Double Pole 100a Henley Block for my hi-fi

[ban-all-sheds]

There is also concern that normal electrical supply cables are not manufactured using oxygen free copper. Once considered essential for loudspeaker cables because

there are [in the copper] no islands of free oxygen radicals interfereing with the wave fronts of sound travelling through the cable

But sound waves don't travel through speaker cables - low frequency low current electrical signals do, and the actual drift velocity of the electrons will be sub 1mm/s, so how far does any one actually travel if it's reversing its direction 100's to 10's of thousands of times a second?

Wave fronts of sounds encountering islands of oxygen free radicals?

See the above re science and proof etc.

 

[RichardPW]

Something else to consider is when the tracks you listen to were made in the recording studio, it has been wired using the cheapest cable possible.

 

[Retseldrib]

Something else to consider is when the tracks you listen to were made in the recording studio, it has been wired using the cheapest cable possible.

thats why i lsiten to music on cheap cables My speaker wire is also twin & earth (don't use the earth ofcourse)

my system rivals other sysytems that cost £30k - I know this because I have heard both. I have done this by using diy cables and pro-audio equipment used in studios.

 

[btgriff]

Why don't you power your equipment from an on-line UPS. This will take all the fluctuations in the mains supply and give you a nice clean battery fed supply.

 

[electronicsuk]

Something else to consider is when the tracks you listen to were made in the recording studio, it has been wired using the cheapest cable possible.

While I'm also not a believer in these snake-oil HiFi products (I happily run my speakers on 2.5mm 2-core flex), I'm not sure where you got the above information from. Professional recording and/or mastering studios invest a lot of money in their equipment, which includes everything from cables to mixers to a clean power supply.

However, one would like to hope (as it seems from this article) that they have a slightly more methodical approach than the Russ Andrews theory of spending thousands of pound a metre on speaker cable whose performance is little/no different at all to a length of heavy gauge flex.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Come on - Russ Andrews is extraordinarily methodical about extracting large amounts off money from gullible idiots.

Yes, he lies and cheats, but it is all very methodical.

Even his reaction to the ASA ruling was methodical - he methodically chose another snake-oil seller as a "research scientist" to "investigate" their claims, and methodically enlisted the PR support of the British Audio-Visual Dealers Association who, like all the Hi-Fi magazines, have a vested interest in the never-ending merry-go-round of new ways to package snake-oil.

 

[RichardPW]

While I'm also not a believer in these snake-oil HiFi products (I happily run my speakers on 2.5mm 2-core flex), I'm not sure where you got the above information from. Professional recording and/or mastering studios invest a lot of money in their equipment, which includes everything from cables to mixers to a clean power supply.

I got the information first-hand from years spent slaving over a hot soldering iron wiring the places up - from recording to commercial radio and even Auntie Beeb.

Sorry, maybe cheapest wan't the right word, but 30 pence per metre for Canford FST is a bargain compared to the "Hi-fi" cables you see advertised. Add some multipair, Krone bays and a jackfield or two and you soon realise the signal path is not that critical.
Where we really went to town was on the earthing - high integrity *ducks* and technical earths were order of the day. Mix those with the general earth and you were in trouble!

 

[Retseldrib]

will this snake oil make my twin & earth cable sound better?

 

[Retseldrib]

While I'm also not a believer in these snake-oil HiFi products (I happily run my speakers on 2.5mm 2-core flex), .....

yes, I am a convert having sold my expensive speaker cable and now use twin & earth in an active system. I am sorry to report that I use 10mm on the bass which I think sounds better than 2.5mm

Also, I got rid of my astonishingly expensive interconnects and replaced them with electric guitar patch cable KLOTZ LA GRANGE. Cost me a tenner £10 to make. They are the best interconnects I have heard and I have heard many very expensive cables. I am afraid to say again that they are very beefy compared to other interconnects as the cable is designed for very long runs.

 

[securespark]

I e-mailed Mr Andrews about his ridiculous ideas about reversing polarity etc.

Here, finally, is his reply:

Dear Mr Abbott,

I am sorry for the late reply to your email. I can only respond that your fears are based on a flawed analysis of any fault scenario. The equipment will not still be live, the chassis will not become live, the cable will not be damaged, etc. You fail to distinguish between a simple appliance and a piece of audio equipment with a built in power supply that isolates the mains from the rest of the circuit. I am a Member of the IET and have several contacts there, one of whom proof read my final draft of Sound Solutions before publication. I incorporated all his corrections and improvements. He confirmed that all my advice was safe and conformed with Regulations ( 16th Edition ).
I think that calling my advice "criminal" is both ill informed and intemperate, though I'm sure you did it from the best of motives.

Yours in safety,

Russ Andrews.
Russ Andrews,
Managing Director
mailto:[email protected]
Direct line: +44 (0)1539 797310
Fax: +44 (0)1539 797325

 

[securespark]

Also, he mentions the 16th. And his guide to earthing suggests supplementary in the kitchen. Wake up Russ!! That went out with the 15th!!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You fail to distinguish between a simple appliance and a piece of audio equipment with a built in power supply that isolates the mains from the rest of the circuit.

Would this be the same type of power supply which is so badly designed that changing the last few m of the cables supplying it to ones with a fractionally lower resistance and which were once, briefly, made very cold, produces a significant and easily heard improvement in the audio signal the equipment outputs?

I am a Member of the IET

Then shame on them.

If anybody reading this is a member, I have a very serious request to make of you:

Please report Russ Andrews to the IET for bringing the organisation into disrepute.

 

[Steve]

ban, have you written to him? go on, copy us in

 

[securespark]

This guy gets my goat!!

I have sent him the following reply:


Dear Russ

Thank you for your reply: better late than never!

My fears are not based on a flawed analysis of a fault condition. My fears are based on sound electrical theory and guidance from the current electrical regulations, BS 7671:2008.

I am sorry to inform you that "the 16th Edition" is now obsolete. It has been superceded by the above standard. Much has changed. I suggest you contact the IET (as you are a member) and book yourself on an update course. I say this as your advice concerning earthing is very much flawed and out of date.

You advise fitting supplementary bonding in a kitchen. Not only was this practice deleted from the 15th edition (Yes! 15th, not 16th), but can, in some circumstances make an installation more dangerous, not less so, by creating parallel earth paths.

By any chance, did your IET contact proof-read your advice about reversing polarity or indeed the afore-mentioned advice about supplementary bonding? And if so, did he confirm it was "safe and conformed with Regulations"?

Simon Abbott

 

[bernardgreen]

Of course all this interefence problem could be solved by building a good quality Faraday cage around the house and using high specification filters on all the services entering the property.

Not sure how one would deal with the static electricity generted by gas flowing in plastic pipes. The amount generated and not leaked away is far too small to generate a spark but may play havoc with sensitive sound equipment.

The capacitive effect of a slug of water passing through the Faraday cage wall has to be taken into acount. No flushing while the audio-phile is audio-philing ?

I do wonder if these people listen to the music or the imperfections.