thor power filter Thor B8F Smart Filter 8 way Surge Protection $70ea!!! + other Thor bits cheap

[Guest vagabond]

15 hours ago, Syrot said:

I always find these comments interesting and how they start? Any decent power filter will not 'choke' any product including  power amps, they just clean the noise, spikes,  ripple sitting upon the incoming AC waveform.  Unless someone has decided to build in a massive resistive  circuit into  the power board you are not going to see any drop in delivered current or voltage.  If you believe your power amp will get chocked from this device then you should consider the path the energy you are using is getting to us via our power distribution network.  Power companies don't use 99.99999% crystal aligned oxygen free copper cables.

 

I am just bummed I paid $70 four months ago for mine thinking it was bargain and stock would run out.  Now at $30 you cant go wrong.  

Simply based on actual user reports on this thread and others. Maybe "choked" is not a technical term but it seems to describe the reports accuately. If you don't like it then choose your own adjective.

Edited November 12, 2019 by vagabond

[Guest Muon N']

Is it possible the distortion from the mains supply adds something to perceived dynamics when the power board is not used?

If the power board is not a limiting factor this is all I can theoretically think of.

 

Mine should be here tomorrow unless Aus' Post wants to transport via back of a Tortoise, like they do sometimes.

 

Be interesting what subjective differences I find, if any.

[Guest Muon N']

Is this loss in dynamics only with higher power amps, or is it evident with amps regardless of power output?

[Ittaku]

11 hours ago, Muon N' said:

Is this loss in dynamics only with higher power amps, or is it evident with amps regardless of power output?

It is conceivable that with a power amplifier that biases towards class B, or is class D, that the current draw fluctuations required to output more power are not met with a concomitant linear increase in current and/or voltage drop through such a power board, thus leading to a "sag" like phenomenon. A class A amplifier with voltage regulation on the other hand, or AB amplifier that spends virtually all its time in class A should not behave any differently. Whether the magnitude of the sag is significant enough to alter amplifier output or not I cannot say, but at the very least there is a potential mechanism for it.

[surprisetech]

53 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

It is conceivable that with a power amplifier that biases towards class B, or is class D, that the current draw fluctuations required to output more power are not met with a concomitant linear increase in current and/or voltage drop through such a power board, thus leading to a "sag" like phenomenon. A class A amplifier with voltage regulation on the other hand, or AB amplifier that spends virtually all its time in class A should not behave any differently. Whether the magnitude of the sag is significant enough to alter amplifier output or not I cannot say, but at the very least there is a potential mechanism for it.

Maybe; IF the amp's power supply filter caps &/or transformer are inadequate or the caps are dying. AND it was a very cheap and nasty, or worn out, powerboard, that might be conceivable.

However, I can't see anything in these power boards that could contribute to that effect.  Any static or dynamic resistance/impedance to 50Hz mains current contributed by these powerboards is insignificant compared to that contributed by the equipment's own power cable, internal wiring, PCB tracks, etc.

[buddyev]

Received 2 today - very quick delivery.

Cant hear any sonic difference but at least its a lot tidier than the cheapo ones they replace.

[buddyev]

Anyone know if there any benefit in using the ethernet ports before my Ultrarendu or is it just adding extra cable? 

 

[Telecine]

1 minute ago, buddyev said:

Anyone know if there any benefit in using the ethernet ports before my Ultrarendu or is it just adding extra cable? 

 

Waste of time and cable I think, with some potential to introduce problems that you don’t currently have.

[buddyev]

8 minutes ago, Telecine said:

Waste of time and cable I think, with some potential to introduce problems that you don’t currently have.

Ta, Tele. Thats what I figured

[Ittaku]

13 minutes ago, buddyev said:

Anyone know if there any benefit in using the ethernet ports before my Ultrarendu or is it just adding extra cable?

 

Circuit isolation according to the product blurb. It's only a bit of ethernet cable, I say give it a go?

[buddyev]

2 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

 

Circuit isolation according to the product blurb. It's only a bit of ethernet cable, I say give it a go?

I will try it. Suffering from NBN trauma for past 2 weeks so I'm reluctant to fiddle with anything that's actually working!  

[rantan]

 

I received mine today and FWIW, (if anything ) I have a few impressions.

 

I did a non rigorous,but good enough, blind test between my existing Isotek Polaris Evo power board and the Thor.

 

I chose 3 tracks from an album I know very well and before I left the room, I asked my wife to plug the gear into one of the boards, both of  which were concealed from my sight. Once this was done, I came back to the room and sat in the same listening position,with the amplifier's volume control untouched from where I had previously set it.

The process was then repeated with the gear attached to the second power board,with NO changes to anything. On both occasions I was not aware of which board was in use.

 

The result of my crude,but good enough for me, testing was that the Polaris was somewhat better with greater clarity and much better imaging. In comparison, the Thor sounded slightly rolled off at both ends of the spectrum.

I wasn't a night and day difference but it was there and noticeable, so I am keeping my Polaris for the audio system and my wife will use the Thor for the gaming and TV room, so everyone is happy.

 

To any of the rigorous ABX double blind advocates out there, I concede this is not ,in anyway definitive, but it was/is as far as I am prepared to go and as far as bias is concerned, I had none and approached the exercise with an open mind.

