Mains Blocks & Filters - Black Rhodium
A dedicated mains block (filtered or unfiltered) is the first step in an effective solution for distributing power to your hi-fi or AV system. We always recommend using these in conjunction with high quality mains cables,
The quality of your mains supply is affected by noise, interference and RFI occurring along the many miles of cable running from the power station, through many transformers and from pylons to street cabling. This can include interference from radio and television signals, from telephone antennas and from other cabling, just to name a few causes of interference, with power cables effectively acting as an antenna for RFI.
Even if you run a separate spool from your house mains block to try and counter the effect of household appliances, this is not a solution for the poor quality of the mains that actually comes into your house and into that spool. This will always be the case, unless you have a field of solar panels or wind turbines in the back garden!
Logically, the mains supply for each component provides energy that will eventually result in sound from your system, and thus its common sense to supply your system with the purest quality mains possible. The solution is a dedicated mains filter/block (that will either actively/passively filter the mains supply or regenerate it, depending on the model) and high quality shielded mains cables to carry the quality power supply from mains filter/block to your system without picking up any interference along the way.
We recommend a filtered mains block if you tend to listen to music during the day and/or live in an apartment building or have your hi-fi system on a mains ring shared with other household appliances. In these cases, its more likely your system is being affected by interference from other equipment and a filtered mains solution should be most effective.
If however you listen to music late in the evening, live in a detached house and (ideally) have your system powered by a separate mains ring you have had installed, an unfiltered mains block should be sufficient. You may ask, "why us a mains block at all if its not filtered?". Well, even if you have a good power supply, an unfiltered mains block will still give you the best connection to your power supply as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
For the ideal set-up, use a filtered mains block to carry the power from the wall and a selection of shielded mains cables between the mains block and each hi-fi separate (shielded to ensure they do not pick up any interference inbetween mains block and equipment).
Black Rhodium design and manufacture the majority of their cables in UK creating world leading interconnects and cables designed to improve musical enjoyment. Black Rhodium cables use precious metals, DCT processes and attention to detail to ensure excellent performance both acoustically and visually.
The brand aspires to utilise only materials which are of the highest quality possible. They are one of a select few which use Silicone Rubber insulation for both external and internal insulations, which brings substantial benefits to clarity and timing of your music, as well as helping to reduce vibration effects.
Black Rhodium are amongst only a few revolutionary cable manufacturers to employ DCT (Deep Cryogenic Treatment) processing to their higher-grade cables. Based in Derby, they design and manufacture award-winning cables for audio and audiovisual applications.
Started by Graham Nalty at the beginning of the century, Black Rhodium benefits from his many years of experience in the hi-fi industry. The cables are primarily aimed at the mid to high-end market, with a significant proportion of bespoke products. Their material ethos has cemented their reputation for producing award-winning cables.
Black Rhodium has become a world leader in the use of innovative groundbreaking cables providing solutions for the professional film and music industry. Audio Affair supplies a full range including speaker cables, RCA phono and balanced XLR hifi interconnects, mains power and tonearm cables.
