BPT Buzz??

mca · « **on:** 25 Nov 2003, 04:53 pm »

I just received my BPT 2.5 Ultra yesterday. Got it all hooked up last night and turned it on to hear the great things this unit is going to do to my system and what did I hear? A buzz from the unit itself so loud it fills my room

Anyone have this problem with their BPT? Is it a defective unit?
I have an email in to where it was purchased, but thought you guys might have some suggestions

tkp · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 04:59 pm »

Definitely some thing is wrong with your unit. I have the 2.0 and 3.5 signiture and they both dead quiet. I should get my 2.5 next week and let see if it will hum like your unit.

John Casler · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 07:32 pm »

I have heard several, and sold many, and not one (except an older used one a friend bought off Audiogon) has hummed.

It should be replaced.

BikeWNC · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 08:51 pm »

My 3.5 hums when I have everything plugged into it. That's 2 Odyssey extemes, a tube pre, a powered sub, cdp, dac, phono, Tact RCS. When I remove the amps - no hum. I emailed Chris about the hum and he said to put some mass or weight on top of the unit. That doesn't seem like an ideal solution to me. I have since changed to a 50w tube amp and I do not have the problem. If I were dead set on using the big monos into the 3.5, I would definitely have to find a permanant fix that eliminated the hum. BTW, removing the ball bearings helped somewhat. But, I think that some isolation is lost by doing so.

Andy

mgalusha · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 09:43 pm »

I have two of the 2.5's and neither of them hum. I do have a pair of Odyssey Extreme's on one of mine as well. I don't think adding mass is the answer either. The big mono's pull very little power at idle (about 30 watts each) and if this is causing the BPT to hum it seems like something isn't right. The second 2.5 has everything in my HT connected to it; Outlaw 750 amp, Denon pre/pro, vcr, dvd, cable box, xbox, cassette deck and it's dead silent.

Nearly all transformers hum but the LoNo Plitron's that Chris is using in the BPT's are designed to be very quiet. Certainly not room filling hum.

Mike G.

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 09:53 pm »

There must be a problem with your 2.5.. I have had the BPT 2 for over a year and it is dead quiet

Give a call to Chris @ BPT..

tkp · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Nov 2003, 10:04 pm »

For reference, the BPT 2.0 and 3.5 Sig were used with every thing plug into them.

BPT 2.0
- A pair of IRD/MB100
- nOrh CD1
- TV
- DVD player

BPT 3.5
- A pair of Ampzilla2000
- nOrh CD1
- IRD LLC-P
- DVD changer
- TV

No hum from either unit.

audiojerry · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 01:34 am »

Andy, have you switched from Xtreme Mono's to a 50wpc tube amp? Is this a permanent change or was it just to check the BPT hum?

BikeWNC · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 02:18 am »

Audiojerry,

Well, it's sort of, like, maybe, yeah. The Odyssey Extremes were just too much for my room. I couldn't get above 9 o'clock on my preamp pot before it chased me out of the room. I really like the sound of the Dodd tube amp with the GR Diluceo speakers. Very liquid and so musical. I've been meaning to put the Extremes back in to make a formal comparison, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Perhaps I can do it after this holiday weekend. I hope to build the GR Alphas this winter, for another room, so perhaps I will keep the Odyssey amps for that setup.

Andy

tkp · « **Reply #9 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 03:45 am »

mca,

You might want to check the polarity of the outlet to see if it is wired phase inverted. I ran into this awhile back with one of my Ampzilla2000. I have two dedicated outlet and one of them was wired phase inverted by accident. When I plugged one of my Ampzilla2000 into the phase inverted one, the transformer inside the Ampzilla2000 would hum quite loud. The interesting thing is I have other lower power amps plugged into the same outlet and they worked fine.

Just a thought.

mca · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 03:48 am »

I tried unplugging the amp (Rotel RMB1095) from the BPT and the buzzing stopped, dead quiet. Hope it's just a defective unit and not a problem with the unit jiving with the amp!

BikeWNC · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 04:26 am »

mca,

Keep me posted as to what you find out about your power conditioner. That's the same issue I'm having with mine. I did check the polarity of the outlet with one of those 3 light gizmos and all checked ok.

Andy

Beezer · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Nov 2003, 03:13 pm »

I get the same humming out of my 3.5 with a BAT VK-200 amp plugged into it. Unplug the amp, the sound goes away. It's not quite as loud as you all describe, but definitely there. I phoned Chris and he said it has to do with the windings on the on big transformer not being perfect, but that it doesn't affect the sound if the hum isn't a problem. In my case, it is quiet enough that I don't worry about it. That said, I wish it wasn't there!

