What the experts say...

We sat down with Titan Audio, and asked them 4 very simple questions...

1. Why worry about mains? Surely there is more important upgrades to make?

"Everyone will have their own opinion on what the best upgrade for their system will be, but for us mains was something we didn't feel was being explored enough. We knew there was vast improvements to be made in this area, and everything we tried from other brands didn't meet the expectations that we had. That's where Titan Audio came from, we knew there was more there, just nobody had explored it. Here is a very simple question I ask people when they ask me about Main's and HiFi. "If you owned a Ferrari, would you put dirty, contaminated fuel into it?" Of course not, because you would never get anywhere near the performance that the engine was capable of. Thats exactly the thinking we had about mains in HiFi. Cleaning the mains before it enters your home is almost impossible, so we looked past this, and decided to focus on what you had and how we could clean it up. Once this was cleaned, then we focused on how we could deliver that power to the system, giving it the very best chance to perform to its full potential.  I think for many, thats why they have come round to the idea of mains, they have never truly heard there equipment working anything near what it is capable off. It's almost like riding a race bicycle with the training wheels still on, it works, but you aren't getting anything close to the capabilities of the machine. " 

2. One question we get asked is how can you have more power delivery, surely 240v is 240v? 

"It is commonly misconstrued that voltage is "electricity" and that is where we always find that the confusion lyes. You have to understand there is much more to consider than simply voltage, such as ohms etc... Voltage is essentially like pressure that is pushing electrons through a cable. You can think of it as water flowing through a pipe, the pressure is similar to voltage, as its the pressure that is moving the water through the pipe, similarly it is the voltage that is moving the electrons. In a similar way a transformer is almost like a distribution center, it stores up the voltage and distributes it as and when it is needed. 

For this reason, voltage doesn't mean more power, as voltage is more in relation to the flow of electrons. So yes, you are correct in the assumption that 240v is 240v, but that in itself doesn't explain how a mains cable would perform. Just because there is 240v that doesn't explain the "power delivery" so we are not saying a standard mains cable cant handle 240v, as it can, but that doesn't necessarily explain or change the power delivery to the system. Voltage doesn't effect that, as it is purely the flow of electrons, so its not the complete picture. " 

3. With the Styx block, does it matter which socket you use for particular components? 

"With the Styx block, one thing we wanted to be sure of was that it was hard wired, as we do not like the bus bar set up, for the simple reason that you will lose current the further you go down the block (from the power source) With our set up, you don't lose any current as you go down the block, in theory it doesn't make any difference where you plug the components into the block, as it is the same power delivery from every socket. One thing we would recommend is trying to plug your amplifiers directly into the wall, as this will offer the best possible power delivery, but we would strongly recommend using our dedicated amplifier cables for this. Either way there isn't any problem running your entire system through the block, as you will receive the same current from the first socket, as you get from the last." 

4. With the Styx block, does it matter which socket you use for particular components? 

"With the Styx block, one thing we wanted to be sure of was that it was hard wired, as we do not like the bus bar set up, for the simple reason that you will lose current the further you go down the block (from the power source) With our set up, you don't lose any current as you go down the block, in theory it doesn't make any difference where you plug the components into the block, as it is the same power delivery from every socket. One thing we would recommend is trying to plug your amplifiers directly into the wall, as this will offer the best possible power delivery, but we would strongly recommend using our dedicated amplifier cables for this. Either way there isn't any problem running your entire system through the block, as you will receive the same current from the first socket, as you get from the last."