my DIY John Risch filter review
Hi all,
I built a John Risch filter a couple of months ago and it works very well. I followed the plan on his website and saw Bill's Cave site also. I did use the powdered iron inductors and Mallory caps per the website's advice, but also used some other upgraded parts: a Furutech gold plated IEC, Pass & Seymour nickel plated cryo'd outlets, 12 AWG cryo'd hookup wire inside, some ERS sheet inside, in a small aluminum case, with a cryo'd DIY AC power cord I made following the plans and parts on the VHAudio website.
The filter worked pretty well and made a noticeable difference, for my video system it does improve the picture on my front projector. I later upgraded it twice, first by also adding a small Bybee slipstream filter which feeds directly into the outlet, and then by adding two extra capacitors, .47uF 630V SOLEN fast metallized polypropylene between hot & neutral at the IEC. These are only $1.60USD compared to the Auricaps which have been used for this purpose. Each of these upgrades made a nice difference. Even with the Bybee in previously, adding the two Solen caps made a very good improvement in the video, especially for Directv satellite. For my budget, the Auricaps were a little expensive, but the Solen's helped video very well, and I think are a very good alternative.
The total cost for the filter was around $115USD not including shipping, and not including the AC cord, which was about $55USD. I have tested the filter with a regular stock factory cord and my DIY VHAudio cord is clearly better. I think for the total cost around %170 this is still a bargain considering all the upgraded parts it has.
I also have a standard 15amp Ultimate Outlet, which I leave on my Panasonic L300U front projector and Bravo D1 DVD player using DVI. I use my JR filter on the other side of the living room for my powered subwoofer, home theater receiver, VCR and HDTV receiver for my satellite Directv.
I also modified my Ultimate Outlet, replacing the capacitor with a Blackgate, which did not seem to make a difference. I also replaced the steel jumper with a length of cryo'd copper/teflon wire and replaced the two hot lines out from the balun to the outlet with cryo'd copper/teflon wire, and added some ERS sheet inside. This seemed to make a minor improvement, not too dramatic.
I have swapped the Ultimate Outlet and my DIY JR filter and am hard pressed to tell any difference when they are on the other side of the room. Considering the Ultimate Outlet was twice the cost of my DIY filter, I am very pleased with the JR filter performance.
I would recommend the DIY John Risch filter, it works well and was a fun project.
Hi all,
I built a John Risch filter a couple of months ago and it works very well. I followed the plan on his website and saw Bill's Cave site also. I did use the powdered iron inductors and Mallory caps per the website's advice, but also used some other upgraded parts: a Furutech gold plated IEC, Pass & Seymour nickel plated cryo'd outlets, 12 AWG cryo'd hookup wire inside, some ERS sheet inside, in a small aluminum case, with a cryo'd DIY AC power cord I made following the plans and parts on the VHAudio website.
The filter worked pretty well and made a noticeable difference, for my video system it does improve the picture on my front projector. I later upgraded it twice, first by also adding a small Bybee slipstream filter which feeds directly into the outlet, and then by adding two extra capacitors, .47uF 630V SOLEN fast metallized polypropylene between hot & neutral at the IEC. These are only $1.60USD compared to the Auricaps which have been used for this purpose. Each of these upgrades made a nice difference. Even with the Bybee in previously, adding the two Solen caps made a very good improvement in the video, especially for Directv satellite. For my budget, the Auricaps were a little expensive, but the Solen's helped video very well, and I think are a very good alternative.
The total cost for the filter was around $115USD not including shipping, and not including the AC cord, which was about $55USD. I have tested the filter with a regular stock factory cord and my DIY VHAudio cord is clearly better. I think for the total cost around %170 this is still a bargain considering all the upgraded parts it has.
I also have a standard 15amp Ultimate Outlet, which I leave on my Panasonic L300U front projector and Bravo D1 DVD player using DVI. I use my JR filter on the other side of the living room for my powered subwoofer, home theater receiver, VCR and HDTV receiver for my satellite Directv.
I also modified my Ultimate Outlet, replacing the capacitor with a Blackgate, which did not seem to make a difference. I also replaced the steel jumper with a length of cryo'd copper/teflon wire and replaced the two hot lines out from the balun to the outlet with cryo'd copper/teflon wire, and added some ERS sheet inside. This seemed to make a minor improvement, not too dramatic.
I have swapped the Ultimate Outlet and my DIY JR filter and am hard pressed to tell any difference when they are on the other side of the room. Considering the Ultimate Outlet was twice the cost of my DIY filter, I am very pleased with the JR filter performance.
I would recommend the DIY John Risch filter, it works well and was a fun project.