with you but a good won can be had for £30......... in the great sceme of things thats peanuts....
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  5. Ya-Boo

    zanash

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    Take my advice, go build your self a TNT TTS it wont cost the earth, it will give you a fair idea of what mains cables can do. Ifyou think of them as filters to the nasties in the mains and from other components. Use your ears to listen to the music not the naysayers!!
     
    zanash, Jul 19, 2003
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  6. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    Zanash, have read most of your postings in the past and enjoy reading your dIY stuff.........I,m not panning the mains stuff
    I,ve just asked the question, following a conversation with a
    R&D guy whilst meeting socially, was suprised with he's reply when i posed the above question
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  7. Ya-Boo

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Intresting this :) Today I have been experimenting with 'Rather special ones', and the Super dooper all singing and dancing one, was wasted by an relative 'Unknown' (not one of ours either), but If any one doubts the effect that mains leads have, I will let Mr Sukebe explain, surfice to say I have just ordered another one :) cheers Boys, Oh the Eupen is very good for the Dosh, however Valve amps require a different 'Style' of mains leads, with different aspects of power delivery than ones used for SS electronics, just my me-anderings :eek:
     
    wadia-miester, Jul 19, 2003
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  8. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    Hi WM, its been in the high 80's down here in the posh part of the S.E ,you need to get out and get a life :D

    Kev
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  9. Ya-Boo

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Kev, just spent the last 3 hours swimming the horses and cycling around cleeve hill to add to rather good 3 hours or so this afternoon, tomorrow off to Daventry have an event to go to.
    Then maybe back to work on monday and suffer the wraith of speaker covetor. did you have a pleasent day my good Friend?
     
    wadia-miester, Jul 19, 2003
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  10. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    good eve Tone,guess everybody else is out getting drunk and or laid......er or both.......dunno about you but those days are well behind me now:rolleyes:

    Have been giving those gr20's a work-out for a few hours this eve.....gremlins have now been dispelled from my new amp all is we in the world
    world supers next w/e ya goin?
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  11. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    Zanash,TNT TTS, wtf ? explanation reqested ASAP OK
    :D
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 19, 2003
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  12. Ya-Boo

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Would really love too, but I may be 'Away' on Business, but it's a really tempting thought mate. Tone
     
    wadia-miester, Jul 19, 2003
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  13. Ya-Boo

    technobear Ursine Audiophile

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    There are Eupens and then there are Eupens...

    Look at http://www.tnt-audio.com/ for instructions on how to make TTS.

    Earlier in the week, after reading comments by, I think, Henry T, I swapped my Eupens around a bit. I put an 05/2.5 on the amp and an 05/04 on the CD player. I listened to a few tracks but didn't draw any firm conclusions before being distracted by something else. Subsequently forgot all about it.

    This evening I was listening to some familiar discs and thinking this isn't sounding right. The bass is a bit loose and one-note'ish. The image is a bit 2-dimensional. Vocals are a little recessed. And as for the treble, well cymbols sounded like they were etched in the air (but that would be the Seismic Sink which arrived yesterday ;) ). Then I remembered the Eupens. I put the 05/2.5 back on the CD player and the 05/04 back on the amp. What the f...! Deep powerful clearly defined bass. 3-dimensional image. Vocals back where they belong. No more one-note'ing. Hmmm!

    Once again we see the system dependence of cables at work. In my case the smaller Eupen is best for the CD player and the bigger Eupen is best for the amp.

    Chris
     
    technobear, Jul 19, 2003
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  14. Ya-Boo

    maddog 2

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    Robbo has nailed it. This is the answer. End of thread. Thank you and goodnight.

    The hifi companies sell electronics. So why should they incorporate a decent lead and run the risk that punters attribute the improvement to the lead and not the box?

    Hell, why do people buy new boxes after all?

    Look at it another way - good leads are our little secret ;) People who don't know about about good leads can stew. Or buy a Eupen and see the light.
     
    maddog 2, Jul 19, 2003
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  15. Ya-Boo

    zanash

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    sorry did'nt post been out for the day.

