Balanced Power Supply

[Anonymous]

Septicman:Would buying one of these do away with the "need" to buy PSX-R's to go with my Cyrus amp & CD?

I'm not sure, had a cyrus PSX/ 6 combo years ago, very nice but with a slightly forward presentation. Did upgrades to it with Kimber Cable internal wiring, shoctky diodes, by passing the caps etc, nice enough but not amazing.

Knowing what I know nowadays would sort out the Mains supply 1st before doing anything else.

So a decent isolation transformer is the ideal step to take. IMHO ( Not being qualified in any way )

 

[Anonymous]

trevor79:

You have found a viable solution to sourcing the BT Units for folk and you should take a bow.

Thats done it....my back has gone

Glad to be of help.

 

[bretty]

Please excuse the ignorance, but I see the unit has only two plug sockets.

Would I be able to plug my eight way extension into the unit to feed my components and still see/hear the benefit?

 

[Anonymous]

Yes...thats what I have done. I use one socket for the amp and the other for all the other bits connected by a 5 way socket.. You can load it up to 1.5KW which is about 4 times more than I use even with everything switched on at the same time.

 

[True Blue]

Cyril Mason:Andrew Everard:
Cyril, that's your cue.

Cyril? Cyril???

Take five, everyone. Someone go and check Cyril's trailer and see where he is...

I can't work out what it's supposed to do.

"Power balancing equipment is just a 1:1 mains power
isolation transformer, with a center tap to ground, so that
you have two legs of AC which are 180' out of phase with respect to one
another (with respect to ground), so that your ground currents cancel out."

The center tap is also situated at the center of the output voltage
swing.

That's the key in a balanced power system.

Balanced power is not high tech stuff. (for a man of your calibre)

 

[bretty]

raym87:Yes...thats what I have done. I use one socket for the amp and the other for all the other bits connected by a 5 way socket.. You can load it up to 1.5KW which is about 4 times more than I use even with everything switched on at the same time.

Brilliant. Thanks Ray. I'll be getting me one of those, then!

 

[aliEnRIK]

trevor79:The 1500va unit should handle all the current demands of your system OK, but for what little extra the 2000va costs I would buy that.

Not having auditioned either of these products I can't say how they compare, but the price difference is huge!

Years ago I did have a Russ Andrews 3000va feeding 2 Marantz MA6 monoblocks wired with Kimber cable/Roger LS6/Meridian 206/Thornes 160s,Hadcock Arm, MCoil. Modified to hell and back and it was so pure.
At the end I didn't like it, the sound was too revealing and harsh on all but the most perfect recordings.
I took it a step too far. Had the potential, but it had the sound of using pure silver throughout the signal path.

Sorry, I am rambling, but I have had most of a bottle of claret!

For what they cost, worth a punt?

Hi Trev. Im not expecting a definite answer here ~ just your personal thoughts.

I already have an Isotek Sigmas mains conditioner and a Russ Andrews mains socket with earth connection.

Do you think it would be beneficial for me to buy one of the units with sockets on? (Id love the other type actually but I refuse to fit one as im thinking of selling my house within the next year or 2)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, what I would ask 1st is do you find an improvement by using the 16 core braided cable on your set up?

If the answer is yes, I think you will benefit from having a balanced mains transformer and running the Mains through it first.

My supply is now totally clean so whilst I have Classic powerkords (bought years ago) they make no difference at all to the sound.

Hope that helps.

 

[aliEnRIK]

They do actually

Cheers for your input Trev

 

[Anonymous]

aliEnRIK:
[quote user="Do you think it would be beneficial for me to buy one of the units with sockets on? (Id love the other type actually but I refuse to fit one as im thinking of selling my house within the next year or 2)

Why not buy the screw type (without the sockets) and fit your own extension / 4 way or whatever direct to the screw terminals. Then if you decide to move it would be an easy job to swap.

 

[aliEnRIK]

raym87:aliEnRIK:
[quote user="Do you think it would be beneficial for me to buy one of the units with sockets on? (Id love the other type actually but I refuse to fit one as im thinking of selling my house within the next year or 2)

Why not buy the screw type (without the sockets) and fit your own extension / 4 way or whatever direct to the screw terminals. Then if you decide to move it would be an easy job to swap.

Its certainly worth considering

Cheers Ray

 

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of buying one of these units but not much else has been said about it. RayM87 - would you please give your input - has your opinion changed at all?

I noticed another Airlink Power Supply - has anyone any experience with the CBS1500

http://www.airlinktransformers.com/transformer/transformer.asp?refid=668

which costs more but is also a mains conditioner as well as a balanced
power supply. Is this unit a better option and is it
worth it, or are there better purpose built ones at a similar price?

thanks

 

[Anonymous]

The specs for the one you have listed look very similar to the one I bought. The only difference that I can see is that it has 3 sockets instead of 2. Mail Airlink and specifically ask the difference because I cant tell from reading the specs.

