[witchdoctor]

I found out about this PLC from a review at ecoustics.com, the same way I found out about 8th Nerve. I currently use a Monster Cable HTPS 7000 PLC ($1100), a cryoed wall receptacle ($75), a Bybee inline for the PLC connection to the wall socket ( $279?) , and a Quantum Symphony passive unit with QRS, ($300). For my rear amps and projector I use
a unit similar to the PS Audio that makes a square sine wave ($350), and a Quantum Octave power strip ( $400). I use Virtual Dynamics PC's ranging from $75 to $1500, and two Bogdan PC ranging from $300 to $500. I LIKE power conditioning in my old NYC pre-war building. One power tweak upgrades your whole system.

The BC86mkIII plugs into a wall socket or power strip. Nothing plugs into it. It is passive. It claims to decrease power line noise.
The difference it made to me was GREAT! Cymbals emerge from complete silence adding to the distinct shimmer. The piano does not get smooshed into the vocals or the bass. Each note stands distinctly on it's own. Bass is tighter and deeper than I have ever heard.
The PLC that made the biggest difference was the Monster. This made the second most difference. I would easily value the upgrade at $800 to $1000 based on prior purchases ( cables,isolation,racks, PLC, etc).
Now for the good news, cost?  $110!!!  Easily a no brainer. I bought two from Sonic Spirits owner Phil Lamb. He lives 8 blocks from me. Great guy, he even brought it over and let me audition first in my home.
His phone# is 2127061756. I think his website is WWW. silverspirits.com.  Check it out.

[Jay S]

Glad to hear!  I've got a pair of Noisehound Mk3's on their way to me... should be arriving any day now.  I'm planning on plugging 1 into an spare outlet on my Blue Circle Music Ring, and the other in my kitchen -- to kill noise at the source -- where I've got a ton of noisy appliance (fridge, washer, dryer, microwave, wine fridge, several flourescent lights....).

[witchdoctor]

I have two PLC. One in the front for my audio components, one in the back for video and my 4 rear active speakers. The video from my cable TV is MUCH better as well. I am running an airconditioner in my living room which was adding to the noise on the power line before this.

[Jay S]

How do you think the Noisehound compares to the Quantum Symphony?  They are both passive, but the Symphony is much more expensive.  I like the effect a friend's Symphony Pro did in my system, but it was too expensive for me.  I like the fact that the Noisehound is cheaper, plus the Mk3 is 2x as effective as the Mk2, so I will effectively have 4 Mk2s at my place - 2 at the PLC for my music system, the other in my kitchen.

Could you also tell us more re: your sine wave generator similar to the PSAudio PowerPlant?

[PhilNYC]

Thanks for the plug, Witchdoctor!

Btw - the website is www.sonicspirits.com, not www.silverspirits.com...

Phil

[satfrat]

Lets talk overkill here. In anyones opinion, would one realisticly expect to notice anything with one of these units plugged into the unused duplex of a dedicated circuit that contained a BPT balanced power conditioner containing a high current noise filter with dual Bybee`s, both before AND after the transformer which was the sole power source for a complete HT system? Maybe I meant overkill on top of overkill?    Regards, Robin

[Jay S]

Only one way to find out, Robin!!     A Noisehound Mk3 is "only" $110 for 1, $200 for 2....  

Plugging a Quantum Symphony Pro into my balanced power supply made a rather noticeable improvement.  I now have bybees on the Live and Neutral wires of the power cord feeding my balanced power supply (though none inside the unit, as you do).  I will try a Noisehound in one of the extra outlets.

[satfrat]

The only outlet available for me is on my dedicated circuit duplex that the BPT is plugged into. It may be a thought just for s&g down the road once I get some revealing speakers. I really can`t imagine any meaningful improvements that would come a shining thru 21 system Bybee`s. But if I ever happen to find out Jay, you can bank on me to be telling AC about it. The public needs to know these things. Regards, Robin

[Jay S]

Hi Robin,

You could try plugging a NH into a spare outlet on your BPT (if any is available) rather than into the wall outlet.  

21 bybees is such an odd number...  why not shoot for 25 or 30?  

Cheers,

- Jay

[satfrat]

Hi Robin,

You could try plugging a NH into a spare outlet on your BPT (if any is available) rather than into the wall outlet.  

21 bybees is such an odd number...  why not shoot for 25 or 30?  

Cheers,

- Jay

                       Jay, there IS NO spare outlet on my BPT. AS far as 21 Bybee`s, did I say I was done? It was putting Wayne`s inlines on that damn component video cable which got me on an odd number. Anywho,,, I`m done shopping for quite some time thank you as my entry level high end system upgrades set me back double digits and 2 maxed credit cards. But I HAD to ask about this Noisehound doohickie, gotta have something in the future to look forward to.

[witchdoctor]

Jay,
The Quantum takes what your system already does and boosts it. Fuller bass, richer vocals, more extended highs. Like adding more power to your amps.
The Noisehound changes the sound very distinctly. There is low level noise in your system which smooshes the notes together. Imagine stuffing a suitcase to full, then taking out stuff so it fits perfectly. That "stuff" in your sytem is cruddy noise which is indistinguishable until you hear it without the noise. Both Phil and I described it as hearing the individual notes more distinctly. Each instument standing separate and on it's own. It is unique in my experience. But remember, I live in a pre war NYC apt. building, ymmv. If I were starting over I would get the Noisehound first.

