Mains extension blocks

So… why are all the Naim leads (mains, interconnect, etc…) 1m? It would be a lot easier if they were half a metre. As it is the NDX to SN2 interconnect hangs down almost to the floor and the Powerlines have to be coiled up due to excess cable.

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My cooker is very quiet - nothing on AM radio test even when at gas mark 7

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They’re usually just over 1m - about 1.25m. I think this is deemed an optimum length performance-wise and reach-wise. A cable that’s a bit too long can still be used, whereas one that’s too short…

Yes I agree it’s a one size fits all but I have got everything hanging down or coiled up behind the rack :frowning: Don’t most people have excess cable?

Up until a few weeks ago I had ‘another’ make of mains leads that I’d cut down so they were just the right length with no excess (about 0.5m) but the dealer was quite adamant that it was better to go for Powerlines so now I have them coiled up under the rack :frowning:

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Powerlines are a bit longer still - I’m told because they sound best at this length, so there’s always a reason for these things with Naim (and that reason is almost invariably down to what performs/sounds best).

Coming out of the boxes they were quite tightly looped with a plastic cable tie. In fact nigh on impossible to straighten… bends/kinks every 6 inches. So it’s okay then to have them with the excess bent/looped and the cable tie around the extra? Not sure if those electrons like going round corners :wink:

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Loops create some inductance. The electrons are happy to cooperate!

Phil

Loops create inductance, unless you are looping the live and neutral together, as is the case of a mains lead, so then inductance in each cable in the lead cancels each other out…

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If you’re worried about the bends and kinks, they can be teased out with a hair dryer. The insulation is a pvc and will reform with some low heat and a bit of massage

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There is info, including lore, about the length of mains leads and that shorter is not better. Sorry to be so vague but that’s about all that I’ve heard.

Any experiences here with the relatively new Ansuz Mainz ac distribution products. My dealer highly praises them and I trust him whole-heartedly not to push ‘snake oil.’ I’m planning a home audition. There is some technology in them; not merely copper and star earthing.

In the sub £100 range I would go fo a music line Netzleiste. Music line is the German Naim distributor. They recommend the Netzleiste (and the Powerigel) for Naim devices and I have used the Netzleiste for about 4 years. It is a vey simple plastic power strip but it worked fine for me.

If you can afford a little bit more I can recommend the PowerBlack distribution block from Custom HiFi Cables. It can be ordered with as many outputs as you need and the build quality is very good. Just check the CHC web page for details.

What I can say is that the CHC cables and distribution block generate much lower electric field radiation than the standard Naim cables and Netzleiste as indicated by a Supra AC Sensor: in my system, the Supra sensor does not detect any radiating energy from the CHC cables and distribution block even when set at the max. sensitivity level. With the Naim cables and Netzleiste, the same sensor detected radiating energy even when set at the min. sensitivity.

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Ideally a Fraim would have plug sockets in the rear upright (one per level) and you could plug each item using a very short power cord with a single power cord going from base of the Fraim to a wall socket. However, my guess is this is thought to impair performance.

It would also be good if Naim made kit with captive power cords as then people would not keep changing them, the dealer could trim to an appropriate length and attach a country/Naim approved plug (in UK a PL plug could come as standard), but again I can’t see this happening either.

No doubt there are good reasons

I believe Naim like to use IEC connections because they can give them a loose fit which reduces microphony, and the Powerline IEC controls this further. Similar to HiLine interconnects, I guess.

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well, got me a MW radio from the big river – and my daughter concluded that I had finally ‘lost it’ as she watched me conduct the tests. Interestingly, the light that I use by the LP12 turned out to be significantly the noisiest! Followed by the various wall-warts for the phone, iPad. My NDS didn’t seem too bad, but all the power supplies --552PS, Supercap, 500PS, 555PS were quite noisy (not much I can do about that!). But, just for peace of mind, I will change the light over my LP12… fascinating experiments nevertheless… ha ha paranoia big time! :slight_smile:

enjoy!/ken

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Best done when nobody else is in, Ken! Have fun in the rabbit hole.

:slight_smile:

So I know this thread has meandered a bit but just to throw another spanner in the works what about shielded lan cables? In the interest of tidying up the mess behind the rack I’ve now changed over to shielded cat7 patch leads. This is what I had easy access to, if I had shielded cat6 or even cat5 then I would have used those, it’s the shielding part I want. It was mainly because the lan cables are running close to both the mains cables and the various interconnect/speaker cables so it seemed a prudent measure. I mean if we’re worrying about LED’s in extension blocks the other side of the house then, to my simple mind, we should also worry about lan cables rubbing shoulders with the other signal and power cables behind the hifi - no? So now I have shielded lan patch leads all-round. But then I thought this isn’t doing much good without a shielded switch (the switch sits in the bottom shelf of the rack) and then it has to be an earthed switch (using a wall plug SMPS so no earth pin there). So the switch is ordered and the the plan is an earth wire from the switch (earth tag on the back) to the earth pin of a mains plug. Anyway has anyone else gone over to shielded lan cabes? Any perceived differences?

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I would be careful with multiple earths on a LAN; standard practice is to earth/ground at one point only.
Your streamer’s RJ45 socket is shrouded & grounded, same for all the NAS units I’ve seen. So with shrouded switch ports that carry the ethernet screen connection between streamer ground to NAS ground then connecting the switch case to mains earth, its adding a 3rd ground.
OK it may not be audible, but if any one of the three are on separate circuits, there is a possibility of a potential voltage difference across the ethernet screen.

Re: “has anyone else gone over to shielded lan cabes?
I’ve gone from Cat-5e to Cat-7 (F/FTP) & finally to Cat-6 (UTP) In domestic environments there is no need for a screened cable, it will do no harm to have it, but need to be aware of multiple ground issues.
I have a 2m section running parallel with a screened mains cable. As a precaution I have each in separate skirting board mounted plastic conduits to maintain a separation distance of at least 2cm, which conforms to the industrial regs for runs over 15m.
During the time I had Cat-7 I changed out my shrouded port switch to an un-shrouded to be sure the cable screens were not connected.

Yes I understand what you mean. Non of the ports on my current switch are shielded (cheap plastic thing) and they also aren’t on my NAS (Intel NUC with a figure-of-eight mains lead) but, correct, they are on the NDX. tbh I didn’t know they were on the NDX, I should have checked. In that case with a shielded switch in place I’ll use that as my single route to ground.

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