I just noticed that Antek is selling balanced isolation transformers with filtering and Faraday shield for very reasonable $. BP-400 at $155, BP-600 at $175, and BP1000 at $195. I think they do not sell the balanced transformers separately, but there seems to be enough space to allow some modification. like adding MOVs/GDTs. Unclear if the outlets can be replaced. Any thoughts?
There is a very small chance such a filter will help your sound. It is perfectly sure it will net the seller a nice profit.
Save your money and buy a few audiophile CD#s or downloads. Sound will improve 100%.
Save your money and buy a few audiophile CD#s or downloads. Sound will improve 100%.
Thank you for your advice.
Nonetheless, I will continue to consider this product. Plitron - a very respected company - sold balanced toroid power transformers until they spun it off into a separate subsidiary, Torus Power, and now sells balanced transformers units with filtering, thermal cutoff switch, and option for surge protection at very, very high prices. Toroid of Maryland also sells balanced transformers as well, for somewhat less $ than Plitron. By coincidence, I also pulled out a series of AudioExpress articles written by Ed Simon, that set forth a series of possible line conditioning approaches, one of which was a balanced isolation transformer from Plitron (back when the transformers will still sold bare).
That there is a lot of RF/EMI junk on the A/C line is undoubted, especially in a close-in suburban area where I live. Apart from the noise that is put on the A/Cine by motor start and stops (heat pumps and conventional A/C, refrigerator, radiator circulator pump, washer and dryer, there are dimmers on all of my lights in rooms. Outside, there are multiple cell antennas within 1/2 mile, an FM antenna within 1/4 mile, and multiple antennas servicing police station and fire/rescue within 500 feet. Plus, remote reading electric lines, traffic signal controllers, etc. Bill Ruck, a 30 year+ radio engineer, also wrote a series of articles in Audio Amateur where he put a logger on his A/C line for a day to see what was on it; the results were "interesting," that is to say, disquieting.
For 26 years, my stereo system would sometimes sound tremendous, and sometimes sound terrible, and I could not always correlate it to time of day (although usually but not always late night is better), or necessarily the status of lights or motors running. I finally purchased an inexpensive filtered and surge protected unit with A/C voltmeter on it, about 2 years ago. When I put it in, my wife immediately noticed an improvement in clarity. This is true, but there are still periods when the sound is less than ideal. Hence my looking at balanced isolation transformer. IMO, it is simply another tool for reducing unwanted interference in my situation. My old tube integrated amplifier does not have an A/C input filter, and my CD player has a small filter, as I recall. Thus, looking for a cost-effective approach to improve sound which is based on well-understood and professionally-adopted approaches is what I intend to pursue.
Finally, I am not convinced that "audiophile" CD remasters represent an improvement. Sometimes they do, but oftentimes they do not. What I notice is this: if the original record was not re-pressed or remastered many times over the decades (as is the cat for obscure albums of 45 singles), then the sound seems way better than very popular albums. My favorite examples: Beatles albums (not the latest ones reconstructed from original tracking masters by Giles Martin): e.g., White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Road CDs do not sound as good as the tracks for the single version of Revolution, and Don't Bring Me Down singles on the "Masters" single compilation. My guess: replay of the master tapes for subsequent remastering/reissuing events resulted in slow degradation of the oxide, either through wear, flaking, and slight demagnetization.
Nonetheless, I will continue to consider this product. Plitron - a very respected company - sold balanced toroid power transformers until they spun it off into a separate subsidiary, Torus Power, and now sells balanced transformers units with filtering, thermal cutoff switch, and option for surge protection at very, very high prices. Toroid of Maryland also sells balanced transformers as well, for somewhat less $ than Plitron. By coincidence, I also pulled out a series of AudioExpress articles written by Ed Simon, that set forth a series of possible line conditioning approaches, one of which was a balanced isolation transformer from Plitron (back when the transformers will still sold bare).
That there is a lot of RF/EMI junk on the A/C line is undoubted, especially in a close-in suburban area where I live. Apart from the noise that is put on the A/Cine by motor start and stops (heat pumps and conventional A/C, refrigerator, radiator circulator pump, washer and dryer, there are dimmers on all of my lights in rooms. Outside, there are multiple cell antennas within 1/2 mile, an FM antenna within 1/4 mile, and multiple antennas servicing police station and fire/rescue within 500 feet. Plus, remote reading electric lines, traffic signal controllers, etc. Bill Ruck, a 30 year+ radio engineer, also wrote a series of articles in Audio Amateur where he put a logger on his A/C line for a day to see what was on it; the results were "interesting," that is to say, disquieting.
For 26 years, my stereo system would sometimes sound tremendous, and sometimes sound terrible, and I could not always correlate it to time of day (although usually but not always late night is better), or necessarily the status of lights or motors running. I finally purchased an inexpensive filtered and surge protected unit with A/C voltmeter on it, about 2 years ago. When I put it in, my wife immediately noticed an improvement in clarity. This is true, but there are still periods when the sound is less than ideal. Hence my looking at balanced isolation transformer. IMO, it is simply another tool for reducing unwanted interference in my situation. My old tube integrated amplifier does not have an A/C input filter, and my CD player has a small filter, as I recall. Thus, looking for a cost-effective approach to improve sound which is based on well-understood and professionally-adopted approaches is what I intend to pursue.
