Tacima Plug-In Mains Conditioner, Black

I’ll try to be brief. This was purchased to eliminate RF, EMI & UHF interference from a HiFi system. It’s an old Naim set up. The power amp has always hummed away merrily in our present house & I decided to ‘have a go’ at reducing/eliminating that. Theoretically it’s stressing the capacitors etc... Also, I have a power unit feeding the pre-amp & my guess is that it is also stressed, which stresses the pre-amp. This may be all rubbish – but hey, what does the attempt cost. Well, actually, quite a lot. However, a lot less than buying expensive gear. Okay, to this unit. I have fitted ferrite beads of two different types to cover the range of frequencies to all the power cables – in more than one place. I also have an inexpensive clipper socket that ‘eliminates surges’ – that reduced the buzz by about 50%. The ferrite beads took it down further. All this did actually improve the system’s sound quality – I have to admit I didn’t really expect that to happen. Anyhow, to the effect of this Tacima plug in. My whole system is fed from a single socket - no fuse in the plug: each unit has its own fuse. This leaves a spare female three point socket: the Tacima is in there. The Naim power amp is now almost silent – just a light hum. Okay, as to the quality of sound. Naim systems rely mainly on the pre-amp for quality (I understand): difficult as it is to believe - & this has happened several times over the years – the sound-stage of the system has increased. Previously it filled the small room – it was as though an orchestra was at the far end of the study. Now, it is as though the sound-stage is much larger than the study – the walls aren’t there. Also there is a greater clarity, but also gentleness of sound. All this from de-stressing the power, pre amps, and record deck. Seriously, don’t listen to the nay-sayers: it is a bit pricey to do the lot, but it will set your HiFi system free to do its stuff. I will not be upgrading from the Tacima plug in any time soon: but remember, though it is a surge eliminator I have a secondary one in-line as well, between the mains & the amps: Tacima multi-sockets are not supposed to be used in that way. So don’t. Good luck.

I’ve used this device on and off for several months and have regrettably come to the conclusion it has no effect whatsoever in my circumstances. I have a 50 year old home in England that has slightly iffy electrics.. at first, I convinced myself it had a slight but beneficial effect on the soundstage of my speakers but numerous with/without tests since then have made me realise it is useless.I have learned something though: you can convince yourself about anything where your precious hifi is concerned!The same firm’s series power strip adapter is another thing though! That really works.

This was used with a tacima Mains conditioner. Two of these were ordered and used in 2 separate systems: 1. B&W 606 + marantz 8005, 2. MA Silver 5.1 + Sony STR-DN1080.With the 1st system I noticed how the mid range and upper bass was lifted. It added even more richness and punch to the sound track. However it also took away a lot of clarity and transparency which made the audio very focused, and muddy.With the 2nd system the mid range wasn't an issue however the surround effects were subdued. Transparency & sibilance were lost. Although this added more punch to the subwoofer the loss of clarity was non-negotiable.The product itself works as intended. Each system will have a different result. Systems with a coarse/harsh treble and thin mid range may benefit from this. Its down to the listener to determine what's acceptable.

Does seem to clean up the mains interference so less hash and lower noise floor.

I know what you're thinking, 'how can that actually make a difference?' I know. But it does.I first tried the Tacima 6-way extension cable, which dropped the noise but shaved off high-end detail and kinda fudged the attack a bit. This little plug-in dealy does the good, better, with possibly nine of the bad (possibly - I'll get back to this).It may be in that I have a noisy electric supply - old building, 8m of extension cable running up to my amp (CXA61) - but heck, the drop in the noise floor when I shlepped this into the socket next to the amp at the end of that run.... You know how sometimes people say, "I did this thing and I heard things I'd never heard before?" Well this did that.It's kinda weird really, the drop in noise you didn't know you were hearing. Busy sections have become much more clear and enjoyable, and there seems to be more space in the soundstage. Vocals are more clear and defined, less hissy.But that noise was also masking deficiencies in some recordings it may seem, and I've frowned at my speakers a couple of times. Also, hearing subtle lines in the background of textures I'd not heard before in tracks I thought I otherwise really knew has been quite surprising.The final possible con, the "possibly" I said earlier. Noting that I can't imagine a way this would throttle the power like the extension cable did, I have to still acknowledge there seems to be a tiny apparent loss of attack. Tiny, but it's there. Since it can't possibly be limiting the power in, I have to assume it is actually just highlighting the fact that I'm not running £100k equipment and that I need to stop hunting perfection and just enjoy my darn music.So, all in all, I HIGHLY recommend this product. At least try it, return it if it doesn't match up. For under fifty quid it brought a significant upgrade to my system (Bluesound Node2i running Tidal, Marantz CD6006UKed, Cambridge Audio CXA61, B&W606 and decent connections throughout). Try it.