Fantastic Mains Cable!!!

[xerxes]

As I understand it a VDR only protects agains mains spikes and surges, whereas a filter, something like this: www.triode-systems.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=3 actally filters RFI/EMI noise from the mains line.

Whatever the "science", I found the effect of a mains filter quite remarkable on my system.

[Deleted]

Xerxes
Take away the capacitors to earth, and the parallel devices, and that is pretty much what I use. I did have the right size capacitors to earth, but that damn leakage breaker tripped every now and then,so out they came. It's a fairly old house.
SandyK

[PinkFloyd]

sandyk said:

Xerxes
Take away the capacitors to earth, and the parallel devices, and that is pretty much what I use. I did have the right size capacitors to earth, but that damn leakage breaker tripped every now and then,so out they came. It's a fairly old house.
SandyK

What the man says! I fitted class y2 caps between line and ground in my Calex PSU and "bingo" the circuit breaker would trip 2 out of 5 times.

[xerxes]

What the man says! I fitted class y2 caps between line and ground in my Calex PSU and "bingo" the circuit breaker would trip 2 out of 5 times.

Strange, I built a power supply for a headphone amp and included a chassis mounted mains filter "in the box", this sort of thing, which includes Y2 class caps between earth, live and neutral.

Every now and then when I switched off the PSU it would trip the mains RCD circuit breaker when I switched it off. I think it was someone on this forum that suggested I fit a snubber accross the mains switch, which I did, and it hasn't done it since. I've fitted a snubber accross the mains switch in serveral other things I've put together since as a matter of course.

[Deleted]

xerxes
In my case the leakage breaker was tripping randomly, even without the system in use.
It's damn annoying when this shuts down your PC in the middle of a movie conversion or some lengthy task.
SandyK

[colin1958]

ANYBODY TRIED,TESTED OR USING ANY TYPE OF CD MAT.....THE SOUGHT THAT SIT ON TOP OF A NORMAL CD ? APPARENTLY THEY ENHANCE THE DISC GIVING MORE INFORMATION OUT!!! ON VARIOUS SITES THEY RANGE FROM £18 UPWARDS...DO THEY WORK?!!!!!

[leo]

I guess you mean something like those stat mats? No I've never tried them but instead of blowing that kind of money on something that may do bugger all why don't you try the diy version?
I've been told that the inside of a floppy disc with the middle piece cut out does the job just as good

[Nigel]

Bit of an excursion from the original thread?

I use a Ringmat statmat (the top version, I think it's called 'Blue') in my Rega Jupiter. I like it, it seems to give a more analogue sound, though God knows why, better bass etc.

I think it makes cd sound a little better. The flat earth brigade, of which I consider myself a fully paid up member, seem to hate Ringmat, so I'm conditioned to think I should not be using it but I still consider choosing to do so. Therefore, it must sound better! :-)

[Nigel]

Cheers for that Leo! I'm off to rip a floppy disc to bits.

[Deleted]

I suspect that a bit of judicious damping of the CD drive with adhesive felt etc would also greatly improve matters, as it has done for a couple of my players. However, every mechanism is different, so it would be wise to "google" for suitable guidance in this area. There is also information about dampening the chassis and case available,as well as other tweaks.
BTW, some players are critical about the thickness of the medium, My Pioneer DVD-A/SACD
player won't play the new dual disc format . So unless you are technically competent , best not to use any other "padding" with the CD.
SandyK

[colin1958]

many thanks for all the tips & technical advice.....really enjoying the grotto...cheers

[robertkd]

shifted to current thread

rockgrotto.proboards39.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=m&thread=3281&page=1

[rowuk]

What happens if the wall socket is wired wrong or the cord develops a fault? Mains voltage to the screen. Sounds like a real good plan especially in places like continental europe where the plug is not even polarized!
Not on my equipment.