My opinion hasnt changed from when I first installed it. Worth the money in my opinion........cant see that view changing any time soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your feedback raym87.

Email has been sent.....it will be interesting to see what they say because the BPS1500 is described as:
1.5 kVA Balanced power conditioner
it makes me wonder why there is a specific conditioner model at considerably higher cost and how they differ technically.

 

[Anonymous]

I would be interested in what they say as well.....like I said the published specs dont show any difference between the 2 except for the plugs..........keep us informed pls

 

[Anonymous]

Forgot to mention....my experience is that they are a bit slow in answering emails......dont worry if it takes a few days.......HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Dear Jason,

Our Conditioning Balanced Power Supplies' CBS1500 and
CBS2000 include a mains filtering component and a level of conditioning using a
varistor.

There many different ideas as to what a main conditioner
provides but our mains conditioner circuit removes transient spikes by using
VDR's (varistors); in addition to the RFI suppression.

The simplest explanation of a mains filter is that the
filter will let the basic 50Hz mins waveform through with the minimum of
attenuation, whilst all other unwanted (usually high) frequencies are
attenuated. The filter acts in two modes: it attenuates differential-mode
(asymmetrical) noise (noise on either the neutral or live) & common-mode
(symmetrical) noise (identical noise on both the neutral & the live).

The electrostatic screen also attenuates high frequency noise
by reducing the capacitance between primary & secondary windings.

The base models in the BPS range have no filtering or
conditioning. They are effectively a centre tap to earth isolating transformer
with 230v in and 230v out. There is labelling issue on the website stating that
the BPS range are conditioning - this will have been rectified by the
time to receive this email.

Thank you for your enquiry and if there is anything else I
can help you with, please contact me.

Kind regards
Conrad
Kenyon

www.airlinktransformers.com

ph
+44 (0)1279 600 139

mbl
+44 (0)7595 3733 92

 

[Anonymous]

ja99son:
The base models in the BPS range have no filtering or
conditioning. They are effectively a centre tap to earth isolating transformer
with 230v in and 230v out. There is labelling issue on the website stating that
the BPS range are conditioning - this will have been rectified by the
time to receive this email.

Not at all happy withh that statement...........

 

[Anonymous]

There has to be some comeback if you have been misled in to buying something.....

trade descriptions perhaps???

 

[Anonymous]

Very interesting discussion. As the BPS models do not have conditioning built in but the CBS models do, does anyone know if the model with built in conditiong would actually improve the sound or could it possibly have a detremintal effect. Would like to buy one based on the positive experiences of forum members and would go for the one with conditioning if Cyril or those with appropriate knowledge could advise. Also my current extension (Sound Fantastic model) has some filtering build in ad does the Takima one I use for the TV etc - is this of any relevance?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Trevor or anyone - got any views on this?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys

A balanced Mains transformer, the higher the RA the better the smoothing and current loading improves the supply by using a centre tap to Earth and putting 115v down the L & N lines. This cancels out the spurious voltage that is on the N feed.

Unless you are using Mains leads on your equipment that effectively deal with RF noise these will still get through.
Russ Andrews wires his units with Kimber cable to deal with this and recommends that his power kords should be used as well.

If I was purchasing one of these units I would go for the one with built in filtering.
Personally I think the design of the BT MTU units is the best I have come across, its a pity that they only do up to 500VA, but that drives my 200w x 7 Onkyo 875 fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Trevor, thanks for your input on these units however you have made me even more curious!!

Are you saying that although the cbs1500 is described as having 'RFI & EMI screening for audio applications' it is still not good enough?

Do you know what the differences between the BT and Airlink units are or can you explain why the BT unit is better designed?

Would you please elaborate a little as to what makes for a good design for this type of unit?

Being ignorant of the way electronics work, I am confused by the power ratings of these units and the requirements of the components....

The CBS1500 is a 1.5kVA unit but it has been mentioned that 2kVA would be a better option....and then you say that you are running seven 200W amps off a 500VA BT unit!!! Have I understood this correctly?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

Sorry to dig up and old thread but wondering if the basic 1.5kA balanced unit would be a good bet to use in my system? Currently connect everything up to a Belkin Powerconsole PF50 so that would help with any filtering/surges but would there be enough headroom to power my Arcam AVR600, 40" LCD, Gemini II sub, 3 disc spinners, Xbox 360S and Freesat and Freeview PVRs?

Thanks

 

[Native_bon]

I did purchase a BT mains conditional 5A/500. Yet 2 use it. i was suppose 2 use it for my Music studio setup. I brought wireworld mians it was so good.. not even bothered 2 try the BT mains conditioner yet.. I suppose its down somewere in the basement. Anyone come across one of these,,?