[Chris Hoff]

While balanced power seems to really work it's magic on audio systems the most, it will improve video as well. Colors become brighter with less bleeding. Picture is sharper with more detail and the blacks are better. Improvements are best if DVD , VCR or satellite box is also on balanced power. Im always testing new units on my video system at home and my 10 year old daughter can always tell if it's in the system or not. It really shows up when your watching cartoons. Sponge Bob rules.

 

[dstroot]

Great review! And Chris, my kids watch Sponge Bob nonstop.

"Are you ready Kids? I can't hear you..." LOL!

 

[jude]

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys. You're being far too kind.

Multiple responses follow:

Tuberoller: Yeah, Chris knows about the review. Hehe. Continents drift faster than I write my reviews.

KShaft: The Power Plants, by most accounts, are very good units too. One day I'll have to get my hands on one to try in my rig for a comparison. I'll wait until I finish my three billion other reviews though.

From what I understand, the Power Plants do output 120v in the 60v/-60v configuration, or at least that's the intent. I've read about a couple of instances where the measured voltage did not match up perfectly (hot-to-ground versus neutral-to-ground), one instance I remember mentioned that the two legs were a few volts different. BPT won't let a BP unit leave their doors if both sides don't measure within 0.1 volt of each other. Balanced power isolators are two totally different beasts. As far as my model choice, I probably could have gone with something smaller. Head-Fi member morphsci had one custom spec'd, and it was quite a bit less expensive than mine. His has two 300VA transformers instead of a 300VA and a 1000VA. That 1000VA one is big and expensive. Call BPT and see what they come up with for your needs and budget. If I had it to do all over again, I'd get one just like morphsci's, as mine is a dedicated headphone rig, so an 8-amp draw is highly unlikely in my rig's lifetime. Another thing to consider is that Power Plants can be expensive to run -- they draw a lot of power even at idle (if I understand them correctly).

BenG: BPT balanced power isolators come in a wide variety of configurations, and, depending on the model you select, can handle between 2.5 amps and 20 amps.

Thanks again, guys, for the nice comments.

 

[kelly]

Jude,

I had a few questions remaining about this thing. As some of you know, my apartment's rf noise and electrical problems are among my chief complaints.

First, power usage. You said that the first intake sucks enough power to trip your circuit breaker. What does this thing do continuously? In other words, let's say I have the BP-3 hooked up and not much being powered by it -- just your standard audio component standby/ready lights and VCR clocks. Is my meter going to be spinning out of control because it's cleaning power it doesn't need to use? This was one of my big concerns with the power generators--I hoped balanced power would be different until I read what you said here.

Second, you said you got the BP-3 because you wanted isolation. What are the benefits of isolation if the BP performs its job of cleaning accurately? I thought the purpose of isolating components was to keep noise (and especially ground loop) out. If the BPs clean up all of the noise anyway, regardless of where it was generated, I don't understand what benefit isolation provides.

Third, and finally a more specific question. You have the Headroom Max which is known for having an absolute dead quiet presentation all the way up to its max volume position. That said, you seem to be someone who would benefit the least from a device like the BP units. Do you happen to have another amp around? From what I've seen, tube amps particularly have a good amount of noise introduced that is fairly audible with no music playing and the volume in the max position. Will the BP reduce this noise or can I expect that this particular type of noise is caused strictly by the internal electronics of the amp?

Thanks a lot, Jude. Your opinions are invaluable.

 

[DarkAngel]

Kelly
I have a similar concern that I would want to check with company if I was buying besides power consumption costs (these can add up over a few years! PS Audio power plants require 2 watts to make 1 clean watt) and that is the big "surge" when powering up Jude describes..............what if I have it on with equipment powered up and power in my area briefly goes off (which it does
fairly often as evidenced by blinking readouts/clocks that need to be reset when I come home from work) can my equipment be damaged by the surge of the BPT at the power up?

 

[morphsci]

BPT units are balanced power units not power regenerators like the PS Audio power plants. The initial surge is merely that, an initial surge energizing the transformer coils. There is very little power usage from the unit itself as long as no equipment is drawing power. My unit is a dual 300VA unit. I have not had a problem with any tripping breakers. Since I have had my unit, we have lost power three times and only on one occasion was I able to unplug everything before power resumed. As far as isolation, in my case I wanted complete isolation of my CD/SACD player and my preamp/amps. I therefore plug my Sony 333 and Teac tuner into outlets on one transformer and my McCormack MID and ASL Waves into outlets on the other transformer. This isolates the amps and preamps from any digital hash being generated by the Sony. In actuallity it was more important with my old Rotel than with the Sony.

 

[Chris Hoff]

No, your equipment can not be damaged at start-up from the surge. The surge occurs between the primary side of the transformer and the AC wall outlet. Your equipment is totally isolated from this on the secondary side. The power surge at plug-in was (and I do mean was) a fact of our larger transformers at plug-in. We are in the midst of a change to a much higher quality transformer with a different design that reduces the initial surge to less than half of previous models. We now have these available in our BP-2.5 and will soon be available for the BP-2, BP-1 and BP-3.