Mains Extension Blocks - Review - March 2005

System
Dedicated 30A mains spur
3 x Phonosophie silver powercords
Phonosophie Classic rack 2B TGS with 2 Q Boards
Phonosophie Impuls 2 CD player
Phonosophie Power Control 2 power supply
Phonosophie Bi-Amp 1-4 with SBL active X-over module
Naim SBL (active) loudspeakers
4 x 5m Phonosophie LS2 speaker cable
1 x Phonosophie PK3 DD44 Mk2 powerconnect cable
1 x Phonosophie PK2 DD55 interconnect cable
1 x Artkustik Room Animator

Music

Artist

Title

Format

Catalogue number

Kathleen Edwards

Back to me

CD

ZOE 01143-1047-2

Ben Harper

The will to live

CD

Virgin 7243-8-44178-2

The Blue Nile

High

CD

Sanctuary SANCD285

Joe Satriani

S.M.F.

CD

Relativity 01-481102-2

Products reviewed

1. Robert Dyas 6x13A power-strip £5

2. True Colours Industries Super Constrictor 8x13A £420

3. True Colours Industries Constrictor 6x13A £190

4. Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 4x13A £145

5. Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 Hardlink 4x13A £275

6. Black Rhodium Polar Crusader DCT+ Hardlink 4x13A £725

7. Russ Andrews 8x13A PowerBlock & Reference PowerKord £350

8. Russ Andrews PowerBlock/PowerKord with The Silencer £390

9. Russ Andrews PowerBlock/PowerKord with The Mini Purifier £499

10. Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 Hardlink + The Mini Purifier £424

Review format

The format of this review was driven by the fact that we wanted to compare a number of similar products in the context of an established system. We listened to one or two tracks using a particular mains product and then replayed the same tracks having changed to a different mains block configuration. The numbers shown below in the Listening notes correspond to the product number shown above and indicate which mains blocks were being compared at each stage.

Conclusions were drawn by comparing adjacent configurations initially and then finally by direct comparison of the two combinations we preferred from the whole group.

Listening notes

1. -> 2.    After an initial system warm-up with Ben Harper’s “Will to live” using the budget Robert Dyas mains extension, changing to the TCI Super Constrictor resulted in an overall improvement in terms of control and musicality - as would be expected from a £5 to £420 upgrade. The sound became more detailed with incisive guitar and smoothly flowing bass lines and this change served to confirm that there is little point in compromising a quality system with a budget mains extension block.

2. -> 3.    Changing from the TCI Super Constrictor to the Constrictor was interesting. On Kathleen Edwards “Back to me” the female vocal was portrayed as smoothly as using the Super Constrictor but, to our surprise, the less expensive Constrictor delivered a much better rhythmic punch - to bass lines in particular. Overall the music had greater coherence. If choosing between the two, we would both have opted to save £230 and benefit from improved sound in the process.

3. -> 4.    The standard Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 block sounded quite similar to the TCI Constrictor. There was perhaps marginally less bass extension on Harper’s opening track “Faded” but at £145 it was judged to be very good value for money.

4. -> 5.    Next up was the Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 Hardlink block which has polished rhodium plated contacts on both the distribution block and the excellent Supergrip plug. This change was very revealing indeed. Far more dynamic than the non-plated version, the Hardlink provided better transient punch, much more note definition with a superior bass extension. On the superbly performed “S.M.F.” from Joe Satriani’s eponymous cd, the system at last started to deliver some real menace, particularly on the interplay between Satriani’s lead guitar and Manu Katche’s explosive drumming. This is an excellent album and a good system really provides insight into the subtle interaction between the musicians as well as the power they generate. As you can probably tell, we both liked this album a lot.

5. -> 6.    Changing to the deep cryogenically treated Black Rhodium Polar Crusader DCT+ Hardlink produced a sound which we both perceived to be smoother overall but at the expense of dynamics. The musical presentation was more recessed than the Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 Hardlink, particularly at the lower end, with less note shape evident. Satriani’s band sounded as if they had recorded a more laid-back version of “S.M.F.” in comparison with excitement of their earlier performance. Our recommendation here was to save £450 and choose the less expensively cabled version.

6. -> 7.    Changing to the Russ Andrews PowerBlock resulted in a good balance between detail and dynamics. This block immediately sounded louder than its predecessors, but without losing any of the fine detail. If anything, more could be heard, in particular a sweet portrayal of treble on Kathleen Edwards “Back to me” and an ability to convey the aggression of Ben Harper’s “Faded”.

7. -> 8.    Rather surprisingly we both agreed that adding the Russ Andrews Silencer caused a reduction in the sound quality, when plugged in as recommended to one of the 13A sockets on the PowerBlock nearest the IEC connection of the Reference PowerKord. The sound became more recessed and less involving.
April 2005 update:

Following the review we discussed this with Russ Andrews and sent The Silencer back to be tested. Although no fault was found, a new replacement item was supplied . When re-running the listening session with the new Silencer, we found there to be a slight improvement which was audible as a increase in detail, less high frequency grain and a marginal improvement in bass depth. We concluded that the Silencer is capable of producing an improvement commensurate with its low cost of £39.95.

7. -> 9.    Substituting the Russ Andrews MiniPurifier for the Silencer resulted in a distinct improvement over the basic RA PowerBlock. In particular, the talk-back from the control room on Ben Harper’s “I want to be ready” could be more clearly heard with the Mini Purifier in circuit. The sheer weight of the plucked guitar and drum beats at the start of The Blue Nile’s “Soul boy” was delivered with extra-ordinary power through the active SBLs using this Russ Andrews mains configuration.

5. -> 10.    As a final comparison, we checked the effect of adding the RA Mini Purifier to the BR Hardlink block. Again we both heard a step forward in the system using the Mini Purifier, with additional detail apparent through a slight reduction in RFI mains noise breakthrough. We felt however that the RA/BR combination was just a fraction short of the detail revealed through the RA/RA combination.

Conclusion

We agreed that mains blocks make a huge difference, although it became clear that retail price is not necessarily a reliable guide to performance.

The preferred blocks were the Black Rhodium Super Mains 25 Hardlink 4x13A (£275)
and the Russ Andrews 8x13A PowerBlock with Reference PowerKord (3 ft) (£350).

These two blocks were very similar in their presentation of the (exclusively CD) source material - both delivered a dynamic sound, rich in detail and with sufficient transient ability to respond to heavily struck drums and powerful bass lines. Both blocks benefited from the addition of the Russ Andrews Mini Purifier through the positive effect of having less noise interference on the mains circuit. Interestingly this was quite evident despite the fact that a separate mains spur was used throughout the tests.

We were in agreement that the Russ Andrews PowerBlock had the edge in delivering a more defined treble, more width and depth to the soundstage and a clearly increased volume level for identical amplifier settings. Its only disadvantage was that it is rather bulkier than the Black Rhodium trailing socket block and so may be less acceptable where space constraints exist or greater portability is required. There was perhaps a little more texture to the overall sound using the Black Rhodium block, but this was almost imperceptible and was certainly less significant than the advantages gained through the Russ Andrews block.