Why do people spend the least amount of money on the most important part?.

[stvmor]

I have better IC than you VDH The First Ultimate

and CD player

I bet mine can make more noise than yours though!

 

[Raymond Lin]

I bet mine can make more noise than yours though!

I am sure the Fans in your PC certianly can

As for HiFi, its not about how loud, its all about the control. £99 Bush micro can get loud, but it'll sounds crap

 

[jim5000]

I've had 3 psu's blow in about 6 years of owning and upgrading a pc. One of them was my fault (moved the switch on the back to the american 115v setting while the pc was on ). One just stopped working, and one blew up killing every component in the computer apart from 1 hdd (with all my data) & 1 dvd drive... It actually melted the ATX connector and socket together!

So yeah, get a decent psu!!

 

[Things change I've changed]

codswallop!
If you are talking about cleaning Hi-Fi audio connections then ok but it won't make a blind bit of difference to a PC's PSU output! FACT (I reckon)

And as for "current clarity" Your making it up as you go along. It's a bit like saying a cars tyres rubber adhesion quality depends on washing them with rubber softening solution every 20-30 miles! Bolderdash Or is it

Nope, I've been doing this for years and I don't intend to stop either, it's a fantastic way to improve the quality of the electrical currunt that is being supplied to your amp and sometimes the result is very surprising, what I can't understand is how you can accept cleaning Hi-Fi audio inter connects to improve sound quality but not mains plugs to improve electricle flow, also your car tyre anology is completly in the wrong ball park.

 

[Monstermunch]

codswallop!
If you are talking about cleaning Hi-Fi audio connections then ok but it won't make a blind bit of difference to a PC's PSU output! FACT (I reckon)

Have you actually tried it.....

You sound like another one of those people i'm afraid......OOOhh yes the world is most definitely FLAT!

Try it and then comment!

 

[Dutch Guy]

I'm going to be controversial here and say that there's no significant difference in reliability between budget PSUs and expensive ones. I've seen just as many Hiper, Enermax, Antec and Tagan PSUs die as I have cheap ones.

The main difference comes in the expensive PSUs' ability to cope with high-load, and to provide a lot more current than the cheaper ones.

Reliability isn't the advantage of a good quality PSU, it is the fact the power thay rate them at is normal power and not peak load, the bulk of the power goes to the 12V rails and the fact it has protection so that when it goes pop only the PSU is knackered and not the mobo, HDD, GPU and memory as well.

 

[Edinho]

Have you actually tried it.....

You sound like another one of those people i'm afraid......OOOhh yes the world is most definitely FLAT!

Try it and then comment!

I'll put this question to you. How far do you go down the line to ensure a firm connect? Take off the socket, clean wire to the socket. Clean the wire to the fuse box. Im not saying your wrong but im sure 90% of it is the mind.

For cleaning interconnects and speaker wire then yes I agree 100%

As for HiFi, its not about how loud, its all about the control. £99 Bush micro can get loud, but it'll sounds crap

Think thats a pretty good analogy

 

[stvmor]

Have you actually tried it.....

You sound like another one of those people i'm afraid......OOOhh yes the world is most definitely FLAT!

Try it and then comment!

I do hope this is being taken as good natured banter by everybody 'cause it's fun!

I would like to bring to your attention the fact that broadband up to 8Mb/s is delivered over at least a dozen mechanical connections (usually many more) with contact areas which must be less that .25 mm across. The copper cables are also tiny but this is almost irrelevant as high frequency signals travel down an outer layer of the conductor which is microscopic and often not even copper. It can be aluminium (shudder!!!) or tinned copper. So when you consider that these signals are delivered at a rate of 8 million times per second and the mains is delivered at 50Hz I cannot see that you should need to worry too much about the signal degradation of the 'giant' 3-pin plug to your PSU.

How does this polishing increase the efficiency of the PSU output anyway

Oh yes, I think you will find that different cable lengths are used to reduce cable clutter rather that to improve signal quality?

Again, please treat these comments as discusion material, no offence intended at all

 

[Monstermunch]

I'll put this question to you. How far do you go down the line to ensure a firm connect? Take off the socket, clean wire to the socket. Clean the wire to the fuse box. Im not saying your wrong but im sure 90% of it is the mind.

For cleaning interconnects and speaker wire then yes I agree 100%

Having clean interconnects and speaker commectors is essential I agree, but many people overlook the importance of the actual power getting to an amp or PSU etc.

Amplifiers for example are the most important piece of electrical equipment as far as power goes cos all they really are is coils of copper inside.

Although I agree ther is no limit how far you can go towards the end of improving power supply and consistency. I have a room in the house I use as ano office, computer and listening room. In this room I have replaced all the cheap crappy sockets with more expensive ones and have polished all the plugs etc on my hi-fi and pc.

With the hi-fi there was a considerable difference before and after. AS for the PSU on the pc, I didn't check the power outputs before and after so I couldn't tell you.

The other important thing to remember with this polishing idea is that the main thing you are doing (especially with older plugs) is removing build up of dirt. Any dirt built up will basically form a layer over the brass moving the contact points fractionally away from each other. This dramatically increases the chances of power surges and damage to your PSU, amp, tv etc etc.

 

[Monstermunch]

I do hope this is being taken as good natured banter by everybody 'cause it's fun!

I would like to bring to your attention the fact that broadband up to 8Mb/s is delivered over at least a dozen mechanical connections (usually many more) with contact areas which must be less that .25 mm across. The copper cables are also tiny but this is almost irrelevant as high frequency signals travel down an outer layer of the conductor which is microscopic and often not even copper. It can be aluminium (shudder!!!) or tinned copper. So when you consider that these signals are delivered at a rate of 8 million times per second and the mains is delivered at 50Hz I cannot see that you should need to worry too much about the signal degradation of the 'giant' 3-pin plug to your PSU.