The sinewave generator is made by a company out of business called Constant Power. It was developed for computers.
According to the manual it uses microprocessor controlled,high frequency switching that results in very small unit sizes,nearly inaudible noise, and the cleanest of sinewaves. It inverts AC power to DC where it reconstitutes a low distortion sinwave which is fed from the inverter to the PLC outlet. It will keep voltage output constant at 120v even during a brown out and actually will continue to supply power for a few minutes during a black out so you can shut down your PC properly.
My audio components sound better with the Monster 7000, bigger soundstage, my video likes the Constant Power better. Very good colors and black level.
Phil and I plugged a noisehound into the Constant Power to see a video transformation with my projector. NADA, Zilch. We were both surprised after the huge difference it made on the audio components. That is when I really appreciated how this thing controls noise.
Normally $900 I scored it on A'gon.
The Quantum Octave power strip has some of the Quantum Symphony effects, but to a lesser degree.

[Jay S]

I just got my Noisehounds yesterday.  I've got 1 plugged in the kitchen (in the same outlet as my ref, wine ref, microwave, washer, dryer, some lights).  The other is plugged into an extra outlet on my Blue Circle balanced power supply.  I am wondering if I should move one of them to an extension cord where my TV, digital cable box, cable modem and wireless transmitter) are plugged into -- my audio system is plugged into the same circuit.  

So far, I have heard a drop in noise and a clearer sense of the individual voices and instruments.     I wonder if the Noisehounds need a bit of time to break in and reach their full potential as my system was sounding better at night than earlier in the day.  I will need more time to get a sense for what they do.  I am changing lots of things right now -- have just gotten a Scott Nixon TubeDac, have been breaking in a Napalm digital cable (built in bybee) and am moving a couple of inline bybees around my system.

[PhilNYC]

Jay,

With the Noise Hounds, the general rule of thumb is to plug them in as close to your audio equipment as possible, so I would suggest moving the one from your kitchen to at least the same duplex (or extension cord, if it is not too long) as your audio equipment.  The second suggestion is for the one plugged into your BC power conditioner, plug it in to the socket that is closest to the power cord (I also assume that your equipment is plugged into the BC power conditioner as labeled over the sockets...basically power amp closest to the power cord, then preamp, then source...if not, I'd suggest re-ordering them that way).

In my experience (including earlier this week with Witchdoctor), the Noise Hound should be effective within seconds of plugging them in.  I'll say this, tho...the Blue Circle balanced power conditioners are pretty darn good, too, so it's entirely possible that you won't get the same magnitude of impact that Witchdoctor has simply because the power conditioner is doing its job well.  As far as the system sounding better at night than during the day, this is pretty typical even without the Noise Hounds, as night-time usually has fewer air conditioners, laundry machines, etc. on in your apartment buildings....

If you do plug it into the extension cord that your TV stuff is in, definitely look for improvement in your video, too.

Hope this helps...

Phil

[witchdoctor]

Jay,
I have been experimenting a little. Yes, it is improving with break in.
I am getting the best results with both units plugged straight into my Monster HTPS 7000. It has 12 total outlets so I had two empty ones fortunately.
Phil, you won't believe how much better it's gotten since you left. I have been enjoying the lack of distortion at extremely LOUD listening levels why my neighbors are gone for the holiday. Home theater is even more noticeable than music because of the wide range of sounds in film.

[satfrat]

Jay,
I have been experimenting a little. Yes, it is improving with break in.
I am getting the best results with both units plugged straight into my Monster HTPS 7000. It has 12 total outlets so I had two empty ones fortunately.
Phil, you won't believe how much better it's gotten since you left. I have been enjoying the lack of distortion at extremely LOUD listening levels why my neighbors are gone for the holiday. Home theater is even more noticeable than music because of the wide range of sounds in film.

    Hey Doc, you probably wouldn`t need 2 Noisehounds in your system if it weren`t for all that distortion from the amps inside your active Paradigm speakers. ~Just kidding there~   Regards, Robin

[witchdoctor]

Good one. I'm throwing out a big enough RFI field  to ruin TV reception
for a two mile radius. I hear my sub even caused the richter scale to go off a notch and shake the paint loose on every apt. on my block.
If you see my picture in tomorrows NY Post don't be surprised if Mayor Bloomberg has my rig up on Ebay.

[satfrat]

Hey Doc, have you thought of wallpapering your apartment with Stllpoints ERS? I bet half of New York has! Actually I know where your coming from as I have power lines running about 35 feet from my livingroom. This is probably why ERS makes such a dramatic improvement in my HT system along with all my Bybee`s and balanced power conditioner. I never considered myself to have a power problem until doing these tweaks and hearing my system potential. I will be keeping these Noisehounds in mind for a future tweak and thanks Doc for not being offended. Regards, Robin

[Jay S]

Phil and Doc,

Thanks for the tips.  The NH on the BC MR is on the duplex outlet nearest to the power cord.  It's on the half of the duplex that is further, though I imagine it doesn't make a difference since it is a duplex outlet (?).

HK wall outlets are a bit different -- they are single outlets, not duplexes.     That said, there are 2 single outlets, one behind each speaker, actually, which are wired to the same circuit.  The BC MR (with all my audio gear) is plugged into one of them, all the other junk is plugged into the other one through a cheapo extension cord.  I'll try plugging the other NH into this extension cord.  Its sorta out of place in the kitchen anyway (aesthetically).

[PhilNYC]

Jay,

Don't move your NH out of your kitchen if you are finding that your food tastes better coming out of the microwave...  

Let us know how it all works out...

Phil

[Jay S]

When my wife asked why I was putting a NH in the kitchen I said it would make the fridge colder.