Powerline lite is 0.75mm
Both of mine are stored in boxes in the loft.
It looks like I was mistaken in assuming the NAP300DR ia supplied with the 4mm PowerLine. A friend bought a new 300 and it did come with a 4mm PowerLine, maybe there was a special deal on at the time.
Whatever, the PowerLine Lite is definitly 0.75mm, its clearly printed on the x2 that I have.
Don’t get bogged down with figures here.
Give Graham’s a call. Their Hydra is excellent.
Tell them what length you require - you can have any tail length I believe (the tail standard is 2m and each head 2m, so the standard cable is 4n long in total, I believe). Tell them how many heads you need.
Pay the chaps the money (really cheap to be honest), and Bob’s Yer Uncle…
I think you are right. I was contemplating to either get the Hydra or to buy a Wireworld Aurora 7 (which has 3mm) to supply my Matrix 2.
Not quite sure which one would win tbh but the Hydra is very well regarded and it seems that would be an improvement over the Matrix.
PS: The standard 4m length would suit me fine.
PSS: I currently need 4 heads but is it worth getting 5 in case of any future additions?
I think Grahams recommend ordering the no. of heads you will use. They offer a service to add heads later for you, I believe.
Give them a buzz and have a chat. They were very helpful when I bought mine.
I think the Hydra has shrunk quite a bit since because I was told by Grahams that the heads are 1m and tail is 1m as standard apparently
I have used a Hydra for years: it is a great solution for Naim, partly because it is simple and well-made, but mostly because it is star-earthed.
I would discourage having spare unused heads or having non-Naim gear on the Hydra - it can sound dull and noisy.
Fortunately, this is an old man’s hobby to a large extent and Grahams have sold many Hydras in the last 35+ years, so they do turn up on eBay and PFM.
As I understand it. A Powerigel Plus is effectively a Hydra made of Powerlines. Few have gone that far, but those that have seem not to give them up too often.
There are more expensive options and some swear by them. However, when I was ready to go further, the winning option was to keep my old Hydra and to spend £600 or so on getting a sparks to fit a dedicated supply cable all the way from the meter to dedicated sockets.
Hah ! I must have ordered a non regular length of tail !! Sorry for misinformation.
Just order the number of heads you need along with a 3m, or whatever length you want, tail The Hydra’s are great
P.S. I would double check with Grahams about the 1m heads though. Reading previous comments, Grahams used to refuse to shorten these (standard Naim power cables) from their standard 2m length.
That would be a Powerigel Plus, I believe.
Dead right: my apologies.
On my home made linear block (6 single MKs mounted in wood) having the two turntables plugged in doesn’t seem to cause any problems, nor does leaving a socket at either end empty, unlike putting a wallwart ps on it or a NAD 4020A tuner for that matter, a Hydra couldn’t feed either of those anyway.
Do people power their turntables via a Hydra?
I’m likely to need 8 outlets including turntables and am considering making up another using Furutech, purely because Furutech was Naim’s choice for EU Powerlines and I might as well convert mine to the local format when I add another. The alternative is a Powerigel, an 8 headed plus version will run to €6600 or so, I reckon I can undercut that with Furutech if I stick with the plugs Naim use.
A standard 8-head Powergel, sans Powerlines, is only about 1000 Euros.
There are other threads worth seeing on this.
A Hydra is great for Naim boxes, but I have never heard or heard about any benefit from using it to power other kit.
With an LP12, I have tried various options for power and using the Hydra sounds very poor - more noisy and less interesting. The further the turntable PS is in terms of electricity supply from the Naim boxes, the better it sounds ime.
With just 1 or 2 boxes, I might well have gone for Powerlines, but that wouldn’t give star-earthing and 6 of them would cost a lot. A PowerIgel Plus achieves both, but it costs even more and is another non-tiny box.
Others swear by Mark Grant cables, or a variety of well-made but often eye-wateringly expensive alternatives.
How much difference any of this makes if there was no obvious problem beforehand seems to be very dependent on system ( perhaps including what other cables are near and how well-dressed they all are) and room. And sometimes of course, it may all be in the ear of the beholder.
Do let us know what you pick.
I use a Volex triple gang un-switched socket (£25), along with PowerLines, for my three boxed powered system. Cuts down on the (insertion loss) extra connection wiring. Works an absolute treat!
Another vote for hydras. I have two: four heads power my ‘qutes and a six headed beast supply my other boxes (135 x 4, NAT01 and PSU).
Graham’s were very helpful when I rang them to discuss needs. I believe, back in the day, Naim used something similar.
A Hydra seems to be the winner and I have gone for that. A 4 headed one just for my Naim components.
I have 4 dedicated sockets which I had purposefully fitted when I built the extension however since changing the position of the system the cables do not reach. Hence the need for the Hydra so I can plug it in there.
I looked at Powerigel but I find it too messy. A giant hedgehog indeed.
Thank you for that. I did check and they confirmed the heads are 1.75m and not 1 m as previously said.
I’ve gone for a 4 headed Hydra just for my Naim boxes. I think I will use the Wireworld Matrix 2 for the turntable/phono stage and future sacd player.
A good Electrician will clear up their mess after they made it.
I bought a PowerIgel, and I preferred my Grahams Hydra in terms of SQ, so I soon sold it.
I found it very hard to dress the cables, which sprout from the aluminium casing of the PowerIgel.