    The post by techno is right on.

    I should have given more details !
     
    zanash, Jul 20, 2003
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  16. Ya-Boo

    badchamp Thermionic Member

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    :eek: indeed.

    As a fully paid up member of the glowing bottle brigade :D Tone, care to elucidate??

    Cheers
    Jeff
     
    badchamp, Jul 20, 2003
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  17. Ya-Boo

    badchamp Thermionic Member

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    Err... thats me as the fully paid up member
     
    badchamp, Jul 20, 2003
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  18. Ya-Boo

    Ya-Boo

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    Bad champ if ever you decide to visit the seaside on the s coast could you put your valves in the car ...love too hear them with my gear
     
    Ya-Boo, Jul 20, 2003
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  19. Ya-Boo

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Jeff, just my humble observations, due to the nature of valve amp construction and transformer utilisation and useage of mains power,( maybe the large voltage tranisent swings?) and I feel (this is entirely my theroy, based on one or 2 'controlled ' back to back tests). That if you take a 'Known' quality control cable, that has a positive effect on say 4 Solid state amplifers (class A/A A and T all with linear power supplies) by postive I mean has an 'Audioable improvement noticed by at least 3 seperate indivduals, on the same and on other seperate occations).
    And place it on say good £1500 valve power amp and say a Manley Stingray, I can say for sure, the results will be different, in that, The audable difference is now virtualy undectable or maybe even slight less than the O.E. power chord :eek:
    S/States usually required large amounts of current quickly when running 'Up a notch or too', if you measured the 'Input Juice charactoristics from the valve and the s/s amp (at the same volume level) it may surprise you :D
    This brings me to the Post Zanash's post about about the eupens, (the big white and green ones IME screws the music, ie the PRaT is serious disrupted and the flowing of the music is almost killed, however the bass is greatly enhanced, where as the blue eupen, has more groovy properties and cohesiveness, but not as much bass (both on the amps and the cdps we tried it on, however depoending on the current draw of your amp you may find different ;) or if you have a particular weak pSU in the CDP the Bigger eupen may work wonders :MILD:
    Having made serval versions of the TNT power chord, I can say it is componant dependent, some S/S amps it made an appricable difference others it did virtualy zip.
    The Eupen's IME is not so good with valve amps (pre's are worth a try though) Zanash noticed it 'Smoothed out the sound and lacked involvent, and the TNT was better in His opinion, we have found that the eupen has the effect of Waking up s/s rather well, and the TNT didn't do too bad, but not as good.
    Now back to Valve V's SS power cable issue, Even those super trick PS audio boys now produce a Multiwave configuration just for Valves :eek: marketing gimmick, well maybe (I've not heard one so can't comment), I do know that certain power cables have a serious effect on my own personal gear, and also some of my brother expensive and not so expensive valve gear, with a fairly big difference too.
    Surfice to say he doesn't run Eupens, but he doesn't run mega buck $$$$ ones either, still they are not cheap, but he's tried around 20 or so, before he found the ONES that suited HIM, so don't give up, get some on sale or return, try em, don't like get another, but they eally do make a difference.
    Merlin posted about putting NON cheap power cables on CDP's last week, I bet a few laughed, He's a lot closer than you guys think :) Consider Mains power again IT powers everything from Akai to DCS.
    The key to great sound is mains power pure and simple before during and inside the boxes that make the sound. all in my simple opinion. WM
     
    wadia-miester, Jul 20, 2003
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  20. Ya-Boo

    zanash

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    I find I'm in agreement with WM. The Eupen still plays a part in my system, though periferal. It provides power to any number of test peices that may be operating, from a modded extension block.

    The thin that swung it for me was the increasein percieved depth going from stanard supplied lead to Eupen to TTS. The first two were different but not hugely, TTS though just made everthing more relaxed and provided a deeper and wider soundstage.

    It's horses for courses, it depends what you want to get from your gear.
     
    zanash, Jul 21, 2003
    #20
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