European power strip

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European power strip

Post by lejonklou »

Power strips can make a difference to the performance of a HiFi system. Their impact isn't exactly big, but in a great sounding system it's easy to hear the difference. Power strips make less of a difference than power cords - the general rule appears to be that the closer you get to the HiFi units, the greater the effect on the sound.

For the European market (the standard called Shuko), I've previously recommended a 6-way strip from Clas Ohlson, which you can read about in the 'Absolute Bargains' thread in the 'HiFi' section.

Now there's an even better one available. It's a simple looking white 5-way block, initially discovered by Karl Ehrenholm at High Fidelity in Stockholm. The cord to the strip is 1m long and sounds slightly better when it runs one way than in the other. The strips come with random direction of the cord, and I've determined the best sounding one by ear (blind test with 100% score favouring the same direction).

I've decided to offer these power strips to my customers in two versions:

1. European 'Shuko' 5-way strip, 1m cord with best sounding direction, live phase marked in both ends, Lejonklou logo to indicate authenticity. Price: 350 SEK or 40 Euro.

2. European 'Shuko' 5-way strip, 1m cord with wrong direction, no phase marking, no logo. Price: 100 SEK or 11 Euro.


At the moment, I have a very limited stock of these strips, but I hope to get more of them soon. There is a risk that the manufacturer suddenly changes the specifications, which might affect sound quality. If that happens, I will report it here.
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Re: European power strip

Post by monkeydevil »

Aha nice! The Kalle Block is good, as well as the Claes Ohlsson one (I have both)
lejonklou wrote: live phase marked in both ends
What does this mean please? Isn't it enough to check the phase in the power cord?
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Post by lejonklou »

That the live phase is marked is just for convenience.

As I've selected the ones with the right direction and marked them with a logo, I thought I'd might as well mark the phase in both ends as well.
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Post by Music Lover »

I hereby place an order on the better one.
Thanks!
It's all about musical understanding!
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Post by Tendaberry »

That's interesting news Fredrik. I hope I'm not hi-jacking this thread (feel free to move my contribution, if you wish), but have you compared it to the one sold by the German Naim distributor, Music Line?
http://www.music-line.biz/shop/product_ ... eiste.html
I've had it for years and it's simply amazing for the money. Also, has anyone heard the new Naim top-of-the-line powerchord?
http://www.music-line.biz/cms/Power-Line.673.0.html
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Post by Music Lover »

Tendaberry wrote:Also, has anyone heard the new Naim top-of-the-line powerchord?
http://www.music-line.biz/cms/Power-Line.673.0.html
Even better, I've compared it with Fredrik's Power One and Linn original.
Power-Line is VERY good compared with most other cables. It has the naim signature (dynamic, lively and fast) but Power One is simply more musical.
Even if I really really liked the sound in the Naim cable, the flow in Fredrik's cable is nothing you can sacrifice.
It's all about musical understanding!
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Post by Tendaberry »

Good, I didn't feel like spending a lot of money on exchanging my beloved Power-Ones!
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Post by lejonklou »

Thomas OK and Paolo have also tried the Powerline. Here are their verdicts: http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtopi ... 6&start=67

I'm not quite sure if I've tried the Music Line power strip. A couple of years ago I borrowed a lot of strips, among them a black plastic power strip from a Naim enthusiast. Might have been that.
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Post by lejonklou »

Bad news!

I got a phone call today. This strip is apparently out of production and the few samples I got were the very last! Talk about bad luck. :cry:

The man claimed this to be a model from the 90's and advised me to order one of their newer models, with a power switch... When asked if they could make another batch, it was negotiatable. But minimum order quantity would be 1000 pcs. I sincerely doubt I need that many and would the new strip be like the old ones? Nobody knows.

As I had already received a number of orders, I will go through what times you emailed/pm:ed them and send the few strips I have to those who showed interest first.

