Snake oil? AMR Audiophile Gold Hi-Fi Fuse 13A

[Leesparkykent]

AMR Audiophile Gold Hi-Fi Fuse 13A (UK Mains Plug) - http://www.analogueseduction.net/amr-fuses/amr-audiophile-gold-hi-fi-fuse-13a-uk-mains-plug.html

Must be mental IMO

 

[Specialist]

I knew you'd like that.

I did get some free samples from them once. I wrote back to them but they never replied to me - I think I offended them

Did your message to them go something like, You bunch of prats ?
Gotta wonder though, are we the prats & they're the geniuses for getting people to buy the junk ?

 

[Specialist]

Double post.

 

[Squid]

Just looked at their 'treated' plugs. I'm going to start sticking black cable ties on all the audio connections of my synths it improves the sound... don't know what the black ones do versus the green and blue ones they had in the pics, but it's got to be worth a try.... maybe if I wrap myself in a cable tie it will improve my ability to play them

I take it no-one is using directional cables then?

I've had an interest in hifi (especially vintage stuff) for years now and some of the stuff you read is amazing to be honest. I remember reading a hifi magazine (from the80s or 90s not sure which) where the guy spent a full page explaining why you turntable sounded better depending which way up you had the drive belt! No word of a lie. I've still got it in the loft somewhere - I may dig it out at some point.

If you want a REALLY good laugh I suggest you have a look at PWB Electronics' products. Honestly - it's worth a look. Anyone fancy a sticker that you put on your door frame to make your hifi sound better? No? And it gets even worse than that!

You'll all be rubbing 'cream electret' into your Megger (ooh err) before you know it!

You still have magazines in your loft from the 80's and 90's

Or is that where you hide the vintage Playboy and Mayfair magazines?

 

[JK-Electrical]

As an audiophile and owner of several high-end Naim musical components, I was most intrigued by what I've read on this thread. My entire music system is fed via a mains purifier that was purchased at a cost of £170. The device I purchased was an Olson Sound Fantastic:

http://www.soundfantastic.co.uk/products.htm

https://www.whathifi.com/olson/sound-fantastic-hf6/review

Has it improved the sound quality of my system? Hell, you bet it has! I consider the money spent as an investment, and feel my purchase was worth every last penny.

One of my friends is a repair technician with Bang & Olufsen in Glasgow. It was upon his recommendation that I bought the Olson Sound Fantastic. I asked him to read through this thread and get back to me with his comments. This was his response:

"The trick here is to know that every music system connected to mains power is subject to mains power fluctuation and surges. This is never more so when wind power is delivering the supply. Although this particular occasion is rare, it does happen! For direct AC 230 volts into a switch mode power supply, the emphasis is on fuses that are not vulnerable to oxidation and therefore resistant contacts. This encourages spikes and arcing which will inevitably cause havoc to any components further down the line. If one invests in a top-end system, it should never be allowed to become exposed to cheap components. From first to last, no exceptions.

I strongly recommend that a good surge/filter pack be used in conjunction with high-end components. Top hats. They come in many forms, but a good one will always be a wise investment. You already have one Jim - that external, low-voltage switch-mode power pack that you paid £170 for is a sound investment, (no pun intended!) as it will deliver a continuous low-voltage input to your high-end system. It's far cheaper to replace the power pack than it is to fix a SMPS in the unit, and the damage that does occur in the rest of the system. "Beware of overpriced commercial fuses with nothing more than gold-plated end caps and nice packaging", said one of your fellow electricians. This applies to signal leads as well. Strike the right balance, and yes, beware of snake oil. But I feel that the article referred to in the opening post is much too basic and contains large amounts of ignorance.

I would add that silver is a much better conductor than gold, but silver tarnishes much easier and this can introduce spikes. Neither are preferred due to obvious cost. The purity of gold should be checked before paying for gold fuses and gold coated leads.

 

[DPG]

I would like you to explain to me what the point of spending 200 pounds on an IEC mains cable, which is then plugged into a standard 13A socket wired with standard twin and earth and then connected to a consumer unit, to the street in concentric and etc. Etc.

I would also like your thoughts ok directional cable.

Power supply conditioners I can see the science behind, although I wouldn't be certain that it would be better than a good solid linear supply with large reservoir caps.

 

[JK-Electrical]

I would like you to explain to me what the point of spending 200 pounds on an IEC mains cable, which is then plugged into a standard 13A socket wired with standard twin and earth and then connected to a consumer unit, to the street in concentric and etc. Etc.

I would also like your thoughts ok directional cable.

Power supply conditioners I can see the science behind, although I wouldn't be certain that it would be better than a good solid linear supply with large reservoir caps.

The point of spending £170 on a mains purifier was to ultimately enhance the overall sound quality, and since my ears confirm that there has been a definite, noticeable improvement, then it is money well-spent as far as I'm concerned. That it does what it is supposed to do is probably the reason why the manufacturers named it Sounds Fantastic ..... because it certainly makes my system sound even more fantastic than it did before, and then some. I care not about how the device works, merely that it does.

The whole point of investing money in a high-end system is that high-end components can be continually tweaked to deliver enhanced sound. It all comes down to how deep your pockets are. This is why being an audiophile is a rather expensive hobby, but an intensely pleasurable pursuit nevertheless!

As for directional cable, the cable I use on my front speakers is Naim NAC A5. This is directional cable and was installed as per the manufacturer's guidance with the run to each speaker being of equal length (3.5 metres). The sound-staging and separation that this cable delivers is incredible. When you have a Bang & Olufsen engineer sitting on your sofa salivating at the sound he's hearing from the system that he's designed and assembled, then you know for sure that he got everything right. And when you yourself are sitting on your sofa having multiple aural orgasms, then you too know for sure that the advice you were given was absolutely spot-on, and that the three-and-a-half grand that you've just splashed-out was money well spent.