Finally, I am not convinced that "audiophile" CD remasters represent an improvement. Sometimes they do, but oftentimes they do not. What I notice is this: if the original record was not re-pressed or remastered many times over the decades (as is the cat for obscure albums of 45 singles), then the sound seems way better than very popular albums. My favorite examples: Beatles albums (not the latest ones reconstructed from original tracking masters by Giles Martin): e.g., White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Road CDs do not sound as good as the tracks for the single version of Revolution, and Don't Bring Me Down singles on the "Masters" single compilation. My guess: replay of the master tapes for subsequent remastering/reissuing events resulted in slow degradation of the oxide, either through wear, flaking, and slight demagnetization.
There are just as many that swear such filter "suck's the life out of the music" as those who say it helps.
You try to be objective and do not realize how deep you are in Voodoo territory.
With all that electric smog around you, I would fear for my health and flee, instead of listening to music while slowly getting micro wave cooked.
To be honest, yes, there is dirty AC and it does HIFI no favor, but just filtering the mains is the wrong solution to the problem. A nice placebo, well suited to make good money.
Before a serious technician does any installation, he measures what the problem is, in quality and quantity. Than you look at each part of your HIFI, with and without the AC noise and compare it's influence.
Just throwing a transformer with some magic parts in the line will not help that much.
Anyway, do as you like, it is a hobby, not a passenger plane.
Good luck!
You try to be objective and do not realize how deep you are in Voodoo territory.
With all that electric smog around you, I would fear for my health and flee, instead of listening to music while slowly getting micro wave cooked.
To be honest, yes, there is dirty AC and it does HIFI no favor, but just filtering the mains is the wrong solution to the problem. A nice placebo, well suited to make good money.
Before a serious technician does any installation, he measures what the problem is, in quality and quantity. Than you look at each part of your HIFI, with and without the AC noise and compare it's influence.
Just throwing a transformer with some magic parts in the line will not help that much.
Anyway, do as you like, it is a hobby, not a passenger plane.
Good luck!
Self-deception is an issue, to be sure. I happen to be a cheap person, with a great show-me attitude. I can tell you right now that special cords and speaker cables did not make any difference in my system (perhaps it is too low resolution), so perhaps I'm more resistant to voodoo.
The balanced isolation power transformer is both a "filter" as its magnetic properties should be designed to be a narrowband filter (just the opposite of an audio output transformer for tubes), and also has the Faraday shield to prevent electrostatic coupling. Finally, true balanced power implements common mode noise reduction. These three solutions are well accepted in the professional audio and instrumentation world - not the audiophile "voodoo" world. Whether they make a difference in my application, I agree is open to question but as I said, I still have inconsistencies in SQ that I cannot correlate with any external factor. I do not have the money to spend for an electrical engineer (not a technician) to come up and perform a week-long study at my house using a logging device: it would cost way more than buying just one of these Antek units!
What I was really looking for is some opinion as to whether the Antek transformers are likely to be truly balanced (i.e., with equal winding length and geometries on each leg - most ordinary power transformers are decidedly not), and an y other design or constructi9on considerations based upon the photographs, schematic and description of the units.
The balanced isolation power transformer is both a "filter" as its magnetic properties should be designed to be a narrowband filter (just the opposite of an audio output transformer for tubes), and also has the Faraday shield to prevent electrostatic coupling. Finally, true balanced power implements common mode noise reduction. These three solutions are well accepted in the professional audio and instrumentation world - not the audiophile "voodoo" world. Whether they make a difference in my application, I agree is open to question but as I said, I still have inconsistencies in SQ that I cannot correlate with any external factor. I do not have the money to spend for an electrical engineer (not a technician) to come up and perform a week-long study at my house using a logging device: it would cost way more than buying just one of these Antek units!
What I was really looking for is some opinion as to whether the Antek transformers are likely to be truly balanced (i.e., with equal winding length and geometries on each leg - most ordinary power transformers are decidedly not), and an y other design or constructi9on considerations based upon the photographs, schematic and description of the units.
I just installed the BP-400 in my system to replace an ordinary hardware store powerbar that purportedly has surge protection.
The "small chance" paid off in my electrical environment. There is noticeable improvement: not huge but definitely noticeable. I don't have measurement equipment so my perceptions are slightly more apparent extension and detail across the frequency range but especially in highs - e.g. cymbals sound more life like. Bass seems a bit more taut. That trite, old saying applies here for me: like a thin veil was removed.
Thanks for your input.I am not surprised that the change is not drastic.
You may want to
Invest in another surge protection unit, and install it before the balanced toroid. Balanced toroid does not provide surge protection.
You may want to
Invest in another surge protection unit, and install it before the balanced toroid. Balanced toroid does not provide surge protection.