Sorry folks! Seems like the search for the ultimate power strip will have to continue...
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Post by rock&roll »

Music-Line Netzleiste looks interesting, mostly because of it's low cost and no switches, fuses and all things like that, maybe I can test one. They have also much more expensive Powerigel that looks strange at first, but makes perfect sense replacing two contact points between wall socket and mains input on electronic product. As they are Naim distributor in Germany, Music-Line supplies both mains strips with Naim cables. Maybe it's possible to replace Naim stock mains cable used there with Linn version.

Any good looking and good sounding power strip from Fredrik could be very interesting.
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Post by lejonklou »

Welcome to the forum, rock&roll!

I know several people that have tried the original Powerigel and also tried building their own version of it with Power Ones or Volex cables. The results don't seem too impressive, I think almost all of them have returned to using a power strip. But I haven't heard the Powerigel myself.

If you do try it, please tell us what you think of it.
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Post by rock&roll »

I've received today Music Line Powerigel. It is fitted with Naim Audio cables, but in about week or so, I would have an option to listen version made with Linn european mains cable. So I can compare it to any direct-to-wall connection and my current mains distribution block. I've previously tried many regarded as audiophile, like Furutech, Isol8 & Isotek, Supra and Shunyata. They sounded different (in most cases worse), but not better, and many of them had prices that could be invested in source or any other system part and give much better "bang for buck". :wink:
Last edited by rock&roll on 2010-10-28 21:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by lejonklou »

Interesting, R&R.

When you write "They sounded different (in most cases worse), but now better,"

did you mean "but not better"?
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Post by rock&roll »

lejonklou wrote:Interesting, R&R.
When you write "They sounded different (in most cases worse), but now better,"
did you mean "but not better"?
Sorry, my mistake. I've tried various, but all, just all of them sounded worse than the normal cable plugged into wall socket. I'm thinking of replacing my "average" wall mains sockets with Furutech, but I'll need first to focus on PowerIgel.

The only thing that I realized about 15 minutes ago, that the both Kinki and Slipsik phono-stages are not compatible with the PowerIgel. Or better to say that, the PowerIgel is not compatible. :evil: Both PowerIgel and Lejonklou products have mains cable built-in. So I'll need an adaptor... because of rewiring the phono-stage is not an option. I can still use PowerIgel it with Uphorik and Urika to listen to my both LP12s. It's not the same. :wink:
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Post by lejonklou »

True. There are no mains inlets on the small enclosures of KINKI, Slipsik and Kikkin, mainly due to the inlet stealing too much space. Both on the rear plate and inside.

There is also a small sound advantage by directly soldering the power cable inside the units. But it does rule out the PowerIgel as an option for them.
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Post by lejonklou »

I recently had to stock up on power cords (more about them later) and decided to listen through the European distribution blocks I have collected. These are the results:

Best by far is the obsolete strip that I mention in the first post of this thread. I wish I had kept more than two of them...

Second best are two strips: The one from Clas Olsson mentioned in the thread 'Absolute Bargains', which has had a couple of different cords and I have kept the best sounding one. Deltaco GT-126 with cable 'Changtong' with text from plug to strip (thanks to Linnstrom at the Swedish Linn forum!) is also good and difficult to distinguish from the best Clas Olsson. They are not exactly the same, but very close in performance.

Third comes the Biltema strips. Regardless of cord direction, they are worse than the ones above. The cord is also longer and I am noticing a pattern here: The cord to the power strips should preferably be short!

This is not the same as with power cords. They seem to have an optimal length of between 2 and 4 metres, depending on the construction of the cable. Very short is not good at all.
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Post by ThomasOK »

Interesting information. It leads me to a couple of questions (partially because they wouldn't work over here but I would be interested to see if there is something equivalent and how it would compare to my CablePro unit).

