BT mains conditioner

[admin_exported]

First of all an apology for nabbing another one off Ebay tonight. I needed it to run all my system
through them.
Finished now, the 1st one made such a big improvement to the depth, clarity and detail of the music.

Well worth getting one if you can.

 

[JoelSim]

What are they listed as?

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:
What are they listed as?

ÿ

That was my next question...

 

[daveh75]

i would assume it's the bt mcu-250 that were used on phone systems(pabx's etc) that trev is using. could be wrong though,

oh, an iirc they're a hefty old lump and only have 2 sockets so you'd need a few for your whole system

 

[grdunn123]

trevor79:First of all an apology for nabbing another one off Ebay tonight. I needed it to run all my system through them. Finished now, the 1st one made such a big improvement to the depth, clarity and detail of the music. Well worth getting one if you can.Is it this?? Bt Mains conditionong unit 5A/250 3 socket

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, that's one of them. I got a 2 socket one with a 500va transformer for £31 !

 

[JoelSim]

Not interested, I'd rather pay way over the odds for a branded one. At least then I'll be able to dream nice dreams...

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:
Not interested, I'd rather pay way over the odds for a branded one. At least then I'll be able to dream nice dreams...

ÿ

Nothing wrong with BT as a brand, am very fond of Russ Andrews stuff, he has put me onto some really good upgrades/tweaks over the years. But his similar mains unit costs over £800!

Hearing how good the difference is with my own ears, I cannot fault the BT version.

 

[DistortedVision]

Speaking of which does anyone know if Isotek are still trading? So much for the 25 years warranty on the Orion that I bought a couple of months ago.

JoelSim:

Not interested, I'd rather pay way over the odds for a branded one. At least then I'll be able to dream nice dreams...

 

[JoelSim]

I'm in the same position with a kung fu panda thing I bought for £1.60 from Woolworths today. What if it goes wrong or some paint flakes off or something.ÿ

Concerned from North London

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

• I can never seem to find the BT Units on Ebay
  

 

[Anonymous]

Update
Collected it up this afternoon and was delighted to discover it is a mcu-500. Got it home and have been running it along with a MTU-125 which now runs my whole system.

A nice leap from the TV and Sony 970DVD, PS3 in depth of picture / music detail / 3 dimensionality / quicker handshake and remote control responsiveness. (The musical performance through the AV amp and sub was done on the 1st unit)
Also noticed that my Russ Andrews mains leads didn't make any difference to the standard ones!

Thank you BT / EBay, can't believe the improvement for spending just £65.

 

[Anonymous]

Had to switch about on connecting the units.

First had to put 13A fuses in the plugs (replacing 5A and 10A).

Use the 125va unit to feed the MA RSW12 sub.
The 500va twin plug unit:-

Plug 1 for the Onkyo 875.

Plug 2 TV, PS3, Sony RDR970.

All running smoothly, it has had the similer effect as running PSX units on everything. Music off the 970 hard drive is sublime.

Certainly think we will be seeing more and more HD based music systems being used as a future trend. The latest news from Meridian today could be ground breaking, on high end systems as well!

 

[the record spot]

trevor79:First of all an apology for nabbing another one off Ebay tonight. I needed it to run all my system
through them.
Finished now, the 1st one made such a big improvement to the depth, clarity and detail of the music.

Well worth getting one if you can.

On the strength of your comments and a strong review elsewhere on the web, I picked one of these up just now on Ebay. 5A/250 BT MCU. A good price; they had offers, but with five already down against it, it made more sense to cough up on the BIN than faff about trying to save a couple of quid.

One little thing; to modify it from 5A to 13A for audio purposes - does this mean lifting off the lid and sorting out the electricals inside? Pardon the dumb question, but I don't want to short circuit the street...!

 

[daveh75]

out of interest, what are they being listed under on fleabay.done numerous searches with no results

 

[the record spot]

I got lucky I think Dave; mine was listed as a BT mains "conditionong" unit. £56 all in including P&P for a 3-socket version, but having spent that (and more) on some cables that have left me colder than a fortnight on Orkney in January, it's money well spent (if the reports I've read are right)!

I didn't want to mess around with bids that probably had reached the low £30s so just grabbed the BIN.

EDIT: There's a one socket model on there now - £29.99 + P&P.

