HiFi sounds better with CH on

[kitfit1]

I don't understand as to why the PS Audio power supplies are so much more expensive than the Airlink (apart from being in a fancy case); are they both achieving the same thing, or does the PS Audio offer something more?

The PS Audio supplies are wrapped up in the same "snake oil" mumbo jumbo as the Russ Andrews ones are. So called special cabling, audio grade components ect ect. Not only that, for the most part they have quite low KVA ratings.
If you have a good look at Airlinks site you will see they offer many different KVA ratings and will also build to customers own spec if wanted. At the end of the day, they are all just a balanced power supply. By it's very nature and the laws of physics, all a balanced power supply does is strip the mains of RFI and then supply a 100% clean mains source to your hi-fi. One that costs £1000's of pounds will actually do the same job as one that costs under £500, it just leaves you with less money in your pocket.

 

[BallisticGT3]

Many thanks for the explanation Kitfit1.

Hopefully I'm not going to have to go to the expense of buying a balanced power supply, as I think I've found the problem.
I tried plugging my power amplifier straight into the wall socket, rather than feeding it from the Surgex power conditioner, as the manual mentions there will be a small change in impedance, but this made no difference, so I connected it back to the Surgex.
Next I tried plugging the TP-Link ethernet over mains adaptor into the Surgex, rather than having it plugged directly into the wall, and this made the difference - I must have been suffering from RFI over the ring main.
I was then able to enjoy a long session listening to my favourite music without it feeling harsh and tiresome and without any step-up in quality at any time, everything was sublime.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this thread.

 

[Dervious]

Plugging your TP-Link powerline adapter into a surge conditioner may well have removed some RFI from your ring main. It would also probably cause your powerline adapter to stop working, or severely reduce it's connection speed. And if you have any other powerline adapters plugged in elsewhere in your home, you'll still be putting RFI into your mains wiring.

 

[theone8181]

Can't you fit those ferrite lumps to cables (possibly called chokes)?

 

[JasonM]

I have already touched on this with a couple of my posts.

I have TP-Link ethernet over power adapters also, however my Tacima mains conditioner is filtering them. I know this as I plugging a power adapter directly into the Tacima mains conditioner and noticed a huge reduction in sync speed. Of course I don't run like this, as I have the mains conditioner between wall mains and HiFi, however did this test so I could objectively measure the Tacima conditioner is working.

BallisticGT3, there is something really odd however that your having to connect the TP-Link into your conditioner, it should be the reverse as you had it in first place.

I wonder if your conditioner is working correct. My advice is try the Tacima conditioner I use, if you buy from the rain forest site you can return free of charge if you don't like it.

 

[JasonM]

I think I've found the problem.
I tried plugging my power amplifier straight into the wall socket, rather than feeding it from the Surgex power conditioner,

I may have an explanation as to whats going on, however I have a question first.

What source are you using as input into the amplifier, and how is that source connected to the mains power?

 

[BallisticGT3]

Plugging your TP-Link powerline adapter into a surge conditioner may well have removed some RFI from your ring main. It would also probably cause your powerline adapter to stop working, or severely reduce it's connection speed. And if you have any other powerline adapters plugged in elsewhere in your home, you'll still be putting RFI into your mains wiring.

This is what I thought and why I had initially plugged the adaptor straight into the wall socket. All I can say is that it seems to have fixed my problem and made my ethernet over mains home network more reliable. I have another adaptor in a spare bedroom for my bike trainer and before the change, I was always fighting connection issues between the 3 TP-link adaptors. The 3rd adaptor is next to my router in another bedroom, hence having to use ethernet over mains to link everything together.

I may have an explanation as to whats going on, however I have a question first.

What source are you using as input into the amplifier, and how is that source connected to the mains power?

My hifi is purely digital and I play all of my music from a streamer which is fed through a DAC and pre-amplifier, then main amplifier. All of these devices are connected to the mains through the Surgex power conditioner.
I use an app on my ipad to control the streamer.

I had another listening session yesterday afternoon and everything is still all good.

 

[JasonM]

My hifi is purely digital and I play all of my music from a streamer which is fed through a DAC and pre-amplifier, then main amplifier. All of these devices are connected to the mains through the Surgex power conditioner.
I use an app on my ipad to control the streamer.

I had another listening session yesterday afternoon and everything is still all good.

I considered that your source was not plugged into the Surgex, so now unsure what is happening in regard to the TP-Link connected into the Surgex also.

 

[BallisticGT3]

Thread resurrection.

If you recall, I thought I had fixed the problem of my hifi sounding better after around 18.00pm at weekends, by plugging the lounge TP-link device into the Surgex SX2213-RL power conditioner.
My ethernet over mains TP-link home network was proving to be unreliable (not always talking to each other) and slow (impossible to stream a 4k cycling video without continual pauses), so I replaced it all with a BT Whole Home wifi network, which so far has been great.

The problem with the hifi was still there and really bugging me, as I knew that I wasn’t getting the best from it, so I reviewed all of the comments and replies on this thread (thanks again to everyone) and decided to go with the balanced power supply that kitfit1 is using and had recommended.
I discussed my application with Airlink and ended up purchasing one of these: https://airlinktransformers.com/product/datasheet-pdf/advanced-filter-power-supply-asf3000eu
I can now listen to music at any time of day, with more detail and weight being present, and without it being tire-sum to listen too. All in all a great success and I wished that I had listened to kitfit1 in the first place.

The Airlink has advanced mains filtering built-in, so I no longer need the Surgex, which I've put up for sale.

