Trichord 500VA powerblock

A friend in Portugal is selling one of these so I've borrowed it to test it out in my system to see if I want to buy it off him or not. They have been highly recommended by various people on the forum.

For those who don't know it's basically a 500VA toroidal isolation transformer with 2 mains sockets.

http://www.trichordresearch.com/powerblocks.html



...they are obviously avaiable in a version with European "Schuko" sockets which is the one I'm testing out. Inside it really is nothing more than a toroidal transformer - no filters or anything else. For the price they sell for new (£315) I think it's a little bit steep personally. I believe the Ben Duncan mains conditioners are identical allthough I don't know how much they cost.

I've been testing it today running my DAC and transport off it going back and forth from using and not using it and to be honest I really can't tell any difference at all, at least no difference that I couldn't be sure I wasn't imagining. There was perhaps the slightest hint of a crisper more detailed treble but if I really wasn't imagining it then it was the most subtle of subtle differences and certainly not worth paying good money for.

Incidentally, I use Olson "SoundFantastic" mains distribution blocks which already have "RFI filter, earthline choke, transient suppressor" but I tried running the Trichord off the Olson and straight out of the wall and heard no difference either (which possibly says more about the Olson blocks than the Trichord ).

I also tried running just my amp off the Trichord and again, no difference. One thing that's just occured to me which I haven't yet tried is to plug the Olson board into the Trichord and so have everything running off it but given my experiences with it so far I doubt that setup will yield different results.

I was surprised by the results I have to say since others swear by the Trichord powerblocks and have noticed "huge" differences. Not for me though. Maybe I just have a very good mains supply

BTW, the current owner went as far as testing the unit with a scope (at his house) and the results show that it definitely does remove nearly all traces of noise off the mains and he did notice an effect in his system (which is totally different to mine). The changes however were that it made the presentation more forward and in your face. A recent speaker cable change made this effect a bit too much which is why he's getting rid of it. So, even in a system where it was doing something measurable the result wasn't better, just different.

In short, definitely system and "location" dependant so listen before buying if you're considering one.

Michael.

 

but how much is he asking?

 

350 Euros

Michael.

 

just FYI, apparently, they are the same as a company called smartlight, who do some amps.
If you have a look in sound on sound magazine, in smiths, they are in there...see the similarity, may be cheaper, too.

 

Do you rate the Olson block Michael? It sound's like you're saying the Trichord has the same effect as the Olson, but I'm not sure if you've found this to bring an improvement or not .

Cheers,

Martin

 

Re: Re: Trichord 500VA powerblock

TBH, I don't know. I needed some distribution blocks and wanted to go for something a bit better (quality, construction etc) than your 6 way gang from B&Q. The Olsons are pretty cheap (for a "hifi" mains block) and had been recommended by others so I just ordered them and plugged them in. I didn't bother to do any specific before/after testing but I also didn't notice any obvious change when I first started using them so again, I would have to say that the Olsons make no difference at all on the face of it. Might try a few tracks this evening without them to see if I notice anything.

One thing I am happy about with the Olsons is that they have surge protection built in. We have power cuts here more often than in the UK and I always leave everything switched on so it's nice to know that when the power comes back after a cut the surge will be kept from my kit

In short, Olson mainly make no-nonsense quality blocks for industrial/commercial/computer use and their SoundFantastic versions I'm pretty sure are just the same thing painted black. Do they improve the sound? Not that I've noticed. Are they a quality mains block that will protect the equipment from mains surges? Definitely

Michael.

 

Michael,

I've got 3 1KVA Ben Duncans and one of the 500 VA units. As I'm sure you know they're more or less the same as the Trichords.

My experience with them has been interesting:

1. At home, where I'm not in a position to 'do' the mains, they work well - the TV picture is better, dialogue's better and music is marginally better too.

2. At work, with 2.5mm spurs and an old Crabtree consumer unit, they also worked - more detail, more realism to notes and therefore to instruments without noticably squashing dynamics - partly, I presume, because I have crap mains downstream with welders and compressors in occasional use.

3. Then I went to 10mm spurs and the Memera consumer unit. This changed things somewhat: The Ben Duncans now markedly squashed the dynamics when fronting the power amp (this was confirmed elsewhere where the BD also ruined the timing on some tracks). On the CDP the BD is a mixed blessing - slightly less dynamic but the virtues of clarity, detail, proper notes, left intact. The BD has no discernable effect on the P75 phono stage relative to a 6mm spur. The BD seems to marginally improve the TT when its plugged into it.

The BDs at work are hard wired at the back with 10mm T&E and at the front with Eupen mains leads (apart from the P75 which needs a plug-in wall wart).

Put simply, given the costs, my advice would be this:

Use the Trichords or BDs if you plug straight into a normal domestic ring main, particularly for AV use. Use at least the 1KVA unit for anything that draws significant current.

If you are in a position to add the Memera unit and 10mm T&E spurs do those instead, or, if you're quite round earth by nature, do both.

Alex

 

I have never found them to squash dynamics at all, quite the reverse in fact.

 

Tone, what is the mains arrangement at WM towers?

I ask because I would have said the same pre 10mm. I now understand Paul Ranson's proclamation that the use of these conditioners and the RKR approach may be opposites. It took me 2 years to buy fully into the RKR lowest impedence method. Nothing is more dynamic than this approach but the BDs bring other virtues to the party.

Also, given my situation, common sense told me that the RKR appraoch would at best give me only a 5% degradation of the incoming supply; but what if that supply was variable and of general poor quality? Well, don't ask me why, but the benefits of big spurs, hard-wiring and fuse dispensation are very plain. Sure, the system is still somewhat dependent on the mains quality but, strangely, the BDs do nothing to change this - the system still sounds better on a Sunday, no matter what happened on the Saturday.

