Continuing on from our previous system optimisation blogs about mains, it is always important to consider one particular type of mains product – the shunt mains filter. The word shunt in electrical terms means it's 'in parallel', and the shunt filter works by allowing high-frequency noise on the live and neutral lines to be shunted to ground whilst leaving the very low frequency power at 50Hz or 60Hz untouched. And of course, there are numerous designs of these shunt filter circuits and a wide range of component quality/cost levels to choose from. So that results in a large range of performance in these different types of filters. And in the rarified air of high-end hifi these differences are audible.
So what does the addition of such a filter do to the sound? Well good ones (like the ones we stock) can often bring improvements to the level of the noise floor and the level of hash – lowering both considerably. Music springs out from a darker background and the sound is smoother and less 'spitty'. Not in a rolled off way tonally, but by the removal of upper-mid and treble hash. And these benefits, particularly in our modern homes full of wifi and the like, can be considerable and therefore the use of such devices can often become a relatively small but key part in good overall system building.
Another important thing about the shunt conditioner is the way it is used. It is simply plugged into a spare mains socket – usually on the distribution block. Firstly it is very cost effective in the fact that you still keep using all the high quality mains leads and distribution bocks that you already own, and secondly that by not making any fundamental changes to your setup, any changes in sound quality that you hear must only be because of the addition of the filter and not that you've changed lots of cabling, connectors and so on (that may also change the sound). In essence you can use a good shunt conditioner to truly evaluate the effectiveness of this type of filtration in your system – simply by unplugging it again you have restored you system exactly back to it's original state.
At Winters Audio we stock two levels of shunt conditioners for you to consider trying. The Noise-Trap at £795 and the Quiescent Peak shunt conditioner at £2,700. Give us a call to discuss which one we would suggest you try.
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