July 1st, 2018, 7:54 am
July 1st, 2018, 11:18 am
July 2nd, 2018, 4:10 pm
SoundMods wrote:TubeDriver wrote:20lbs seems a bit light for a 16A 2000W unit? My 15A 1800W Bryston weighs almost 50lbs. But that is a killer price on your unit!ratbagp wrote:It is quite a monster and weighs 20 lb. When it arrives I will take the lid off to see what is inside and take some photos. Then I will ask for suggestions on how to improve it.
ray
Your Bryston is stuffed with a lot more than a power transformer. The heat sinks alone can run up the weight. Keep in mind that an isolation transformer is just that -- only a transformer.
July 2nd, 2018, 4:14 pm
ratbagp wrote:The screw holding the ground lugs had actually broken off.
The plug was a strange (to me) version where one of the flat blades is at right angles to the other.
After replacing it with a new plug, I turned the unit on. Immediately there was a bit of mechanical hum which went away after a few seconds. Since then the unit has stayed plugged in and has remained quiet.
It became obvious that the sound is different using the transformer and so far I think it is better. There is more background detail, less glare and a deeper sound-stage. I read the Stereophile review and remembered that I had a CD of the Rolling Stones album that Art Dudley mentioned. I have it digitized on my server so started it up. I remembered it as a crappy sounding CD at best, but now it sounded relatively impressive. Electric guitars sounded more real.
Other familiar pieces sounded different and improved as well.
I still haven't done the experiment where I remove the unit so just think of this as a preliminary comment but so far I think it was $40 well spent.
ray
July 3rd, 2018, 8:27 am
July 3rd, 2018, 9:16 am
July 3rd, 2018, 9:53 am
tomp wrote:It depends. If the power supply in the equipment was properly designed an isolation transformer is not needed. In that case it can actually be a detriment as it will add additional impedance between the mains and the power supply. In my case of the laptop/DAC noise problem I only used the isolation transformer as an additional safety measure as I lifted the ground connection to the laptop. That is an unusual case because the laptop itself, not the power supply was feeding noise onto the ground circuit. Lifting that ground connection prevented the ground noise from sneaking back along the ground circuit into the signal circuit of other equipment on the line.
Also remember that the main purpose of an isolation transformer is to help prevent electrical shocks. It is a safety isolator, not a noise isolator.
July 3rd, 2018, 9:57 am
July 3rd, 2018, 10:15 am
brombo wrote:If you want a real isolation transformer -
http://www.surplussales.com/item/_tp/12-11t35sr.html
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/topaz-l ... er.857448/
I used this brand for experiments at the Nevada Test Site in the late 60's and early 70's.
July 3rd, 2018, 1:29 pm