Mains extension blocks

Strange that your Hicap is noisy, my Naim rack was very quiet with the portable radio test. Unlike my Atom, which did make it buzz a bit.

are your sockets connected in series or are they “star” wired?
enjoy/ken

Hi Ken, not quite as simple.
L&N are wired as a ring - individual 1.5mm wires formed in twisted pairs.
E is a so called ‘star’, in power terminology it should be called radial.

Power%20Socket%20Schematic

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Interesting and many thanks for response Mike.

Assuming impedance of the connecting wires is low enough, the “ring” connection in my view could be considered a star connection – meaning that, because of the return connection, the L are connected to effectively “one point” and the similarly the N.

It would be interesting to understand a little bit more what motivated you to adopt this connection topology – definitely different from most serial topology blocks (i.e. no return) but this may not be suitable for this audience so I guess we could communicate on this privately if you are OK with this…

enjoy/ken

Hi again Ken, its a lot more simple than your post might imply.
First the impedance of a few cm’s of wire in this power board, irrespective of how its wired, is not an issue.
When I made the power board I had no intention of connecting the x3 unswitched doubles in series, that was to avoid the possibility of the ‘best position’ for each component as many seem to experience with commercial power strips that are connected internally in series
So following normal convention I wired L,N&E in radial (star if you will). That was done & it sounded just fine. I then had to rip it apart for other work & this time I had the idea of the ring connection on the L&N only. I also took the opportunity to twist them as a pair to help reject EMI/RFI, a bit over kill in more ways that one, but whatever, it was an opportunity. The ring connection made no difference to anything that I could hear, & with no other need to get inside it again, thats the way I left it.

Mike, all very interesting - many thanks for response.
enjoy/ken

How about an AudioQuest Dragon High Current Mains Power Cable - only £4999.00.
and that’s less than £5k!

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Just put in the mains cable given free with the Unitiserve, the one with the rat box - feeding my AV block. Wow.

Here is a pic of the Wiremold Power strip connected to the wall by a 15 Amp India style socket. The socket itself uses a 3 x 4 sq mm wire from the mains MCB

I wish i could increase this to a thicker gauge but i cannot ( without masonry work ).

Naim SN2 gets the first dip in it - iceageaudio power cable 10 gauge
Philips CD960 is next - with iceageaudio power cable
Subwoofer power cable is the last one

As my turntable rig will come on board - i have ( i think ) space to power a phono stage & the turntable as well…IMG_1695

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Is that a ‘medical grade’ UK plug fitted by iceage?

The Wiremold has US stnd sockets
image

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JI JImdog

as Mike-B mentioned - these are USA type plugs

regards

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Hydra gets a lot of commendations. Never tried it myself. I like my Russ Andrews X6, not least because you can upgrade the power cables without losing the 6 way unit.

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Such manifest heterodoxy requires supporting evidence :scream:

I have dedicated mains using MK un-switched sockets in my old listening room the Naim stack is now located in a new room but using the standard ground floor ring main.

To save the the expense of a sparky I have been thinking of running a home made mains extension block several meters from my existing dedicated mains to the new location and spotted Mike’s post above.

Using the LAPP Olflex CY100 2.5mm mains cable to one double MK un-switched socket as I only require two mains sockets that both use Powerline.

With Mike stating that the Powerline is 4mm cable can you purchase LAPP Olflex CY100 in 4mm.

Bad idea?

You state that, presuming hydras are the accepted best method for mains distribution. They’re not.

The only supporting evidence I could give is a long post, but given the level of genuine interest on forums nowadays, I don’t have the enthusiasm. If you wish to take general advice, how many ‘System Pics’ systems do you see that are set up ideally?

LAPP Olflex Classic CY100 is not available in 4mm/2 x3 core

But TBH even if it was available I would guess you will struggle to find a 13A plug to fit it. The 2.5mm/2 x3 core is 11.8mm OD & thats at the limits of most 13A plugs, I use MS HD Power 13A plug.

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Thanks for the reply Mike I will probably order several meters of LAPP Olflex Classic CY100 and give it a go running this internally I should be able to hide most of the cable.

cheers

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I think Mike is right about the 4mm cable being too big for a a standard mains plug. 2.5mm is about the thickest that will fit in my experience. You could try asking MCRU for some advice, as they sell Lapp, Belden and other cables, by the metre or as ready made leads, so they might well have some useful suggestions.

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MCRU do sell LAPP, but it’s still the 2.5mm/2
They do have a 4mm/2 shielded cable & looks like they’ve used a LAPP picture with it. There is no info on dimensions so you need to contact them & ask what 13A plug they use.