Modify/Tweak Monster Cable HTS-2500 conditioner?
A better power cord will definitely help--and if you add a Highwire Wirewrap tuning device ($25) you'll get even better results. Bluenose reported using a Wirewrap with his monster conditioner. DeKay has also reported modifying his Monster conditioners. Thw Wirewrap is a very copst effective tweak which will benefit all your components hooked to the line conditioner... |
Also how about treating all internal connections with (is it TPT or TCP?) contact enhancer, followed by a good contact cleaner. Just read about this stuff in the new Music Direct catalog which arrived yesterday. Perhaps add in some Shakti Onlines as well? Add some spike footers underneath, & some antiresonant chassis treatment to the inside cover panels (Dynamat, Carmolin, or any of the numerous other similar self-adhesive vibration-damping products). Some of this may be overkill; just throwing out some ideas... |
The Wirewrap is effective and Bob is right on about lifting the power bar and placing "something" under it. I believe bricks are good, especially combined with something else[modeling clay or blue tac works]. I now use a cro'd VD extension cord on the monster cord[and it works big time]. But I run the amp directly into the wall[Sean is spot on there.] |
Thanks so much for the great responses! Sean, I am plugging the amp directly into the wall. For kicks I did try plugging the amp in the "AMP" port but the sound somehow became harsh up top, flatter and the quality of the bass dropped off noticably! I now have the preamp plugged into the "A/V Reciever" I believe it is called port with less filtering and so far prefer it slightly, as it seems a trace smoother, dynamic and still has a silent background and improved imaging. I still have a very small buzz that I can hear from the speakers if my ear is 3" or less from the speakers, which worsens with the TV plugged in anywhere in the house or even the Monster conditioner, which is driving me nuts! It's very minor and probably wouldn't bug most people but I know I should be able to get rid of this static. I will try the P/C swap, the wrap, contact treatment and some dampening material to see what happens. Thanks again for the ideas. |
Perhaps some cryo'd Hubbell outlets like the ones from Virtual Dynamics would be a good choice. they have some 15 amp units that are not too bad at around $35 and are run on a cable cooker for some burn in.(cryo seems to need a long burn in otherwise)Maybe just replace one or two to start for your critical components? make sure you get one for the wall it is plugged into! |
Socrates: Have you verified that all of your gear is wired to the correct polarity ? Try taking a look at this thread regarding AC noise, hum and polarity before dumping a lot of time and money into what might amount to nothing. Personally, i found the 2500 to work quite well at lowering the noise floor and cleaning up the overall presentation, but i also noticed a small reduction of "liquidity" and increased "sterility" within the system. Swapping to an Adcom PLC brought back some of the musicality but also raised the noise floor and let "transient pops" from light switches and the fridge kicking on right through the system and into the speakers. Obviously, i was looking for something in-between the two extremes. Switching over to individual iron core isolation transformers pretty much gave me the best of both worlds, but is nowhere near as convenient or neat in appearance. I'm working on building a "one chassis" device to alleviate some of the clutter. I am still using the 2500 in some of my systems but intend to replace them as the opportunity arises. Having said that, i also tried three of the lower scale Monster PLC's. Two models, which are basically identical yet have different model numbers, actually introduced noise into the system. As such, they found their way into my "parts bin" to be dismembered at random. The 2000 seems to work along the same lines as the 2500 ( give or take ) but "creates more wire clutter" due to it's layout with less over-all filtering capacity. I have not done any side by side comparisons between the 2500 and 2000, so don't know if one is more "liquid" or "veiled" than the other. However, i do know that both are quite good at filtering out the mass majority of line noise and transient surges. As such, i can recommend them if one is having problems with either of the above with the caveat's mentioned above. If i was going to modify a 2500, i would start by replacing the line cord to a model of ones' choice. I personally prefer a line cord with very low inductance and high capacitance of more than ample gauge. If you are using the device for line level gear only, shielding could also be beneficial. I would avoid shielding a power cord for amplifiers as i have yet to run across a commercial model that does so in what i consder to be the "most correct" manner. I have also found some connections within the device that were not up to snuff. This is typical of ALL mass produced items that i've seen. As such, i would re-flow all of the existing connections with a high quality solder. The important thing is to properly heat the joint and THEN flow the solder into the connection. Globbing more solder on top of ( rather bonding with ) existing connections does nothing but make a sloppy mess. Other than that, one might try replacing the outlets with models of your own choice, but that would be a last resort as it is somewhat labor intensive. Then again, re-soldering the entire board is pretty labor intensive, so you could probably do everything ( power cord, outlets and reflowing the board ) all at once and be done with it. Sean > |
Socrates: If the TV and other electric stuff at home are disturbing, you might just for kicks try some ferrite chokes in the ofending appliance power cord. Also if you feel safe doing more evolved DIY look for some directions on capacitor filters that could be used to improve this situation. I also have tweaked monster HTS 2000, changed power cord, played with cone/spikes now on bearings , internally have dampened, stiffened circuit boards....next is wire changing and resoldering as Sean suggests All previous mentioned tweaks have improved performance Regards Luis |