Alex

 

Alex, Wm runs 10mm but non seperate spurs, at work here we have a room with 2 sets of wiring one with fully seperate isolated mains, the others set stock, I have no loss of dynamics with either set of spurs.
I can't say It doesn't have an effect in every example because I just don't know, although every where we've taken it, it's not failed to make an impact, but that doesn't mean it ever won't
The units I brought round you listened to arn't stock as you know, and before the thermal trip went, you heard the difference for yourself.
I would say, they don't repair shite mains, the just remove the common mode grunge, if you wish to remove all the HF shite, you need to look else where. and as you say, if the voltage is low, or just pain corrupted, it won't wave a wand over it.
If your looking for ultiamte mains the a regenerator may well be the answer, but I have found one yet that doesn't squash the dynamics.
WE built a test rig for just this purpose last year measuring mains from various soucres at various times of the day over a 6 month period, some of the results were very interesting in the least Wm

 

Tone,

Tests and ears have shown a big improvement when going from 6mm - 10mm. There's not much logic to this since the amp rating of both should be plenty high enough. Yet it happens. Sticking a Ben Duncan on the end of a 10mm spur seems to create a bottle-neck - I think they're rated at 10 amps but the thermal switch may only be rated a 6 amps. Its difficult to make an exact prognosis since the DVs are being serviced. I'll report back.

I know you wave a wand over these things and I did indeed hear the differences - on 2.5mm spurs, just as I heard a difference on 2.5mm spurs with the Ben Duncans - Here at least, the 10mm changes things a bit.


Alex

 

Alex, I'm glad you gone the mains route , a lot of people are sceptical, however I feel It's the first thing to be done.
A lot of things in hifi we 'buck the trend' however I'm a great believer in too much is not enough, so the 10mm wire dia, fits well into my train of thoughts.
The digital amps we use are extremely effeicent (90%+) so the current draw is much less, than conventional A/B amps would use to produce the same DB level, also they maybe more surceptable to mide range shite than others .
I can realistical say we use power conditioners (not trichord) here at work & the work pretty well to.
Maybe a passive method might remove those nasties the other gear doesn't Tone

 

Amazes me how you would fit 2 10mm^2 T&E in to socket terminals
A single socket on a spur OK
But a spur circuit????

 

Micheal,

Just a thought, perhaps as you are fully 'eupened up' perhaps you already filtering out a lot of the rubbish so that the trichord doesnt really take much more out.

Have you tried it with/without using stock equipment leads (just as an experiment, I'm not advocating keeping it that way)

You may already know, but I dont use a trichord in my system as I feel the kimbers/superpurifier do enough.

Robbo

 

I think you might be right Robbo. The Olsons and the Eupens all round might be lessening the impact of the Trichord. I suppose I could try it with some stock leads but TBH I can't really be bothered.

I tried it today on the TV (which has a stock lead) and didn't notice any difference there either.

One thing that might make mains here better is that there are no switches on the sockets or fuses in the plugs so maybe a more direct connection? Probably total bollox though

Michael.

 

I am fully Eupened up too - all results are with Eupens (since WM's lead for the HX1.2 is not used until the amp gets back).

If using 10mm (or 6 for that matter) much better to hard wire with choc blocks and dispense with plugs and sockets altogether - so long as you have appropriate protection at the consumer unit.

 

I use a 500VA Trichord (ex WM, with some mods) and Eupens, and should be adding an olson at the weekend.

I certainly find that the trichord does help, even beyond the eupens. The amp responds to it reasonably well... For a given volume setting it does seem dynamically squashed compared to not using it, but turn it up a bit to compensate, and what I find is that although the amp now requires a higher volume setting for the same apparent output level, everything is clearer... it reduces the fuzz and haziness.

When I get my next amp, the 500VA won't be enough (so it will stay on for the sources, and a 1000VA will be dedicated to the new amp).

 

It is probably because some kit responds more to mains conditioning than others. The Eclipse hardly responds at all to conditioning (maybe due to very good power supply regulation?) and my valve amp has a captive power lead, so I have no idea about that, but when I put a trichord block into the system the changes were insignificant IMO.

 

I'll stick my hand up here then! Although I've yet to go down the spurs route, it does appeal and makes sense to me. I think the spurs and mains conditioners approaches are complementary. Spurs or a dedicated spur at the very least appeal for one reason alone, lower impedence. Also it ties in very nicely of minimising connections i.e. think of a household ring main and the number of interconnections therein.

The Ben Duncan and Trichord products do something the separate spurs don't do, filter out common mode noise. Erm, yes they lower the noise floor, so yeah OK you coud say that they're round qualities. But in my system I've also found they tighten up and improve the timing too.

Although I have to say, I don't use the Trichord on my power amp either as I also find it squashes the dynamics. After a bit of a search though I have found somethng else which I use with the power amp (my amp's not a digital/PWM amp unlike WM's) which does the noise floor lowering stuff without squashing dynamics recently though so that was very :banana: .

I think Isaac has a very good point though with regards removal of hash (the noise floor thang). I've often wondered if a certain amount of "hash" in the signal is responsible/required by some for the drive and life that some prefer. I did actually use my power amp straight from the wall specifically for the more gritty presentation that most mains conditioners seem to rob in comparison. I did an interesting comparison last night where by I compared the new mains conditoner I'd just bought against the Trichord using the CD playing hardware as the item to be tested... Initially I thought things were better with the new device with a rock track, it was more forward, more drive, more presence and verve... Switching to an accoustic track with more silences between the notes, I noticed that there was more grain and sensed that listening would probably soon become fatiguing in the long term - so for that track the Trichord was prefered.

 

Henry, the noise floor is very simple to drop.