I’m not saying that can’t happen or that I’m immune to it. However I consider myself a very experienced listener and I know the sound of my system very well so that I’m very sensitive to changes, good and bad. I can’t prove it but I’m certain in my own mind that the sound has improved substantially over a few weeks since installing the S6. A proper comparison would be to substitute the S6 for a brand new one and compare - but that’s not going to happen.
I’m not really sure that one gets used to a negative impact on sound. In my experience if I’m not happy about some aspect of the sound after making any changes then that becomes worse as time goes on - it just keeps grating on my nerves. I don’t think I’ve ever got used to something like that. In fact I obsess over it, and my other half will gladly confirm that! (can’t you just listen to the music and enjoy it?!)
To be honest I’ve never felt the need to justify purchases to myself. The justification for me is that I wanted it and that’s that - whether it cost £1 or £1000. If I find I don’t actually like what I wanted then I just accept that I’ve wasted the money. So what - it’s only money and I’m really not bothered. The health and well-being of those that I love are all that really matters to me. Money doesn’t really interest me at all - only the things that it can get me.
For me the Chord blocks appeared at just the time that I was looking into upgrading my very basic but good quality Olson block because I felt, without any real evidence, that it was holding things back. There were no blocks on the market that really drew my attention but since I use Chord cables throughout then a Chord mains block seemed an obvious choice.
I don’t know how my S6 compares to similarly priced blocks, accept the Nordost 6 way block which didn’t sound any different to my Olson, and I don’t really care. I’m happy with what I have.
That’s how I do it as well.
Sometimes I listen to a change or potential upgrade for weeks before switching back to the previous situation. This can be quite eye opening in both directions.
Out of all the cable-type stuff, power cables and conditioners have made the most impact to my ears. I can hear subtle changes with interconnects, but don’t believe in ‘better’, just different. I wrote elsewhere that I prefer Chord Clearway to Sarum, for example. But, for me, quality power cables and blocks/conditioners as well as careful attention to mains makes a big difference.
And many of them are really beautiful objects to own. You eat with your eyes too; perhaps it does sound the same but my Isol-8 looks much more pleasant than the white extension cables used to plug in a TV set.
This makes perfect sense. As far as cables go the mains cables and blocks are the first and most fundamental thing to affect system performance. Get that wrong and no amount of expensive interconnects or speaker cables will put it right.
Okay, I’m two days in to listening to a Chord M6 block that I’ve borrowed and I’m not convinced it’s taking me in the direction I want to go!
My immediate thoughts are that it’s a bit too dark and lifeless for me. It has definitely improved with a few hours of warm up and I was able to have long session with it last night while the wife was out!
I really want to like the Chord as it’s a pretty brutal design and looks like a small oil tanker tethered to my Fraim but I don’t think it’s as good as my current wall mounted MK radial circuit. I would agree with other comments I’ve seen that it gives a really big spacious sound. However, I find that it sounds less ‘live’ and a bit more ‘hifi’ for my taste. It definitely adds a more powerful bass but with DBL’s that’s not what I’m after. I want that immediacy and edge you get with live music and the M6 seems to rub those ‘live’ edges off a bit.
I’ve found this to be the trait with a lot of the very expensive Chord array stuff. The bass and high frequencies seem to be the main area of focus and I want the opposite. I can only compare it to my love of Naim’s Lavender cable (bright, edgy and live) vs. the Hi-line (dark, bass heavy and a bit, may I say, dull). Fortunately, Superlumina offers you the best of both worlds!
In conclusion the Chord M6 certainly sounds different but at this moment in time I wouldn’t say it sounds better! In fact I would say it’s giving me a similar’ish sound to the MusicWorks Reflex, which I had and sold.
The M6 goes back on Tuesday and I will update this if my initial thoughts change.
The usual caveats apply; my system, my ears and my tastes!
Similar to my experience with S6 in my system then. Bit boring is what comes to mind for me. I just don 't engage with music in the same way as with the other power strips I compare it against.
Strange in that I found the opposite with my S6. It sounds much more like real music than hi-fi to me.
It has certainly loosened up over a few weeks of use. I would suggest that your ‘dark and lifeless’ observation is indicative that it needs much more running in. Dark and lifeless certainly isn’t how I would describe my S6.
If you are after a bright and edgy sound though then I don’t think you will get that from the Chord block. Maybe try a Masterplug block - around £5 - in my experience they are very bright and edgy!
Seriously though we all want different things and our systems and rooms are different. Perhaps the Chord just isn’t for you, but just be sure to give it the chance it needs to loosen up before making a decision.
I know a few on the forum that have not had much success with expensive trailing leads - often preferring the sound of a wall mounted set of MK sockets with a well installed radial circuit. I think this maybe just the luck of the draw and indicates that they already have a quiet power supply to their property and no amount of carefully screened trailing block is going to make a difference?
At least I given them a chance. I still have an old Wireworld working the TV and sky box. I’ve tried both the MusicWorks blocks - the light version and sparkly one. Now the Chord M6. I’d need to have at least a ‘black box’ improvement to drop nearly £2k and it just ain’t there! As I’ve said, different but not better!
M6 block dull bass heavy and lifeless?? Not in my system. However I still prefer my S1 and 500 in their own socket ( dedicated supplies) which says something. M6 definitely preferred by me to the Musicworks G3.
Trouble is, mains blocks are a natural and, very often, a severe bottleneck in a good hifi system - in my experience more than all mains cables put together, including the one to the wall. I would not hesitate to invest good money for a good one.
The design and wiring of any good block is, however, critical and if I am going to spend that much, I do tend to go for those that also disclose their specs including their wiring gauge. Not sure what exactly Chord have in their block and how it works with the bus bars but I would like to see this made a bit clearer. I wouldn’t imagine the M version is “over-filtered” but could they be slightly “underwired” going by some feedback here?
To me the actual construction/wiring topology is not important. All that matters is the end result. Clearly there is a lot more going on in something like the Chord blocks than meets the eye. If it were just a question of good quality sockets and heavy gauge wiring then I would use a home made block employing Crabtree or MK sockets. But I’ve tried this and the results simply don’t begin to compare with what the Chord S6 block does.
Obviously there is no one ‘answer’ as different blocks employ different wiring topologies etc. The Musicworks blocks on the face of it are just good quality sockets screwed to an acrylic enclosure and wired in a mini-ring circuit but star earthed. Nothing terribly special or mysterious there and it should be easy to knock-up a DIY version at a fraction of Musicworks prices. I would be willing to bet however that a DIY version would completely fail to capture what is special about the real thing. Why? I don’t know - but as I said clearly there is more going on than seems to meet the eye.
Regarding filtering in the Chord PowerHAUS my understanding is that Chord don’t consider their tech to be incorporated any “filter” as they apparently use nothing in series with the leads. If I remember correct what the chord guy demonstrating these at the Swedish HEM audio show said, HAUS stand for Hybrid Array Unfiltered Supply.
He also mentioned that they experimented with star earthing but it introduced so other issues when applying the “array tech” why they ended up using “bus technology” (as I understood for complexity reasons).