How does this polishing increase the efficiency of the PSU output anyway

Oh yes, I think you will find that different cable lengths are used to reduce cable clutter rather that to improve signal quality?

Again, please treat these comments as discusion material, no offence intended at all

I'll answer this in stages:

As far as the broadband argument goes, why do you think the signal stength varies with connection speeds etc?

Please see above response to other posts regarding the PSU etc, but basically it just helps stabilise the current and enhances it, exactly as it would with any piece of electrical equipment. I only used amplifiers as an example because it made a noticable difference straight away.

With regards to the comments you made about cables, I would suggest you know nothing about hi-fi at all! :Try using a 3metre interconnect instead of the std 0.6metre and listen to the speed and response difference of the music! The same applies with speaker cables: Try using 1m cable to one speaker and then 3m to the other and listen to how crap it sounds!

 

[Sparky191]

You getting off the subject. If you want a quality of supply then you should use a filter/surpressor to ensure that you do. The requirements for High end HiFi are very different to a PC.

The problem with PSU's is that a lot of them are poorly designed, and poorly tested especially the component ones.

Interesting article...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29940

 

[Monstermunch]

You getting off the subject. If you want a quality of supply then you should use a filter/surpressor to ensure that you do. The requirements for High end HiFi are very different to a PC.

The problem with PSU's is that a lot of them are poorly designed, and poorly tested especially the component ones.

Interesting article...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29940

I agree, we are getting off subject a little but i've been polishing the plugs etc on my PC etc for years and have never had a PSU expire on me, ever!

 

[m3csl2004]

GENERALLY when a decent psu goes bang it wont take your components with it

i understand how having a smooth ac signal to your stereo would help it perform a bit better, however i shall be testing wether polishing your wall plug will achieve this (with some help from my elcetronics department )

 

[Sparky191]

I agree, we are getting off subject a little but i've been polishing the plugs etc on my PC etc for years and have never had a PSU expire on me, ever!

Neither I have I and thats with no polishing. I don't see what either thing proves.

 

[p4radox]

Reliability isn't the advantage of a good quality PSU, it is the fact the power thay rate them at is normal power and not peak load, the bulk of the power goes to the 12V rails and the fact it has protection so that when it goes pop only the PSU is knackered and not the mobo, HDD, GPU and memory as well.

Pretty much what I said, apart from the protection bit.

 

[stvmor]

I'll answer this in stages:


With regards to the comments you made about cables, I would suggest you know nothing about hi-fi at all! :Try using a 3metre interconnect instead of the std 0.6metre and listen to the speed and response difference of the music! The same applies with speaker cables: Try using 1m cable to one speaker and then 3m to the other and listen to how crap it sounds!

I was commenting on PSU mains input supply cables, not audio cabling and the broadband comment was about as diverse from the subject of PSU's as your references to Hi-Fi equipment (which was the point but I'm not very good at debating) .
A PSU doesn't care much if it gets a 'clean' input but it's outputs should be tottaly clean with no reference to the input supply conditions. A 'good' PSU will deliver the required output voltages at their rated current draws and most will do this regardless of the voltage because they auto-sense 110v or 240v! Cleaning the contacts on mains plugs is simply not necessary IMO

"Amplifiers for example are the most important piece of electrical equipment as far as power goes cos all they really are is coils of copper inside."

I think you should go and have another look inside your amp as this is just not true? In fact the larger coils of copper you may see are most likely power transformers and even these are often replaced by electronics nowadays!

 

[Monstermunch]

I think you should go and have another look inside your amp as this is just not true? In fact the larger coils of copper you may see are most likely power transformers and even these are often replaced by electronics nowadays!

Man, what planet are you from!

If you think you can replace the copper torroidal transformers inside an amplifier with electronics and get a good sound you are a muppet of the highest order. The bigger and heavier the coils inside an amp reflect the amp's weight of sound. Without those it would sound like an MP3 and that would be a tragedy!

 

[sinister_stu]

Man, what planet are you from!

If you think you can replace the copper torroidal transformers inside an amplifier with electronics and get a good sound you are a muppet of the highest order. The bigger and heavier the coils inside an amp reflect the amp's weight of sound. Without those it would sound like an MP3 and that would be a tragedy!

The bigger they are, the more current they can handle... this usually means that the transformer is higher power, so you will be able to get a higher output power from the amp as it can supply more current to the power transistors.

Evidently, you do not have a great deal of knowledge when it comes to electronics. Back to the plug polishing, yes it will improve the connection, but it will definitely not improve it significantly enough so that you can hear the difference. The PSU in your PC will not worry too much about the difference the polishing makes either.

The Hi-Fi press is remarkably ill informed when it comes to actual science so I wouldn't believe anything I read unless it's backed up by real proof. Oh yeah... the guy in the hi-fi shop who told you about bass clarity and depth... he was a salesman right? I'm pretty sure that he couldn't tell you anything of any depth about electronics, whether they sell Naim equipment or not. I expect he read about this factlet in the same magazine as you.

I agree, we are getting off subject a little but i've been polishing the plugs etc on my PC etc for years and have never had a PSU expire on me, ever!

I've never polished the plugs on my PC and haven't had any PSUs break. What does that prove?

Doesn't prove a thing.

I will state again for completeness...

Polishing the plug will not substantially improve the performance of you PC, Amplifier or CD player

As an aside I do have "real" hi-fi equipment.