Chord powerhouse m6 or S6

Running on your domestic mains rather than on a dedicated spur or via the M6 itself?

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I had it in the M6 block in the dedicated supply then tried it in the main house ground floor ring main. Better in the latter surprisingly to me.

I wrote to the guys at Chord expressing my view that the PowerARAY is the best thing that Iā€™ve heard from them alongside the Music cables.

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@Cohen1263 sorry if I am being daft here but you have a dedicated mains with all HiFi equipment on it but you decided to plug it into a totally different circuit that separate from the dedicated mains? I guess you have router on this one maybe switches? Does it also work when Vinyl is played this way? Weird the better affect was off the mains with the HiFi on it. What a hobby ehh?!!!

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Yes Steve. I have a dedicated 4 way Wylex with each RCB feeding a socket. My M6 is in one of those sockets, S1, 500 and Solstice P/S in the other 3. The router is on the ring and of course all the noise inducing electronics like our fridge but I was as surprised as you are that the PowerARAY sounded better outside of the hifi supply. The ARAY did lift the sound in the M6 but just not by as much.

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Is there any more information. Not on Chordā€™s website or in any of the usual PR places ?

Edit - After a quick Google, there seems to be a lot of Japanese info, so I assume like the GroundARAY products, theyā€™ve tested the market there first.

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Yes Iā€™m told that it has been a big success in Japan. I got the first one here in the UK at the Acoustica show to test along with the Solstice Burndy (I canā€™t report on that cable here). But the PowerARAY works really well in my home/ system. Ā£4.5k for the one with Epic cable I believe so not cheap.

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When I saw the Chord block the thing that struck me was that itā€™s enormous.

I was going to suggest that the OP also considers a Hydra if budgets are an issue.

Iā€™d not used my headphones for quite a while but in a ā€œdā€™ohā€ moment hooked up the Headline/NAPSC to the M6. Previously - pre-M6 - it had been on the standard domestic mains. wow, what a revelation! If youā€™ve not tried it and youā€™ve got a spare slot on the S6/M6, have a go.

I did also try powering the NAPSC with a Chord Music mains lead. Not that youā€™d ever do something so ridiculous butā€¦

Trying to understand here (but not sure I really want to :grimacing:) so your hifi is plugged in to your dedicated sockets, and this thing is plugged into the ring main? Presume it is there to suck up the noise on the ring main, in which case it sort of makes sense that it has more of a beneficial effect on overall sound when in the ring main than in the M6. As itā€™s nearer the noise it needs to absorb? Sorry if I have misunderstood

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Your reasoning is the same as mine Tim. Iā€™m sure that Pete and Ross will be waxing lyrical about this device and justifiably so IMO.

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I contacted Chord several months ago with a general (but comprehensive) enquiry about system upgrades. It mainly focussed around cables e.g. model ranges and which cables to upgrade first (speaker/interconnect etc.) .

The response surprised me. The man at Chord was extremely clear and emphatic that the best upgrade, and the one to do first, would be a PowerHAUS M6. As things turned out, I couldnā€™t get one, as it is not recommended to use such products by my amplifier manufacturer. So, not a route I could go down, but Iā€™m not surprised to read the good reviews on here.

Iā€™m intrigued by your amp manufacturerā€™s assertion that the Chord mains block shouldnā€™t be used with their products. What is their reason for this? Naim have always said that certain active mains conditioners, along with any unnecessary switches, LEDs etc should be avoided, but the Chord blocks donā€™t have these, so Iā€™m not sure why an amp manufacturer would recommend that you avoid them.

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Not sure, but they are absolutely clear on it. I even emailed them. If the product has been designed not to be used with this type product, then Iā€™m not going to risk it. Saved me Ā£2,000 though :smiley:

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Fair enough, Iā€™m just curious, and slightly suspicious that they might have made incorrect assumptions about how the Chord blocks work - or perhaps they are right.

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My M6 is newā€¦does it need to run a while to sound better?

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For sure :+1:

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The M6 can be ordered with Shukko plugs. Rated at 16 amps.
Can I use any power cable to the wall with it? I remember it was not the case for all uk power wall cables. Or I misunderstood.

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The only condition for use is that the IEC on the mains cable needs to be one of the 16amp variants like the one made by Furitech to facilitate fitment into the block. You may know Rooster that the 16 amp IECā€™s are a slightly different shape to a 13 amp one.

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Greatā€¦
For what purpose is the ground on the side panel?

Actually if you use Schuko plugs I highly recommend Cardas Nautilus power strip. I have one and it is such a huge improvement.