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Filter Buying Guide

Tuesday, 1st May 2018


Want to know what all our different filters do and how to choose which one to buy? Follow our Filter Guide to find out...

The Silencer mains filter
A quick guide to using our filters

Some of you ask "what's the difference between all the mains filters we have in the range?" Should I go for an AbZorber or a PowerPurifier? What's the difference between the Clarity Mains and the Mains Zapperator?

The key thing to understand is that each of the plug-in mains conditioners we offer do a specific job. You can - and should - use all of them in your system to get the very best sound quality. We appreciate that not everyone can go out and buy all of them at once, so here's our suggestion for which conditioners to fit in which order so you upgrade your system in the most cost-effective and best way.
 
Conditioners or filters?
You may be wondering whether you need to use a filter or conditioner; well don’t worry – they are the same thing! Some people refer to "mains conditioning" and some to "mains filtering" to describe the process of addressing various forms of mains noise. For this reason, we use both terms interchangeably.

Step 1. Silencers, Mini Purifiers and PowerPurifier

The core mains conditioners in our range are the Silencer, the Mini Purifier and the PowerPurifier. These are all wide-band mains filters, designed to reduce mains noise and harmonics on the power supply, gaining in performance and effectiveness as you move up the range. We recommend you fit these filters first.

The Mini Purifier and PowerPurifier are both designed to plug in as close to your system as possible, creating a ‘quiet area’ around components. The Silencer can also be used in this way but can often be more effective plugged in next to sources of noise such as fridge/freezers, washing machines, computers, mobile phone chargers, etc.

The Silencer and Mini Purifier are single purpose filters with added spike and surge abilities whereas the PowerPurifier has the facility to add numerous other conditioners, such as Zapperators and Clarity Mains – see the product details below for more information on each model.


Step 2. Zap those high frequencies 

Our experience has shown that the very high frequencies which computers and their peripherals operate at, have a detrimental effect on musicality. This is not helped by the additional high frequency RFI generated by local Wi-Fi networks and ‘ethernet-over-mains’ devices.

Our Mains Zapperator is designed specifically to target these frequencies, so once you've fitted our mains filters, augment their effect with these. Mains Zapperators are designed to be fitted close to things such as your computer, your modem/router, wireless printers and so on. You can also use them close to your system to shield it from the negative effects of Wi-Fi networks.


Step 3. Bringing more clarity

Clarity Mains, and the more powerful Clarity-4 and Clarity-8 units are worth fitting next. The modules that feature in all the Clarity units are developed for us by a US company and employ what they refer to as Coherence Technology which aims to reduce noise in the ground plane of a circuit.

We find that the Clarity units are very effective at delivering increased resolution, detail and… clarity. Use them close to your system and, like the Mini Purifiers and PowerPurifier, plug them into a spare socket in the extension feeding your Hi-Fi or Home Cinema.


Step 4. Spikes and surges

Our mains filters - the Silencer, Mini Purifier and PowerPurifier - all incorporate our unique 'SuperClamps' to protect your system from sound-degrading mains spikes. These can also be supplemented with our most powerful MegaClamps – units whose origins go back to providing protection for mobile phone transmission masts! Although these products offer good protection against damage to your equipment, their primary function is to rid it of the audio-degrading effects of regular spike and surge activity that plagues your mains supply.

See spike and surge products

Whereas SuperClamps and MegaClamps work on spikes and surges over approx. 340V, The AbZorber provides filtering for the residue of this activity within the normal mains voltage of 240V. To our knowledge, there is no other product on the market able to achieve this.

There is no hard and fast rule as to when to add an AbZorber into your system as the benefits can be had at any time. We would normally recommend fitting the more general filters first, such as the Silencers, Purifiers and Mains Zapperators, as these deal with the sort of mains problems that are the most common. But, as I say, there are no hard and fast rules and your system will benefit from the AbZorber at any stage.



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The Silencer mains filterThe Silencer™
The Silencer is the first in our range of power conditioners and is a compact device which can be used either close to your system or near to sources of noise such as fridges, freezers, battery chargers, and so on. Because of this, Silencers can be used as a single filter next to your system or combined in multiples around the house.

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE SILENCER


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The Mini Purifier
The Mini Purifier™

The Mini Purifier has been designed to efficiently remove degrading mains noise. It works passively, meaning that they have none of the drawbacks of some other mains filters - drawbacks such as loss of musicality and reduced dynamic range. It is a broadband filter, effective at filtering over a wide frequency range. 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE MINI PURIFIER


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The PowerPurifier™
Power Purifier
The intelligent, modular design of the PowerPurifier™ makes it really easy to incorporate most of our power conditioners in a single, convenient box that is plugged in close to your Hi-Fi or Home Cinema.

The core model delivers highly effective broadband power conditioning thanks to its UltraPurifier™ filter and SuperClamp™ surge protection. But now you can tailor your PowerPurifier by adding extra filtering as and when your budget allows simply by fitting additional plug-in modules.

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE POWERPURIFIER


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Mains ZapperatorThe Mains Zapperator™

With the proliferation of wireless computer networks (not just in our own homes, but also our neighbours') and ethernet-over-mains (again, even from neighbours), Mains Zapperators are designed to specifically target the noise these devices can put onto the mains supply. Due to the complexity of Radio Frequency Interference, it's worth experimenting with the location and quantity of Mains Zapperators to find the best effect.

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE MAINS ZAPPERATOR


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Clarity MainsThe ClarityMains™

The ClarityMains is a power conditioner utilising a type of technology called Coherence Technology. ClarityMains works in a different way to our other power conditioners (such as the Silencer and the Mains Zapperator ): we recommend using the ClarityMains once you have fitted our other power filters. Plug ClarityMains into an unused socket, close to your Hi-Fi system. 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE CLARITY MAINS



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The AbZorber™
The AbZorber
Designed by Ben Duncan, The AbZorber is a type of mains filter that works to reduce the effects of spike activity and noise within normal mains voltages - something that, until this product, we had never been able to achieve before. And because the AbZorber technology is unique, it can be used either on it's own or alongside our other power conditioners.

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE ABZORBER


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Clarity 4The Clarity-4 and 8™

Clarity-4 is an enhanced version of our ClarityMains plug-in conditioner, using four of the ClarityMains modules for better performance and saving money, space and sockets. Our Clarity-8 combines eight of the modules for best performance. We spent a long time testing combinations of the Clarity Mains modules and found two key factors: a. they work even better when wired in series ( e.g. Clarity-4 works more effectively than 4 x Clarity Mains), and b. they work best in combinations of four and eight. 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE CLARITY 4 & 8


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The Symphony™ and Symphony Pro™.

SymphonySymphony and Symphony Pro have now replaced our popular Clarity Pro units. Not really a mains filter or conditioner in the traditional sense, these 'enhancers' are small boxes designed to sit close to your system and reduce the effect of stray electromagnetic fields. The manufacturers tell us that by generating their own, lower-frequency field, the devices effectively ‘tune’ the RF noise to improve fidelity - and our own listening tests proved to us just how effective they are!

There are two new Symphony models – the standard Symphony which features four coils, and the Symphony Pro which has six (by contrast, both versions of the older Clarity Pro had just three).


CLICK HERE TO BUY SYMPHONY & SYMPHONY PRO

 

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