Some people spend large sums of money on top-of-the-range cars then spend further amounts still tweaking their cars for enhanced performance and/or appearance. But I prefer to drive around in a plain 10 year-old Vauxhall Astra and spend my money on high-end music components and CDs instead. Each to their own.

 

[TFGtv]

'By Trade' I'm a 'time served' (yes, you could do an apprenticeship in this at one time) 'ENG/EFP' television cameraman - old enough to come from the days when you were properly trained in electronics and broadcast systems engineering and had to spend four-and-a-half years learning the basics before you were really let loose...

38 years man and boy in the trade, qualified to Masters level, I've designed, built and run studios for both television and audio... I Run production companies at which I am/have always been Technical Manager... Even lectured for a dozen years at the Stow MCI dept; for those that don't know that's the place where Biffy Clyro and Snow Patrol emerged from - and I can count among my former colleagues the surviving Associate (Alan Rankine), Ken McCluskey of the Bluebells, Stuart Wood (Bay City Rollers), Mick Slaven of Deacon Blue... As well as numerous 'backroom' engineers producers and technicians.

In those nearly four decades working in, around and with the places where programme material is actually originated - and most notably in the places where it's finally prepped for transmission and/or distribution and critically assessed for quality, I've never encountered ANY of this kind of stuff being used...

Most studios and monitoring rooms I've seen - including my own - utilise two-core bright orange 'lawnmower cable' to drive the speakers. - chosen mainly (apart from its gauge) for its colour so as it can be distinguished from mains leads. - I don't know ANY genuine qualified sound engineers, musicians or producers who buy into this sort of thing. Not one.

Mains plugs and sockets? - The BBC at one time specced the old solid MK - With Duraplugs for OB and portable equipment... Most folk still go with that for choice. that's about as exotic as it gets. You might find the odd 'filtered' MDU but nothing outrageous.

There is probably a reason why this sort of 'stuff' plays no significant role in professional audio/video. - Unless you count flogging it!

...Just sayin'.

 

[Squid]

I installed this at home and just used bell wire sounds fine to me, I did make sure it all rolled of the roll the same way though.

 

[TFGtv]

That poor dog in the middle looks as if it's trying to work out how the f-f-f-f-flavoured-meat-type-snack it gets out of there! - I assume that's a dealer's 'listening room'? An acoustic nightmare by the looks of it not least because it's filled with all those different loudspeakers in close proximity where they'll all resonate with each other!

Just for reference... Here's what the UK's leading professional audio suppliers sell.

Headphone and loudspeaker cables - Canford - http://www.canford.co.uk/Headphone-and-loudspeaker-cables

- Worth noting that the really mental 4mm² stuff is a whole two-and-a-half quid a metre whilst the exotic 2,5mm² OFC stuff is £1.72! - Fancy lawnmower cable is here;

XLS - EXTERIOR LOUDSPEAKER CABLE - Canford - http://www.canford.co.uk/XLS-EXTERIOR-LOUDSPEAKER-CABLE

...Just in case B&Q hasn't got great chucks of the stuff on offer that week.

 

[Squid]

That poor dog in the middle looks as if it's trying to work out how the f-f-f-f-flavoured-meat-type-snack it gets out of there! - I assume that's a dealer's 'listening room'? An acoustic nightmare by the looks of it not least because it's filled with all those different loudspeakers in close proximity where they'll all resonate with each other!

Jeremy Kipnis cost $6 million a few years back,

Jeremy Kipnis - Home Page - http://jeremykipnis.com/Jeremy_Kipnis_-_Home_Page.html

 

[TFGtv]

Cheeses! For that money he could have got a proper one! An accomplished serpent lubricator I'm sure, maybe his entire business assets amount to $6M, but they're certainly not in that room. And if you 'drill into' the setup it ain't all that... For a start, 'blu ray' discs aren't what movies are normally delivered on to critical viewers or even (usually) your local cinema!

 

[static zap]

Maybe bell wire is more compatible with valve amps , same era !
(1970s School disco , 4 seperate under powered amps , the valve one sounded best--thrashed )

 

[TFGtv]

"the valve one sounded best--thrashed" - They do that though don't they? Plug in your £23.50 Sakai single-pickup plywood electric from Kays catalogue, heads down no nonsense....

 

[Taylortwocities]

Just seen the £50 plug top Isoclean Audiophile Gold-Plated UK 13A Mains Plug - http://www.analogueseduction.net/uk-mains-plugs/isoclean-audiophile-gold-plated-uk-13a-mains-plug.html

And that''s just for the top. How much for the whole plug??

If you want a further laugh have a look at the products on the Russ Andrews site

This little beauty (half a dozen 4mm posts on a wooden board)
Russ Andrews - Hi-Fi mains and cable specialist - http://www.russandrews.com/star-rf-router/
is meant to bring all of your earth connections together. And all for an eye-watering £240!!

He also has a one MCB/no RCD -not Amd 3 compliant - consumer unit (made by some unknown company) for £249
Russ Andrews - Hi-Fi mains and cable specialist - http://www.russandrews.com/russ-andrews-upgraded-non-rcd-consumer-unit-/

I'm in the wrong business......

 

[Squid]

And that''s just for the top. How much for the whole plug??

If you want a further laugh have a look at the products on the Russ Andrews site

I'm in the wrong business......

Reminds me of this,