I want to by a new TV and want some advice

[Deleted User]

I've invested good money in hardware to sit between the mains and my guitar amplifier to remove the associated hum that you can get in places where the electrics are less than ideal. Has this made a difference, probably, can I tell, probably not. Is it worth the protection from electrical spikes of £4,000 worth of amplifiers, yes. Apart from that, I don't go and buy super expensive cables for anything past that point, it's overkill especially since cables have a very short lifespan when they're not treated well.

Marty_J

That's pretty interesting; actually, I would love to try out everything you suggest, and if I ever get the chance, I'll jump at it.

But I'm sure you understand my assertion that our senses are easily fooled, especially when one thinks something is going to be better.

Case in point: my fiancee has HD cable, but her HD has never worked properly. The cable guy told her it was her TV's HD input that wasn't working and there was nothing he could do. I didn't want to accept this, so after some fiddling, I managed to get it to work; turns out there's a menu for changing the display resolution that is accessed when the cable box is in standby. Anyway, I got very excited and jumped up and down and said "I got the HD to work", everyone came running iin, I turned it on, and everyone cooed at how good the picture was and what a big improvement it made.

But you guessed it, it wasn't on an HD channel yet. Everyone just thought it looked better because they thought it should.

Something to think about perhaps, but I will try out some expensive mains cables (or power conditioners) if I get a chance.

Marty_J

anewhope wrote: »

I've invested good money in hardware to sit between the mains and my guitar amplifier to remove the associated hum that you can get in places where the electrics are less than ideal. Has this made a difference, probably, can I tell, probably not. Is it worth the protection from electrical spikes of £4,000 worth of amplifiers, yes. Apart from that, I don't go and buy super expensive cables for anything past that point, it's overkill especially since cables have a very short lifespan when they're not treated well.

Sounds like a ground loop to me. Removing it will definitely make a big difference. Single-coil pickups also pickup a lot of unwanted EMI; dimmer switches are the worst.

aliEnRIK

Hi Anewhope

I completely understand where your coming from. But a guitar setup is hardly 'hifi', so it IS highly doubtful you could tell a difference. Its a bit like feeding a 40watt bulb with solid silver armoured cable. Is it brighter? probably. Could I tell? probably not........

I use an Isotek Sigmas myself to both 'condition' the mains supply, and to protect all my equipment
http://www.isoteksystems.com/sigmas.asp

[Deleted User]

Marty_J wrote: »

Sounds like a ground loop to me. Removing it will definitely make a big difference. single-coil pickups also pickup a lot of unwanted EMI.

Single coils, pfft

aliEnRIK

I understand your viewpoint Marty. Completely in fact.
I admit I HAVE been fooled in the past. But over time im no ones fool
(Which is why I ALWAYS test things 'over time'. Not just plug them in and expect instant results)
For the record, not EVERYTHING ive done has ended well. I tried a MERLIN mains cable for example. That was c*ap on the amp. Made it 'tinny' with a distinct lack of bass.
I was convinced upscaled material would be better than using my tvs scaler. No, my tv is FAR better than both my dvd player and my ps3 at upscaling (Though I am expecting a new pioneer dvd player anyday soon which SHOULD be better than my tv at upscaling)
Trust me mate. When I say theres a difference, I mean there is a difference for a FACT. Not just me bein a numpty taken in by all the BS.

Marty_J

aliEnRIK wrote: »

But a guitar setup is hardly 'hifi', so it IS highly doubtful you could tell a difference.

I'm not sure about that; I have a handmade valve amp which is all point to point wiring. There's not a circuit board in sight. You'd pay a lot of money to buy an amplifier like that.

I understand your viewpoint Marty. Completely in fact.
I admit I HAVE been fooled in the past. But over time im no ones fool
(Which is why I ALWAYS test things 'over time'. Not just plug them in and expect instant results)
For the record, not EVERYTHING ive done has ended well. I tried a MERLIN mains cable for example. That was c*ap on the amp. Made it 'tinny' with a distinct lack of bass.
I was convinced upscaled material would be better than using my tvs scaler. No, my tv is FAR better than both my dvd player and my ps3 at upscaling (Though I am expecting a new pioneer dvd player anyday soon which SHOULD be better than my tv at upscaling)
Trust me mate. When I say theres a difference, I mean there is a difference for a FACT. Not just me bein a numpty taken in by all the BS.

I'm not saying you're a numpty, I just don't have as much faith in our senses as you do. There's a really old trick for when you're mixing music, and the people you're mixing for insist on being there to give you the benefit of their "wisdom". When you've got everything perfect and they insist on the guitars being louder, or the kick drum having more bass, you just reach over to an unused channel and turn a knob or slide a fader. Even better is to point at an unused channel and get them to do it themselves. They always manage to make it sound better, and sagely nod in a satisfied manner, even though they aren't making any difference whatsoever...:p

Marty_J

anewhope wrote: »

Single coils, pfft

Stratocaster all the way!

bingo_bango

Marty_J wrote: »

I'm not saying you're a numpty, I just don't have as much faith in our senses as you do. There's a really old trick for when you're mixing music, and the people you're mixing for insist on being there to give you the benefit of their "wisdom". When you've got everything perfect and they insist on the guitars being louder, or the kick drum having more bass, you just reach over to an unused channel and turn a knob or slide a fader. Even better is to point at an unused channel and get them to do it themselves. They always manage to make it sound better, and sagely nod in a satisfied manner, even though they aren't making any difference whatsoever...:p

He he.... had this about a year ago.Was running a small mono PA for a quiet folk type group. The keyboard player asked me to pan the stereo channels (I had given him two DIs for show as he insisted on them) which of course I duly did, or so he thought.
As with above, he listened for a minute or two and then professed that this was a far better mix. I swear I nearly exploded laughing in his face. AND he's been playing professionally for over 30 years.

The amount of times I've moved the fader on an empty channel.......;)

[Deleted User]

Sounds typical, everyone wants their instrument louder all of the time and louder than everything else heading into the mixer. I've probably been very guilty of it myself, but I trust whoever's on the desk because they can hear how the sound is bouncing around the room. It's a bit awkward if you're doing vocals if you can't hear that well, otherwise you start to strain just to hear yourself.

It depends Rik, as soon as you take an amplifier from a stage environment and into a studio then you become completely obsessed in getting the tone absolutely perfect so the finished product sounds as good as can be. There's a whole lotta other things that affect tone other than that, but everything contributes.