[rowuk]

Aug 1, 2007 19:15:10 GMT leo said:

I guess you mean something like those stat mats? No I've never tried them but instead of blowing that kind of money on something that may do bugger all why don't you try the diy version?
I've been told that the inside of a floppy disc with the middle piece cut out does the job just as good

Let's not forget that the CD unlike an analog LP, changes rotational speed depending on disc position. Increasing the mass of the disc will only succeed in making the servo to provide constant velocity work harder. If the disc clamp mechanism is inferior - it needs to be fixed or modified, not given more work to do

Critically damping the chassis and drive support could prevent soundwaves from exciting the mechanism though

[guadixman]

Graham Slee,
I've heard your argument so many times and used to believe it. Science is the 'new religion' - believe or be burnt at the stake.

Scientists and those who purport to be scientists like to believe they have the ultimate truth (whatever that is) but that is pure BS.

There is so much we simply don't understand - I bought a hybrid h/amp - a Bada PH12. I was completely underwhelmed by what I heard. OK it was alright but no better than my SET h/amp just different.

I saw a thread on Head-fi about cables and coming from an indoctrinated background 'all cables are the same, any other opinion is just snake oil' it made it hard to just imagine that maybe a different design might make a difference - it did.

I had bought some mil. spec. silver/plated multi strand cable from the States (navship) and decided to make a mains cable from this.

For 3 days nothing and then it just 'popped open' - what a real difference. Funnily enough and for no particular reason I then deviated onto I/Cs and after 2 years have a definitive design that I am very pleased with.

Now I am returning to mains cables with a very good idea about how to proceed from all the hard work I put into I/Cs.

For all those who have access to Maplins or (more expensively) to RS, look out for CT100 or CT125 - the difference is in the centre conductor 1mm or 1.25mm copper. This low loss sat. cable has a copper foil and a second copper braided sheilding. The mains conductor is surrounded by polypropylene air channels.

Using 3 lengths of this, 1 for signal,1 for return and one for earth, no need to twist this, just tie together with gaffer tape or anything else that takes your fancy. It retails in Maplin for 1mm @ £1.39 & 1.25mm @ £1.59 per metre. Biggest problem is to find plugs that will take this amount of cable. Furutech type IEC and mains plugs will but many refuse to pay this kind of money, I used to be like this but have changed, from experience.

I don't care how many kilometres of power companies power lines precede my cables - a well made mains cable with all 3 elements sheilded from and seperated from each other will make a difference.

Mains filters - I have made my own and don't like what they do to the sound. Well designed and made power cables and well designed PSUs will take care of the any crap coming from the power companies cables.

So for £4.17 + connectors you can make a 1 metre power cord - if you try and don't find any difference you can strip the wire out and use in the garden and you still have the connectors to use on something else but I'll bet you do like it.


WARNING.> This design is incapable of compliance with IEC Safety Regulations, and if used in products for sale, may lead to the prosecution of the seller.
Rather than delete this post,as many members would prefer, I have added this warning in the interests of the personal safety of Rock Grotto members, and others who may read this post.
SandyK
Moderator.

[Deleted]

This low loss sat. cable has a copper foil and a second copper braided sheilding.

Guadixman
Some time back Graham actually suggested using sat.cable for interconnects because of it's superior shielding,and detailed their construction . One of our members won a pair of Graham's "Cusat" interconnects, which use similar construction.
Using screened mains cable as you suggest not only stops rubbish from being injected to other pieces of nearby gear by the screened mains cable, but it also helps prevent them from radiating into the equipment using it. Keeping signal cables well clear of mains cables is also recommended practice, as is mains cables crossing signal cables at an angle of 90 degrees.This was part of IC4, a standard for Telecommunications wiring practices in the then Postmaster General's Dept. (Australia), >50 years ago !Leo recently mentioned that he recently plugged in his SC HA using his son's Play Station lead, which is rather thin, and found that returning to a decent heavy duty IEC lead gave markedly better results. I believe that mains leads feeding equipment should be of a heavy duty, low resistance construction.
I agree with your comments about mains filters of the generic type.
As Mike mentions elsewhere, Y2 mains capacitors between active and neutral have a place too.

