I know some of you chaps use MusicWorks Mains blocks - and I’m in the market.
Looks like the web doesn’t throw up much info on them - but I know Signals stock them and really rate them. They do them on Sale or Return - so I’ll possibly deal myself in on that.
Any views on the G4? …it’s a heck of a lot of money for a Mains Block!! …is it a step up from the G3? …Signals say they’ve have customers upgrade from G3 to G4 - which suggests a significant improvement given the difference in cost, or upgradeitis…
My system is pretty good - so I’d like the best - but I’m from Yorkshire, and therefore doing due diligence prior to opening my wallet so wide!
I’d like it to fit on the floor between two Fraim stacks - nicely hidden - looks like it’ll fit - any tips on placement?
Hi Matt, i had a G3 with sparkly bottom….£1300. Unfortunately the G4 is worth the extra imo, you get everything the G3 does, but in spades😬
Signals gave me a good trade in on my sparkly bottom G3, so that made it an easy decision.
I had a G3 Ultra and it was excellent. I added the Peek base and it was a nice improvement. MusicWorks told me that a Peek top was coming but that it wasn’t user upgradable in the way the bottom is, so it’s become the G4. With your high end system I’d say yes, go for it. Put it on a piece of carpet, rather than a hard floor. And as has been said, dedicated mains comes first, though I’d imagine you already have that. Use a PowerLine to connect the block to the wall.
I’ve heard about the piece of carpet thing - top tip - as I’ve got ceramic tiles floors …I wonder if this is a better solution to “Skeets” ?
I’ve never investigated dedicated Mains - but I know I should - our house is 4 years old, so obviously it has all mod cons when it comes to mains protection, which I do suspect is not a good thing in terms of sonics. I think there is a dedicated thread (maybe a few!) on this subject - so I’ll read up - I know literally nothing about the subject!
PowerLine connection to the block is something I can’t do currently however - the HiFi is 6metres away from a capable mains socket (there is one nearer - but the whole house needs a reboot if I plug the 500PS into that!) so I have an Isol-8 over engineered mains cable I’ll continue to use, that cable currently feeding to my idol-8 mains conditioner, that I’ll look to trade in if I do move to the MusicWorks.
I think doing dedicated mains is also the answer to being able to feed with a powerline.
It’s funny - I know other dealers do MusicWorks, but you wouldn’t know it - their own website doesn’t even mention the mains gear, and a Google search only results in Signals. I did mention this to Alastair, and he seemed to know, but clearly wasn’t complaining!
In terms of what you get - I know we don’t really do Hi-Fi terminology on here, but what are the sonic benefits over (say) a well engineered big standard mains strip?
It,s much tighter control of the bass and midrange, gives a better more coherent sound and vocals just sound more natural. If you try one……i don’t think it will go back. I think Signals are the only G4 dealer, they are supply constrained for selling to all dealers.
Yep. Well worth it for any system, but even more important to getting the best from a system at your level. You may also find the system sounds better without the ISOL-8 mains conditioner too.
The Isol-8 doesn’t degrade the sound to my ears - but it doesn’t really improve it, and it’s a pretty bulky old thing…
…I bought it originally because I knew that the mains was going to be noisy (for example, I have 64 Phillips Hue Lightbulbs in the house!) and I wanted to protect the system from that, and also have a single mains cable going to the system.
But my thinking has moved on, and I’m thinking less is more…
Sound advice. And £500 is for what sort of scope? …is it just a case of a sparky coming out and adding a new breaker and a spur? …I’ve always had visions of dedicated mains meaning digging holes in the garden for new Earth spikes etc!
Appreciate you’re probably not an electrician - and I’ve just drained my entire knowledge on the subject in that first sentence, but £500 sounds like not much work and materials and rather trivial… So that’s a positive!
I’m just suggesting the sort of price - mine cost £200 many years ago. Basically, split the meter tails with a Henley Block, add a new small consumer unit and run a 10mm2 cable to an unswitched socket. Take the Earth directly back to the meter cupboard, do not daisy chain off the existing CU. Easy as that. You can do an Earth spike but it needs to be kept moist to work properly and it’s probably not necessary.
Possibly. It depends on the existing incoming supply earth arrangements and a few other considerations to ensure safety and compliance to the latest regulations. The electrician will advise appropriately when they assess the existing electrical system as they will be the one to sign off the final installation.
I have a dedicated line, but it didn’t change the sound for me , or maybe subtle improvement.
However I live in a little flat and we have not many components on the main, even not a dish washing machine. A little fridge.
But the high quality powerblock and specially the power cable going into the wall from it made a real and very worthwhile improvement.
The French (Euro) house wiring system is based on ‘radial circuits’ for power outlets.
A ‘dedicated’ power line as we discuss on this forum is such a radial circuit.
It might be that your ‘dedicated line’ has just adding another but same/similar circuit & any changes it might bring are not so obvious as is the case with a dedicated line in UK installations.
The standard UK system is different & is a ‘ring circuit’. This system was adopted after WW-II to address the considerable demand for new houses & associated building material shortage. A ring circuit wiring offered a more efficient & lower cost system which would safely support a greater number of sockets.
Unfortunately, the standard has not been changed, & nowadays with houses having so many more power sockets (outlets) & with so many more connected electrical devices, I suspect one reason why a UK dedicated line might sound better than the house ring circuits.
This is certainly the assumption I’ve made. A significant number of the sockets in our house - which is probably above average sized - have USB sockets built in, and I’ve surmised that can’t be a good thing when it comes mains purity!
You are absolutely right HH. During dry Summer spells it needs a hose trickling away for a while to moisten the surrounding soil. I forgot my hose the other week was on it running for half a day, but I have to say the effort was worth it- system sounded great after doing it tbh. ( the audible effect also somewhat shows that the separate spur actually works). ATB Peter
…I wonder if this is a better solution to “Skeets” ?