The only issue now is that the Airlink makes a slight buzzing noise when it is on, but it can’t be heard above the music and is something that I’m going to have to live with - I did discuss it with Airlink and they said it was something to do with a small DC offset voltage.

P.S. I also have my OLED tv plugged into the Airlink, with the benefit of a sharper picture with more vivid colours.

 

[kitfit1]

Thread resurrection.

If you recall, I thought I had fixed the problem of my hifi sounding better after around 18.00pm at weekends, by plugging the lounge TP-link device into the Surgex SX2213-RL power conditioner.
My ethernet over mains TP-link home network was proving to be unreliable (not always talking to each other) and slow (impossible to stream a 4k cycling video without continual pauses), so I replaced it all with a BT Whole Home wifi network, which so far has been great.

The problem with the hifi was still there and really bugging me, as I knew that I wasn’t getting the best from it, so I reviewed all of the comments and replies on this thread (thanks again to everyone) and decided to go with the balanced power supply that kitfit1 is using and had recommended.
I discussed my application with Airlink and ended up purchasing one of these: https://airlinktransformers.com/product/datasheet-pdf/advanced-filter-power-supply-asf3000eu
I can now listen to music at any time of day, with more detail and weight being present, and without it being tire-sum to listen too. All in all a great success and I wished that I had listened to kitfit1 in the first place.

The Airlink has advanced mains filtering built-in, so I no longer need the Surgex, which I've put up for sale.

The only issue now is that the Airlink makes a slight buzzing noise when it is on, but it can’t be heard above the music and is something that I’m going to have to live with - I did discuss it with Airlink and they said it was something to do with a small DC offset voltage.

Really really glad you bit the bullet and went for it. Because a balanced power supply gives 100% pure clean power, the detail and weight you are hearing is down to the absence of all the inherent mains rubbish. You will also notice that silence between tracks is "blacker" and deeper than before.
The slight buzzing you can hear will get better the longer you use the Airlink, if i was you i would just leave it turned on 24/7. I never turn mine off, nor do i ever turn the amp, cd and power supply plugged into it off either. One other tip as well, don't plug any DC power supplies into the Airlink (a router for instance with a transformer as the plug). These will actually put RFI back into the "clean" side of the Airlink, the cause being the transformer winding's in the DC power supply.

 

[BallisticGT3]

Thanks for the tips about the Airlink. I'm only using it for the hifi and AV stuff. I hope your right about the slight buzzing noise getting better over time and I will leave it on.

 

[5punk3monk3y]

Thread resurrection.

If you recall, I thought I had fixed the problem of my hifi sounding better after around 18.00pm at weekends, by plugging the lounge TP-link device into the Surgex SX2213-RL power conditioner.
My ethernet over mains TP-link home network was proving to be unreliable (not always talking to each other) and slow (impossible to stream a 4k cycling video without continual pauses), so I replaced it all with a BT Whole Home wifi network, which so far has been great.

The problem with the hifi was still there and really bugging me, as I knew that I wasn’t getting the best from it, so I reviewed all of the comments and replies on this thread (thanks again to everyone) and decided to go with the balanced power supply that kitfit1 is using and had recommended.
I discussed my application with Airlink and ended up purchasing one of these: https://airlinktransformers.com/product/datasheet-pdf/advanced-filter-power-supply-asf3000eu
I can now listen to music at any time of day, with more detail and weight being present, and without it being tire-sum to listen too. All in all a great success and I wished that I had listened to kitfit1 in the first place.

The Airlink has advanced mains filtering built-in, so I no longer need the Surgex, which I've put up for sale.

The only issue now is that the Airlink makes a slight buzzing noise when it is on, but it can’t be heard above the music and is something that I’m going to have to live with - I did discuss it with Airlink and they said it was something to do with a small DC offset voltage.

P.S. I also have my OLED tv plugged into the Airlink, with the benefit of a sharper picture with more vivid colours.

I'm confused, to confirm - The OLED tv plugged in to the Airlink produces a sharper more vivid picture then when not plugged in to the Airlink?

 

[BallisticGT3]

I'm confused, to confirm - The OLED tv plugged in to the Airlink produces a sharper more vivid picture then when not plugged in to the Airlink?

Correct

 

[theone8181]

This sounds like fantastic placebo lol.

 

[Dervious]

This sounds like fantastic placebo lol.

Exactly what I'm thinking.

I can't think of any reason that a "cleaner" mains supply into a TV would in any way alter picture quality, certainly not to any visible degree. The high voltage, "dirty" mains supply goes through filtering within the TV, then through a switch mode power supply which produces low voltage outputs for the processing circuits and display panel, most of which will be smoothed, regulated and filtered.

If you want a better quality picture, spend money on a microfibre cloth and some screen cleaning fluid.

 

[Dervious]

Although, there might be something in this.

Anyone tried powering their PC via a mains power filter to get a better overclock ?

 

[5punk3monk3y]

Although, there might be something in this.

Anyone tried powering their PC via a mains power filter to get a better overclock ?

Now that's just "dirty"

 

[JasonM]

Anyone tried powering their PC via a mains power filter

I have 3 mains filters in my house.

1) Powers my stereo /HTPC in lounge
2) Is powering some home servers, also my Draytek 2860n is connected. This is done to reduce spikes into the router / modem.
3) My workstation setup is using one, Asus ST card, studio speakers, triple Ag Neovo glass screens. I should really use 2 mains filters here due to load.

The main reason I use mains filters is stability however, and the audio improvements they make. Also the mains filters are sacrificial and would rather have this fail during a spike than say a HIFi PSU or computer PSU go down.