[randog]

Robin,

You are a great candidate to make some measurements of a fully loaded unit! Got *a friend* with a voltmeter?  

[satfrat]

Robin,

You are a great candidate to make some measurements of a fully loaded unit! Got *a friend* with a voltmeter?  

I'll look into it! OK, I looked into it and found a voltmeter to use. I'll be picking it up saturday afternoon and test my BP2.5 under full load or as full as I can get it but I'll tell ya Randog, from what I'm reading here, I don't believe that your BPT unit is the problem.. Regard, Robin

[satfrat]

Just got done tested the leads and got 124 volts like everyone else. That must be the norm for these transformers Randog. You have no voltage problems Randog, sorry. Regards, Robin

[randog]

Just got done tested the leads and got 124 volts like everyone else. That must be the norm for these transformers Randog. You have no voltage problems Randog, sorry. Regards, Robin

Thanks for doing that test!  

I think I have confused you, however. I (now) also think my BPT unit is working exactly AS DESIGNED thanks to all the comparisons we've done (as well as Chris' response to my emails). Your bpt is a fully loaded unit and it still has 124 volts at its outlets. Why, then, is the BPT designed for 5VAC higher output than input if the voltage doesn't go down with a full load? That seems like an awfully extreme safety margin.

My Khartago is currently plugged into the wall and is running significantly cooler than it does through my BPT. I already mentioned the problems I had with my Outlaw receiver. Both of these are housed in an armoire which is open to the front and rear but closed off on the sides. It is a less than ideal environment and both of these units have internal heatsinks which makes them more succeptable to heat conditions. My problem, I know... but...

Now, I'm not an audiophile (I'm here because I like good sounding equipment and learning about it) and I'm not an electrical engineer but something deep inside me asks why cables and conditioners and outlets and windows are such a concern for sound quality, but running your equipment 5VAC over what it's intended to run at (optimally), won't. Especially when it has such an obvious physical effect. Even if it doesn't have much of a physical effect (like with my previous Stratos'), I am still interested in the same question answered.

I'm not bashing BPT, I think it's a great product. I'm just trying to get my pea-brain to understand the audio mind and equipment. I wish Chris was here to join in the discussion as I'm sure there's a lot here that he could educate me on.

I would also like to ask the equipment manufacturers with forums here what, if any, effect would 124 or 125 VAC have on their equipment WRT sound quality (especially the amp mfgr's). Unfortunately, I don't think many of them veer out of their own forums.  

Thanks for playing.   This is all simply for my own education.

Randog

[satfrat]

I hear what your saying and can relate as I too am not all that you say your not. All I can do is give you my situation, my satisfaction with that situation and hope that you can have the same for your setup. It's my understanding that components like 117 volts optimum, one reason why some use a variac like my friend Bill@lakegeorge. But I've also been told that a voltage range of 115/125volts should be of no concern for ANY component, especially if it's not fluctuating. The last time I had my Sony 36XBR400 calibrated, I was told that he had never seen a power supply in a Sony run so effortlessly. He had also never seen a balanced power conditioner in action. So with all I'm hearing and with my experiences with my 2 year old conditioner, I feel comfortable with my conclusions. I hope if/when you solve this problem, you'll be so kind as to share in case anyone else might run into the same situation. You see, I'm not an audiophile here either,,,, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn™ last night,,,     Regards, Robin

[tkp]

Randog,

Plugging every thing into the BPT does not automatically means the system would draw maximum current from the BPT.  In most if not all situation, the system never draws maximum current from the outlet (other wise, the house breaker would trip or the CGFI would trip on the BPT).  

In the case of the BPT unit, its output would not dive below the input voltage when the maximum current is draw.  This means most of the time, the output voltage would be around 124 VAC.  This is not bad because electronic manufacturer is required to design their equipment to work with the norminal line voltage +/- 10% or operate from 108VAC to 132VAC at the minimum.  In most cases, electronic manufacturer would design their equipment in the +/- 15% range.

In my system, each Ampzilla2000 has a 2000 Watts transformer and when push to their limits they would require 2000 watts from the wall.  Well, I have both of them plugged into the wall outlet (20 amps rating or 2400 watts max), and they never tripped even when push real hard with a pair of RM40s.

You probably wonder why BPT increased the output voltage at its output by 5 volts.  This is to compensate for the power loss in the secondary winding of the transformer when maximum current is drawn.

[randog]

In most cases, electronic manufacturer would design their equipment in the +/- 15% range.

That would range from 102 to 138VAC!

It *may* 'operate', but my question remains: how is performance affected?

[tkp]

[quote="randog

It *may* 'operate', but my question remains: how is performance affected?[/quote]

It is hard to know how a particular piece of gear would perform at certain AC voltage without asking the designer of that particular piece of gear.  Unless you know your house voltage and tell the designer to bias your unit to perform optimally per the house voltage, you electronic most likely will not perform its best.  

Even if you tell the designer your house hold voltage, it still only true at the time you take the reading because the line voltage of your house would flunctuate depending on the usage of your house and your neighbors who shares the same transformer with your house.  Personally, I think designer should design their product so that it would perform consistently within the +/- 10% range.

If you are sure your house voltage will be consistently at 119 VAC and the output of your BPT will be at 124 VAC then you can request Klause to Bias your amp to work best at 124 VAC.  However, you might want to wait until Chrismas is over with because with all my neighbor turns on their Chrimas light at night, my house voltage fluctuate  between 116 VAC to 123 VAC .