 

I would actually have been very happy for the Thor to be better, then I could have sold the Polaris for several hundred bucks, but it was not and the status quo remains.

 

Make of this what you will.

 

Cheers.

[RussB]

@rantan, that’s interesting thanks.  Can you pls clarify if you had all or some of your hifi components plugged into these boards as part of this test.  If the latter, which components were involved in test?

[rantan]

4 hours ago, RussB said:

@rantan, that’s interesting thanks.  Can you pls clarify if you had all or some of your hifi components plugged into these boards as part of this test.  If the latter, which components were involved in test?

My whole system ( which is uncomplicated ) was plugged into each board under test, in this case, meaning a turntable, integrated amplifier, and a CD player.

 

I went out of my way to ensure that nothing changed, no cable changes, no volume changes, the same three tracks, the same listening position and of course, the same speakers ( even though I have three pairs )

 

Frankly, I wanted the Thor to be as good or better because I could then have sold the Isotek Polaris and put the money to an upcoming project,but there was sufficient difference in favour or the Isotek for the staus quo to remain, so I will be keeping the Isotek.

 

One caveat to this is that ,when I bought mine, several years back, it was on special and crucially, the AUD exchange rate was for more favourable than it is now, so the board was significantly cheaper ( by a factor of almost 50%) so if I were buying now I would just grab the Thor and be very happy.

[Guest Muon N']

I'm interested in how the Thor compares to a normal unfiltered outlet board.

 

I'll never be able to afford a Isotek Polaris 

 

Still an interesting comparison.

[rantan]

50 minutes ago, Muon N' said:

 

 

I'll never be able to afford a Isotek Polaris 

 

 

At the Current RRP of $700, I would never purchase one in the first place. As per my previous post ,mine cost me about half that much.

[Guest Muon N']

I could only get this Thor as it was 30 bucks, granted i have also ordered 2 of the two plug types and 2 of the four plug ones.

[LGW1]

On 13/11/2019 at 11:07 AM, Ittaku said:

 

So assuming I plug in all my audio components on this board, I'm wondering which components should I group /plug together seeing as there's 2 separately isolated AC banks (4 outlets per bank). Would it be best to plug my preamp and poweramp in one set and my laptop, and DAC in the other? or maybe pre, laptop and DAC in one and have the power amp on its own? Opinions? 

[Cameron Miller]

4 hours ago, LGW1 said:

So assuming I plug in all my audio components on this board, I'm wondering which components should I group /plug together seeing as there's 2 separately isolated AC banks (4 outlets per bank). Would it be best to plug my preamp and poweramp in one set and my laptop, and DAC in the other? or maybe pre, laptop and DAC in one and have the power amp on its own? Opinions? 

Have a look at the plugs of your equipment, you will find some don't have earth pins. You will probably find that the power amp is the only one in that lot that gets earthed so it's not going to make a huge difference. 

 

Power amp and sub would benefit from separate rails but I doubt there would be much difference for the rest. 

 

I would separate the power amp to everything else anyway though 

[Guest Muon N']

OK, some boards arrived.

 

Using the Smart 8 on my computer set up and the Dell 24" screen's image is slightly improved, colours a little more vibrant.

Using a Thor Duo with my Amp and CD Player, and the sound is cleaner and what ya' might subjectively call more refined, but also a tad less weight, or maybe it's less bloom if you like.

 

Edit: the more I listen the more I think It's an absence of some bloom that gives the presentation the impression of being less weighty or dynamic.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Muon N'

[Guest Muon N']

Maybe they need to burn in a bit

[Ittaku]

I put my components in one by one into the power board and listened unblinded (I usually only test blinded after I think I've heard a difference unblinded.) I even got the spare power cords I have for my power amps (that normally have 20A connectors on the end) to be able to plug them in to regular 10A sockets and tried them in the power board as well. As per usual with power related changes in my system, I heard no perceptible change to the audio quality.

[chu]

42 minutes ago, Muon N' said:

Maybe they need to burn in a bit

Maybe. Last week I plugged everything - source, DAC, preamp and amp - to this board  and had to take them off almost immediately. The trial not even lasted one song.

[Guest Muon N']

1 hour ago, Ittaku said:

I put my components in one by one into the power board and listened unblinded (I usually only test blinded after I think I've heard a difference unblinded.) I even got the spare power cords I have for my power amps (that normally have 20A connectors on the end) to be able to plug them in to regular 10A sockets and tried them in the power board as well. As per usual with power related changes in my system, I heard no perceptible change to the audio quality.

Definite difference with the sound in my set up, and this is just with the Duo.

 

Although the previous board was a generic switch type with no filtering nor surge protection.

 

Edit: power cables are of the standard computer jug plug types, but maybe I will get lucky and snag some fancy ones in that comp'

Edited November 18, 2019 by Muon N'

[Cameron Miller]

I have been listening to my system with the thor for about 2 weeks now and I believe I even stated it made no difference. 

Plugged back into a no name strip for the amp section and night and day difference. The thor sucks the dynamics out of the Amps. 

 

Highly recommended it for dacs, preamps etc but power amps benefit from not being fed by thor