SandyK

[clk230]

is this safe suggesting to people to diy a mains cable out of satalite cable that is not intended for mains use.

don't want any Don King hairstyles in the grotto

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2008 23:46:56 GMT clk230 said:

is this safe suggesting to people to diy a mains cable out of satalite cable that is not intended for mains use.

don't want any Don King hairstyles in the grotto

a well made mains cable with all 3 elements sheilded from and seperated from each other will make a difference.

clk230
IF the construction is actually as described above
NO !!!

IMHO, unless you are a very experienced DIYer, you shouldn't be even playing around with home brew mains cables.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONSTRUCT SUCH A CABLE ! IF the inner conductor was able to be removed, and lengths of 10 /15A blue, brown, and yellow/green mains cable inserted inside the shielding, this would work as well, and be much safer, BUT still not recommended !


SandyK

[sometrolls2]

In UK mains plugs, if you try to take shielding to the earth pin then it is very easy to get a loose bit of shielding close the negative pin. The most extreme care has to be taken with shilede DIY cable, any cable tested for rogue continuity before use and be properly insulated at both ends.

Personally I cut the shielding before the plug and accept a trivial loss of quality rather than take a risk with the mains. Following the recipies is a bad idea.

[Deleted]

Sometroll2
One of my main worries was the thought of separating and safely terminating 3 lots of shields without any future risks. The cable as described would also be very inflexible due to the 1.25mm solid copper cores. As well, it appears to be standard practice to terminate the screens at the power point end only.

SandyK

[gns]

Nov 1, 2008 13:14:31 GMT @guadixman said:

Graham Slee,
I've heard your argument so many times and used to believe it. Science is the 'new religion' - believe or be burnt at the stake.

Scientists and those who purport to be scientists like to believe they have the ultimate truth (whatever that is) but that is pure BS.

You are entitled to your opinion about me - just so long as we agree we made it a world of free speech....

We so called bullsh*ters also tried making it a safe world and we bullsh*t you with safety regulations not for our own self gratification, but to save you from electrocution!!!

Now then! Have you ever considered making a high performance mains cable that is also safe? Or do you also consider safety to be part of my bullsh*t science too?

If you do make such a thing I for one will welcome it with open arms! Over to you - do it and your increase will be indeed blessed!

[Deleted]

don't care how many kilometres of power companies power lines precede my cables - a well made mains cable with all 3 elements sheilded from and seperated from each other will make a difference.

Mains filters - I have made my own and don't like what they do to the sound. Well designed and made power cables and well designed PSUs will take care of the any crap coming from the power companies cables.

guadixman
I fail to understand how a 1 metre long mains cable with individually screened Active and Neutral leads , and each of those shielded leads having only a capacitance of 56pF per metre, can possibly do anything at all to attenuate to any significant degree, any of the rubbish that arrives at the power point to which it is connected. I can however, see that it will help reduce radiation into nearby audio leads that have either poor screening of their own, or are in too close a proximity to this particular mains lead. Perhaps your equipment leads are bunched too closely together ?
I am aware of other propietary mains leads of entirely different construction, that are able to claim a further reduction of the EMI arriving at their input.
I would welcome further input on this subject from yourself and other members.

SandyK

[gns]

I would second what Alex says above.

I would also welcome some consideration for the safety of other members, like this so called bullsh*ter considers the safety of his own customers...

IEC SAFETY CERTIFICATE

The original posting of Mike's "Fantastic Mains Cable" was of a cable approved for connection to the mains!

One caution is that it is not colour coded for the domestic user, but being SWA YY cable, it complies with the safety of cables to be connected to the mains, unlike CT100, CT125, or any other signal cable.

[PinkFloyd]

Graham...... I note the "fantastic mains cable" employs a BS1362 fuse....... of course, this stands for BULLSHIT 1362.

Yes folks, a genuine fantastic BULLSHIT 1362 fuse no less

[gns]

Nov 2, 2008 8:00:55 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Graham...... I note the "fantastic mains cable" employs a BS1362 fuse....... of course, this stands for BULLSHIT 1362.

Yes folks, a genuine fantastic BULLSHIT 1362 fuse no less

Quite likely