 

[daveh75]

think you must of, still cant see any! i remember using them on my old bt days to clean up noise/prevent spiking on pabx's and iirc they did the job very well, so i think you may hear a significant improvement

 

[Gerrardasnails]

the record spot:I got lucky I think Dave; mine was listed as a BT mains "conditionong" unit. £56 all in including P&P for a 3-socket version, but having spent that (and more) on some cables that have left me colder than a fortnight on Orkney in January, it's money well spent (if the reports I've read are right)!

I didn't want to mess around with bids that probably had reached the low £30s so just grabbed the BIN.

EDIT: There's a one socket model on there now - £29.99 + P&P.

What are the dimensions for these things? They look big - where would you hide them??

 

[the record spot]

Luckily, we have space. There's a decent sized gap where it could slot. I don't think it'll be that big - substantial maybe, but not the size of a subwoofer. Then again, I might have a bit of explaining to do if it is...!

 

[daveh75]

iirc, their about 10x8x7 inches thats w,d,h and they're quite heavy coz of the mains transformer

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:trevor79:First of all an apology for nabbing another one off Ebay tonight. I needed it to run all my system
through them.
Finished now, the 1st one made such a big improvement to the depth, clarity and detail of the music.

Well worth getting one if you can.

On the strength of your comments and a strong review elsewhere on the web, I picked one of these up just now on Ebay. 5A/250 BT MCU. A good price; they had offers, but with five already down against it, it made more sense to cough up on the BIN than faff about trying to save a couple of quid.

One little thing; to modify it from 5A to 13A for audio purposes - does this mean lifting off the lid and sorting out the electricals inside? Pardon the dumb question, but I don't want to short circuit the street...!

No, just change the fuse in the plug, the unit is sealed with pop rivets so you can't get inside.
(not that it would stop me if I wanted to)
The unit will handle surges way above 13A and has an internal overload circuit breaker that resets itself when it has cooled down. You will soon find out if you push too much ampage through it as it will cut out on you. With these units being so cheap it makes sense to buy enough to feed your system properly.

Let us know how you find the difference.

 

[Anonymous]

trevor79:the record spot:trevor79:First of all an apology for nabbing another one off Ebay tonight. I needed it to run all my system
through them.
Finished now, the 1st one made such a big improvement to the depth, clarity and detail of the music.

Well worth getting one if you can.

On the strength of your comments and a strong review elsewhere on the web, I picked one of these up just now on Ebay. 5A/250 BT MCU. A good price; they had offers, but with five already down against it, it made more sense to cough up on the BIN than faff about trying to save a couple of quid.

One little thing; to modify it from 5A to 13A for audio purposes - does this mean lifting off the lid and sorting out the electricals inside? Pardon the dumb question, but I don't want to short circuit the street...!

No, just change the fuse in the plug, the unit is sealed with pop rivets so you can't get inside.
(not that it would stop me if I wanted to)
The unit will handle surges way above 13A and has an internal overload circuit breaker that resets itself when it has cooled down. You will soon find out if you push too much ampage through it as it will cut out on you. With these units being so cheap it makes sense to buy enough to feed your system properly.

Let us know how you find the difference.

A cautionary note. Modifying it for higher current rating can't be achieved by just swapping fuses. The IR drop on a fuse is negligible. If it's cutting out you are loading it more than it's designed for plus lowering the peak power output at the same time. Are you really sure it improves anything? It's hard to see how it can.

 

[the record spot]

A review I spotted earlier...

http://www.hi-fi-insight.com/bt-mains-conditioning-filters.html

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Up, its you again.

I wonder, can you see daylight?
For some one who has his head so far up his ar.. that he has formed such posted views again, and again, and again without using his ears to arrive at his conclusions posted. Or are you just gunning for a fight?

The 'current' loading on this BT equipment is mainly dictated by the mains fuse, which is applied to the original use put. Therefore one could find a even a 2A fuse in the plug!

Obviously not suited to a higher amp loading of Hi Fi equipment. The design of these power units with the various rated transformers, chokes, capacitors, circuit breakers was done for reliability and to protect whatever came down the mains, including lightening strikes!

These units are so over engineered they just do there job, and if a big surge comes down the mains they will shut off, reset, then carry on as before!
So don't overload them past 13A peak, just buy another one and split the load!

As to the difference they make, buy one, along with a BIG slice of humble pie and enjoy your musical experience.

Regards etc

 

[the record spot]

In my case, the 3 socket unit will have my amp and CD player (as in my signature line) and a DVD player connected. The latter is usually on standby, but when we play a film how will this affect things? Presumably not greatly?