Is that the one with two black cores labelled “1” and “2” instead of being brown and blue ? I’ve got some of that running in on my PC at the moment, prior to moving to audio equipment use. I’m using Belden equivalent on my power block at the moment while that runs in. Doesn’t seem to compromise the sound of the Naim kit as some say it might.
I find the Safety Plug is better than the Tough Plug as it still has the old style terminals which is no longer the case on the Tough Plug, which now has the standard hole to push the wire through before screwing down on it. Can’t say I hear a difference - just feels more solid.
No, its the normal EU single phase colours, brown, blue & green/yellow.
The others with numbered wires are signal & other interconnect types cable.
I gave up on the Tough Plugs, my wall socket plug on the Lapp is MS HD Power 13A & BG Permaplug 13A on the Mark Grant cable into the MK Logic sockets on the dist board
I think it’s odd to read from time to time,.that some don’t hear any difference on powercables.
I wonder what it depends on,.I,and the ones I tested with have always heard the difference on different powercables.
Sometimes better,.sometimes worse,.sometimes just different…but always a difference.
I think it depends on how careful you are with all the details when you test,.for it is very easy to forget about any detail.
Given that you live in the UK,.and have a fuse in the plug of your powercable.
•Do you use the same fuse for all powercables that you test.?
•And do you check,.that the direction of the fuse is facing in the same direction on all cables.
This is just one example of where you can miss a detail when testing.
Possibly different electrical system and non-Naim amplifier. With Chord, Rob Watts and John Franks often talked about the negative effects of RFI/EMI so I went for shielded cables. A Linn enthusiast who I have great respect for also advocated shielded cables.
When I used Naim amps, I stuck with Naim cables to preserve that Naim sound. I can’t say anything about the effect of Mark Grant cables on Naim kit as I never tried them. When you open a Naim box and take out the standard Naim mains lead, it looks like a very good UK purpose made for your kit. With Linn or Chord, the supplied mains lead looks like a very cheap Made-in-China affair. Hence, the inclination to seek a better lead. Of course, the Chinese lead may be perfect, but Mark’s ones instil confidence.
Thanks Mike - another excellent post. I am with you completely on the electrics and cabling. I don’t have anywhere near your expertise or practical abilities, but I follow your posts closely and am delighted with the results.
Amazes me HiFi magazines review black boxes and give measurement and in room response curves. However, with cable reviews details are absent. Moreover, boutique cable manufacture is often shrouded in secrecy and seems more about sorcery than science. I wonder why this is?
Sorry, I should have made it clearer - that’s a difference between the MK Tough Plug and Safety Plug (capitals as they are product names) I was referring to.
As for the cables I didn’t do any comparisons - there was a gap of several days in my listening as I was away for work commitments. From memory I couldn’t remember an important difference. I have had different power cables demoed to me (blind) and found the differences obvious, in this case I didn’t feel the need to switch back so was happy with what I had.
Oh, to respond to the question I haven’t quoted - yes I’ve tried reversing fuses and keeping the same fuse between sessions. When I was much younger I remember swapping plugs on cables when comparing to ensure it was the cables I was comparing. Back then (in the 80s), I preferred the MK Tough Plug to others. Nowadays with moulded plugs it’s harder to do that type of comparison.
I too now use MK or MS 13A plugs. I’m less fussy about fuses - I prefer electrical safety to SQ. No BS mark, no use.
It is spec’d to carry mains voltage, when I wrote my post was trying to say its that its used for signal & other interconnect purposes, connecting with control systems, switch relays, indicators etc.
I looked up the Lapp products & data sheets
Lapp Olflex is available as a number coded cable with black cores marked with white numbers … 3 cores and more include an earth core as standard.
They are available in 2 core up to 65 cores, cable sizes ranging from 0.5mm² to 35mm² & voltage rating is 300/500V. So this cable is mains rated.
@Mike-B,…But the most important thing,.you haven’t said a word about,.how the cables sound.
And then preferably in relation to a known reference cable.
Maybe Naim’s Powerline Lite.
Regardless of all measurement results,.the most important thing is how they sound in a music-system.
•And how did you arrive at the right length,.because I assume it is the right length for the best soundquality you mean.
And not for the best measurement results.
Hie @Peder … I try to avoid getting into discussions on how a cable sounds.
What I hear is in my ears & my brain, its on my equipment (total system) & in my room: all this is unique to me, so if you don’t mind I will not join that club.
I do not buy into the theory of the ‘right’ (optimised) length, the difference between a 1m or 2m cable is minuscule, others including Naim might say it is so, but sorry not in my book & not in any other electrical application/engineering book/paper that I know of. My cables are made to fit the distance, nothing more.
But just to satisfy your question: my PowerLine Lite’s to the PSU’s are stnd length, the screened cables to equipment varies between 0.9m & 1.1m The Olflex CY from power dist board to the wall socket is 2.3m.
Hi again, just to expand a little on this, I was not able when I posted the first time as was travelling & needed to rush.
I experimented with power cables a long while ago, but I finally came to the conclusion that it was fun but a lot of time going nowhere.
Different cables did different things & also different things with each component, what was good for an amp was not the same for CDP etc…
After quite an extended period I decided that there was no magic cable, fancy exotic construction types if anything did not deliver, simpler cable was more consistent. For example a cable I found that did work very well was an industrial cable with H07RN-F (rubber) insulation & sleeve (remarkably so very similar to PowerLine )
Anyhow to cut a long story very sort - I choose to use a simple construction cable & with a screen for specific reasons & I use well engineered & proven reliable plugs & sockets. As it happens these are all basic industrial or domestic, the only plug that I have that is a little bit audiophile is an MS HD Power, I use this simply because it will take the large cable size.
Some cables are designed to be more than basic & have extra features that might be justified in sound quality terms, some do take it too far IMO, but I generally don’t have a problem with these.
I do however have problems with the price of some cables, add to that the utter rubbish that some have in their marketing literature.
I’ve tried an Audioquest NRG series AC cable and Naim’s Powerline (based on Darkebear’s comments on another Melco related thread). Both provided a nice improvement in bass, more details but the Powerline brought out more and remains on my Melco N1A.
I use the Custom Hifi Cables Powerblack on my Cisco switch. The Powerline improved the performance and Powerblack is even better. Silly difference, and that is of course with a SMPS.
I think it’s odd to read from time to time,.that some don’t hear any difference on powercables.
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