The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff chat and sales

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Re:

Hi fellas. I need to pick your brains.

The wi-fi connection was crap between the Mac upstairs and the broadband router downstairs. So I bought some of those powerline adapters that allow you to use your house's mains circuit as a network cable. And they're fantastic! The connection is 100% reliable and the speed has picked up a bit.

BUT! My hi-fi now makes a quiet purring noise, even when I turn the volume control on the amp down to zero. When I switch off the powerline adapters, the purring noise disappears.

Can I eliminate the purring noise by buying one of those mains conditioner blocks?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacima-Conditio ... 000PS5700/

Or do you think that it would make no difference whatsoever? I'm happy to buy one if it'll do the job, but I'd hate to spend the money and find that it had no effect.

Thanks for any help you can give!
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

buy one online and then if it makes no difference at all then send it back for refund which you can do no questions asked cos of the distance selling regs. i used to have awful noise through my gear and my hi/fi popped when someone turned a light off several houses away or a motorbike went past. i tried a couple of the ready made ones like you have listed to no avail and ended up getting some s*** hot panasonic filter blocks for a fraction of new price off ebay and installed them in a good quality pc distribution power unit so i think i ended up paying around £30 in all and have had whisper quiet mains since. i can point you in the right direction if you dont get any results from ready made jobby.
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

sounds like the first unit to try and fingers crossed it will be fine. keep us posted mate. ad
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

There is a bit of a story about the powerline LAN adaptors. They *all* fail EMC testing, basically because they squirt LAN data down your mains cables at a pretty high level, your mains wiring acts like an antenna and transmits it all over the place uncontrolled. This is basically a side effect of how they work, and because of this, they've built a test standard around them. They failed CE because of the way they work, so they basically just upped the noise limits they had to achieve so they could pass. I believe they are only currently legal in domestic properties, though that may have changed recently.

(I don't tend to get involved in CE testing, mainly Def-Stan and Milstd)
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

When these things go wrong, they can take out the internet of a whole street.
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

adlyhobart":265awy2n said:
sounds like the first unit to try and fingers crossed it will be fine. keep us posted mate. ad
Hi Ad. Here's that update...

I ordered the Tacima 6-socket mains conditioner (£29 from eBay) and it arrived yesterday. Switched on the hi-fi to confirm that I could hear the purring noise—and there it was. Playing a few CDs usually makes the noise even louder, so I put on some Big Audio Dynamite and a bit of Kate Bush—but I was too impatient to play them for long, so it didn't make a lot of difference.

Switched it all off, unplugged everything from the old, standard 6-socket extension lead and replaced that with the new cable. Switched on the amp and..... silence. No purring at all! Problem solved! :D

Some have claimed that these mains conditioners improve the sound from your hi-fi. I was naturally curious, so I put some CDs on. Now this is where I have to be careful what I say....

I don't know whether I was in a positive mood because the purring noise had stopped, or maybe I wanted to believe that these things could improve your hi-fi, but I have to say that my ears pricked up and my eyes widened when the opening bars of Bronski Beat's "Why" blared out of my speakers. I played a couple more tracks (BAD and Kate Bush again) and although there wasn't a massive difference, it just seemed as though the bass and mid-range were just a little bit clearer and less 'muddy'.

I know that a few people will say "what a load of b*ll*cks" and I will confess that I was chuffed with the lack of purring, so maybe that's why the music sounded better.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Now that's sorted, I can go back to eBay and gawp at the integrated amps that I've got my eye on. :cool:
 
Re: The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff and sales thread

hi john, thats great mate and glad you got it sorted for basically a small outlay. i always heard pretty duff reviews on that sort of cleaner and led to believe the bloody expensive dual transformer type ones are the only ones that will actually work but i could never see myself spending 3-4k for a six way box that weighs 50kg. i have always fancied making a transformer type cleaner and this thread has reminded me to do so. if i do make one i will post it up here. oh and as for hearing a difference in your hi-fi its very likely you will get an improvement when feeding your system nice clean electricity. happy listening!!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top