It's important to choose components that work well together as a system. Equally vital is the attention paid to detail when installing a system - getting the speakers firmly anchored and so on. But even the best components and installation guarantee nothing; the sound might still disappoint if the quality of the mains supply is poor. Hence the interest in mains filters and purification devices. The goal is not just better sound, but more consistent results.
I tested the American Power Wedge a while back, and was impressed with the way it improved clarity and detail. When it finally went back to the importer, my system sounded noticeably more contained and less holographic. If I'd had the cash to spare, I'd certainly have bought one...
So a big welcome to the Power Block from Trichord Research. At £299 plus carriage it's not expensive, but still quite a bit cheaper than most of it's rivals. You can run as many components off it as you want, providing you stay within it's 500VA power rating.
Technically, the Power Block is similar to Trichord's Pure Power conditioner; it's just smaller, lighter and cheaper. The idea was to provide something more affordable without compromising performance. Essentially it aims to reduce most types of mains noise - especially common mode noise and DC components that hi-fi kit finds especially difficult to deal with.
My system runs off an eight-way Kimber mains distribution block that plugs into a wall socket. So I simply removed the mains plug from the wall socket and plugged it into the Power Block. Keeping all the system settings the same, I made back-to-back comparison with a movement from one of Hayden's Paris symphonies conducted by Sir Neville Mariner on Philips - a CD I'd just bought.
First impressions (without Power Block) were favourable - the sound seemed clean, open, and nicely dynamic. With Power Block in circuit, the sound seemed to grow richer and deeper tonally, with a more dynamic 'out of the box' presentation.
Volume levels were untouched, yet subjectively the music seemed slightly louder, which ties in with the more holographic 'projected' presentation. At the same time, the sound was slightly cleaner and more refined - it wasn't louder in an over-forceful or unpleasant sense.
Those with unlimited financial resources could have individual Power Blocks for each component. Isolation between the individual items would be greatly improved, so mains noise from digital components wouldn't interfere with the analogue side of things. But it's one thing to deal with noise at source. What about the possibility of noise generated by the components themselves?
Trichord's Graham Fowler is considering making a more elaborate version that would offer a number of individually isolated mains outlets, rather like the bigger Power Wedge models. It'll be interesting to see how much improvement it gives, and whether the increased cost is justified over the basic model.
That's for the future. In the meantime, a single Power Block is still capable of making a sizeable improvement on it's own. But much depends on the quality of your mains, and that's likely to vary according to the time of day and even the day of the week - the weekends (Sunday in particular) often being the time when the mains quality is cleanest.
In most cases I'd expect Power Block to produce an improvement in sound quality allied to increased consistency. The dirtier the mains, the bigger the difference. A more objective way to assess whether or not Power Block's making a difference is to listen to the noise (if any) made by the mains transformers in your equipment. For example, if your power amps mains transformer buzzes at certain times of the day, it's a sign there's some DC on the mains.
If DC is causing transformer buzz, Power Block should eliminate it completely as it's an isolation transformer. The Catch-22 is the Power Block itself may buzz! Equally, it may be your amp has transformers that are intrinsically noisy (my EAR 859 integrated is like this), in which case the Power Block won't make any difference.
I've good reason to believe my house has reasonably pure mains. Nevertheless, Power Block made a noticeable improvement to the sound of my system. In situations where the mains is dirty, the difference with and without should be much bigger still.
Since purchasing a Power Block is slightly speculative, Trichord offers it on a money-back basis. This is one you have to try for yourself - hearing it somewhere else (or reading a review) is no alternative to experiencing the effect in your own home. Only after an audition of a week or so will you know if consistency improves. If you feel it makes no difference, return the Power Block withn 14 days and you'll get a refund minus carriage. Sounds fair to me!
Jimmy Hughes - Hi Fi Choice October 1999
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