Have you opened up any of these units to see how they are built internally? (If so some photos would be ideal.) I ask this because in the US some strips use strips of brass with welded contact blades (and sometimes just holes for the ground) so the only wiring is from the wall to these metal strips (although normally through a switch and circuit breaker). Others, which are generally more expensive, use wiring to separate duplex outlet blocks. I also wonder if you have ever tried replacing the power cable that comes with the outlet strip with one of yours?

Thinking no wiring would be better I have tried using a musical power cable directly connected to the brass strips but I was not happy with the results. I also tried a heavy duty Belkin in a metal chassis from which I removed the surge suppressor, circuit breaker and switch, but I was still not happy. (By the way, Belikn is the US translation of Deltaco.) So far the best strip is the CablePro which has an all aluminum case, good outlets, fancy internal star wiring and an IEC inlet allowing me to use a Linn AC cable. I plan on testing a much more expensive Nordost distribution strip with some interesting features soon and see how it compares. But I am also tempted to buy a machined aluminum enclosure from Hong Kong and try building my own with Linn wiring throughout just to see if it is any better. Hence my interest in whether there are any construction techniques that appear to work better.
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Post by lejonklou »

Short reply, Thomas: I don't believe Belkin and Deltaco are the same. If so, it's rather odd as I've found Belkin parts since way back but Deltaco popped up recently as a name for low cost parts that often seem to be made by someone else.

All the power strips I mention are constructed of thin metal strips and a welded on 1.5 mm2 cable in one end. Please note that standard power cords of 0.75 mm2, 18 awg or 1.0 mm2 don't sound any good in this type of application! I tried a lot of combinations a few years back and my conclusion so far is that the cable going into the power strip should be at least 1.5 mm2. And short.
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Post by ThomasOK »

Interesting, looks like another place for investigation (will it ever end?).

Looking into it (there is actually a pun there) Deltaco in definitely not Belkin. However, for some reason, when you do a Swedish to English translation of Deltaco using Google translate the answer is Belkin! Herdy floopde doo!

Interestingly Deltaco does distribute products by other companies including Belkin. Deltaco was founded in 1991 and has been acquired twice. It is currently owned by Intoi (the weak pun) who bought the parent company in 2005 and launched Deltaco as its own brand in 2007 - hence the more recent appearance. (Isn't it wonderful what you can find out wasting a half hour time googling and surfing the internet?) ;-)
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Post by lunch »

Hey guys. Sorry for posting such a rookie question: is using a power strip superior to plugging gear straight into the wall sockets?
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Post by lejonklou »

lunch wrote:Hey guys. Sorry for posting such a rookie question: is using a power strip superior to plugging gear straight into the wall sockets?
It depends! You have to try it and hear for yourself, because there are so many factors that can affect the outcome.

I've heard newly installed wall sockets that sounded better than plugging the system - part or complete - into the best strip I had. But more often I've come across wall sockets that sound worse than having the entire system on a strip, plugged into the best sounding wall socket.

As we have almost no theory and very few rules in this area, we have to rely on practical listening tests.
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Post by lejonklou »

This is currently the order in which I plug the components into a power strip:

Wall --- POWER STRIP[Preamp, Source1, Source2, Power amp1, Power amp2]

This is not a new idea, I remember we discussed and tested different connection orders back in the 90's. For some reason, my conclusion back then was that the sources should be placed first in the power strip, then preamp and last power amps.

I was wrong. Preamp should go first, then sources and last power amps. I don't know if it works on all systems, but so far it has been a success.

Please try this and report back what you think!
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Post by SaltyDog »

I think you are correct. I just made the switch. It is quite obvious it is different.

I am sort of wondering what preamp you are using. Mine is KK/1/D.
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Post by lejonklou »

Thanks Salty!

I am alternating between two preamps: An original KK and something I can't talk about.
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Post by stefan »

lejonklou wrote:...........
I was wrong. Preamp should go first, then sources and last power amps. I don't know if it works on all systems, but so far it has been a success.

Please try this and report back what you think!
You use Slipsik, Fredrik ? I do. Is that preamp or source ?
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