Beez

satfrat · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 Nov 2003, 10:04 am »

I'm really surprised to hear that ANY of you would have a humming problem with ANYTHING being plugged into a BPT LoNo transformer. This is not suppose to happen. But the fact that it does goes to show that nothing in this hobby is a constant. I guess I'm one of the lucky one who has everything but the kitchen sink plugged into my BP2.5 including 2 Butler 3150 amps. I can put my ear to the casing and not hear a peep. Maybe a dedicated circuit helps, hea? Or brass cones underneath? Maybe extra dampening vinyl on the inside casing to help soundproof the damn thing? These are all things I'm doing already. (just in case a hummer comes along

) Sorry, I couldn't resist,,,

Regards, Robin

mca · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Nov 2003, 05:33 pm »

I do have the unit plugged into a dedicated 20a outlet, so that should not be a problem. I tried the amp plugged directly into the wall and the unit still buzzes when the big screen is on. Arrrrrrrrggggg, why me?
I have the unit boxed up and ready to send back. Still no word back from the seller, so I will give him a call on Friday. Now I'm a little hesitant to give another one a try.

satfrat · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Nov 2003, 05:58 pm »

Quote from: mca

I do have the unit plugged into a dedicated 20a outlet, so that should not be a problem. I tried the amp plugged directly into the wall and the unit still buzzes when the big screen is on. Arrrrrrrrggggg, why me?
I have the unit boxed up and ready to send back. Still no word back from the seller, so I will give him a call on Friday. Now I'm a little hesitant to give another one a try.

I hear/feel your fustration but I would take heart by the response here so far that would show that this hum issue is an exception, not the rule with the LoNo transformer, which was specially designed to address this. I would say that you let the unit's performance in your system guide you in your decision as to whether or not replace the unit. If I were happy with my system gains using the BPT and heard all the positive feedback that this might be an isolated problem unit, I would want the unit replaced. If on other hand the unit's performance was lackluster, I would use this excuse in demanding a refund. Either way you decide to go mca, please keep us in the loop. I hope this all works out for you. Regards, Robin

Doug_B · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Nov 2003, 05:56 pm »

My Odyssey Stratos amps made my 3.5 buzz (this is a demo unit I purchased direct from Chris). It's a low hum/buzz that is audible from my sitting position (15 ft?) only when it is dead quiet in the room (it is louder than my sub amp's fan, though). My 3 ch Stratos causes more buzzing than my 2ch Stratos. Chris didn't think there would be a performance problem, but he did ask if I could hear compression. I tried my 2ch Stratos with and without the 3.5 but couldn't hear a difference in the music. In any case, since I was maxed out on the outlets and really wanted my amps to be alone on my dedicated 20A circuit, I removed the amps from the 3.5 (put them back on my Ultimate Outlet) and moved the 3.5 to my 15A circuit.

It's been hard for me to judge the worth of the 3.5. I had been changing other items at the same time, including upgraded power cords. Based on what I have been hearing, I think the power cord upgrades I applied to my amps made a bigger difference than plugging them into the 3.5. Beyond that, I really haven't done any controlled listening tests to ascertain the 3.5's effectiveness.

Oh, one more thing: my 3.5 still buzzes w/o the Odysseys connected. But I have to put my ear against the unit to hear it.

Doug

satfrat · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Nov 2003, 06:11 pm »

Doug, I think maybe you need to spend some time without the BP3.5 in the hoop. Maybe by having the front end components plugged into a power strip if enough outlets in the dedicated circuit aren't available. I know that after a while you tend to take your sound for granted and by yanking a conditioner out of the system for a while, you can really hear how much BPT brings to the table. At least this was the case for me while I had sent my BP2.5 back to Chris Hoff for the upgrade package. My video went flat and the sound was noticably dull/veiled. I like to compare it to the film left on an empty glass of milk. When I got the unit back and in my system, I knew that it would never leave there again. Frankly if your BP3.5 doesn't do this for you, I'd get rid of it. BTW, lining the interior with ERS made a huge difference in my unit's performance. Regards, Robin

mca · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 02:28 am »

Well the unit was sent back to Chris today. I was assured by both Chris and Walter that the unit should not buzz at all, that's one of the reasons behind the lono transformer. They did have one suggestion to check to make sure the transformer is bolted down securely, as sometimes it can loosten during shipping. Unfortunatly, this was not the case

If anyone else has a buzzing problem, they may want to check that out.

tkp · « **Reply #19 on:** 4 Dec 2003, 09:24 pm »

I just got the BPT 2.5 today and so far it is dead quiet like the 2.0 ultra and 3.5 signiture that I have.