Can someone explain why a decent power conditioner has a detrimental affect on Naim equipment, surely the Naim is receiving a good clean steady voltage which must be beneficial?
Unless you have issues with mains supply , in the UK you could on peaks pull thousands of amps from the mains. Power conditioners and re generators have a maximum amount of current that flow through them so you could be holding back the full potential of the mains.
A decent sparky should be able to test the mains and report on the total current draw. For example your house may have a 100A fuse feeding the property, in order for the fuse to blow you will need to exceed that amount by quite a large margin to ensure the fuse blows rapidly. This is determined by how close you are to the substation and the quality of the wiring in the road.
Alan
Iāve played around with a few. They could be beneficial, or not. They may impact the amount of power an amp can draw, which affects dynamics. Youāll notice a bad power conditioner on the base and how high you need to turn up the volume, then it starts to sound weak. Always try it on an amp for a bit then without it. Most people, audio dealerships as well, do not run amps on power conditioners. A good analogy is like trying to put out a large fire with a garden hose. A firehose works better - it can deliver a lot more all at once.
Youāre better off, if you are concerned, with a non conditioning balanced 1:1 transformer installed on the circuit or, even better, installed before a consumer unit dedicated to the hifi.
They hum a bit so best installed in a garahe or basement. Hospitals use them on circuits for MRI machines and stuff.
Iām thinking what is the purpose of NAIM PSU units? Arenāt they the same as power conditioning/cleaning devices?
I think everything depends on power conditioner price. Some high quality units work well with Naim equipment also. There are some reliable reviews on the Internet about that. Also not only power amps can benefit from conditioning. I think sometimes connecting DAC/streamer to conditioner can give perfect results, because DACs are more sensitive to power noises.
Absolutely not
The power conditioners are 230vAC in 230vAC out (120 in 120 out if US/Can)
The Naim PSUās are not conditioners, they supply DC at different voltages dependant on PSU type
Avoid them,ā¦they hijacks transients.
/Pederš
1 Like
I know there is a widely held view that power conditioners should be avoided at all cost, but my experience has been different. I believe it depends a lot on how ācleanā your power is to start with and what conditioner you choose to use. I use a conditioner and it has made a notable sonic improvement. to my system. I think it pays to trust your ears rather than be influenced by the general view as your system is unique to you. Itās not possible to out right discount a conditioner without testing it with your system.
In my experiments, I found that the main cause of the degradation to SQ from āmains conditionersā was caused by DM capacitors (capacitors placed from line to neutral, line to ground and neutral to ground).
In my installation DM and CM inductors improved SQ, but had to be of very low resistance. I wound the inductors from 2.5mmSQ wire. (N.B. magnetic cores should not be used for DM inductors.) Using capacitative filters to reduce asymmetry of the AC waveform (aka a āDC blockerā) also helped considerably.
N.B. do not try making your own filters unless you are fully competent to work with mains voltage electricity.
Unless you have bad power supply, save your money or at least try before you buy
Agree with Xanthe, X & Y capacitors in shunt across L-N, L-E & N-E are the killers. But why ?? I suspect & the only reason that makes sense to me is because they distort the AC sine wave enough to cause issues in the transformer.
DC filters normally use a large series capacitor (& diode bridge) & do not negatively affect SQ - mine bought an unexpected positive.
A balanced mains converter is probably all you need
Mike, I believe the problem may lie with resonance effects between the DM capacitors, the transformer inductance and the CM inductor.
ahh ā¦ if only I still had my old pre retirement work lab. 
(big missing you cry sigh)
1 Like
I would never use anything like this in the music-system.
Do you have an optimal installation,.and also dedicated mainsā¦it is enough.
Some parameters may be better,but the whole overall music experience is limited.
Something disappears,ā¦āLaid backā is a good word to use.
Iāve tried an incredible number of these products.
Some had a weight of between 40 up to 60 kg.
Some remain in my basement,.and there they may stand.
/Pederš
I was seriously planning to buy Istoek EVO3 Sigmas. So as I understand it would be waste of money? I do not have possibility to test before buying 
A salespersonās dream come true.
All hi-end industry makes āsalespersonās dream come trueā, including 13K priced Nd555 and similar components 
Higher priced system ā better sound. It is default stereotype for all audio systems. It could be hard to find low priced system which sounds better than much higher priced.
LOL - ok then.
1 Like
Hmmm, I donāt think so. I recall visiting a āhigh endā audio show where the Naim Nait clearly sounded much better than a system costing 10 times the price.
Some people appear to have more money than sense, or else they have so much money, theyāll happily pay more because āit must be betterāā¦