Dave918
11-09-2003, 08:00 PM
Blue Circle BC86 MKIII Parallel power noise filter
Well I wins this contest ya see, for some little gizmo called a BC86 MKIII Power Pillow. Now all I know about electricity is that it’ll knock you flat on your arse when you least expect it – like when you were a little kid and stuck those car keys in the little slots on the wall. Who knew? Now I find out electricity can be noisy, besides leaving that lingering buzz in your head after the aforementioned key incident, and mess with your tunes! And this little unassuming box is supposed to fix that. Well let’s see!
But seriously, BrianB/Venus Hi-Fi put on a great little contest awhile back, and I had the good fortune to win the prize – a Blue Circle BC86 MKIII Parallel power noise filter.
Now I was really looking forward to giving this little gadget a whirl and see if it could improve on the fantastic sound my new system is already providing. When it arrived yesterday I anxiously plugged it into the same quad my tube system is connected to, loaded some tunes and sat back. Hmmm…didn’t hear any difference. Change tunes…still nothing. Unplug the unit, listen, plug it back in, listen again…still nothing! Boy was I bummed! Was it me? The system? The BC86? I even mentioned to Opt80 and Grumpy in the chat room that evening that I simply could not hear any difference. Even mentioned maybe putting it up for others to demo (changed my mind on that one, read on).
Fast forward to this morning. I get up, load up Bruce Cockburn “Dart To The Heart” for background music and start puttering around the house. Well a little bit later I realize something sounds different. What is it? Not sure, but there is definitely something. Ok, time for some serious listening (good excuse anyway).
I unplugged the BC86, and listened to select tracks from Bruce Cockburn “Dart To The Heart”, Alison Krauss “Forget About It”, Greg Trooper “Floating”, and Jeffery Foucault “Miles From The Lighting” at moderate volume. Plugged the BC86 back in and listened to the same tracks in the same order at the same volume. There it is! But what is it? The cymbals – the cymbals are cleaner, focused, more natural. So are other mid and high frequency sounds. Wow! (I say wow because I’m amazed my ears picked up on this.) Turned up the volume – even better. Delicate, or soft, high frequency sounds normally lost in the mix, or that sound smeared, are clear and focused, even at higher volume levels. Do I have that much AC line noise? Does it really negatively impact the sound?
This system already has incredible mid and high frequency definition – but the BC86 (or the elimination of AC line noise) sure has seemed to clean it up even more and add new focus.
My imagination? I dunno, maybe, I’m certainly far from the best qualified to evaluate the technical merits of a product like this. All I can do is state what I hear, and I’m now convinced that I’m actually hearing a subtle improvement. Nothing earth shattering or anything that jumps out and slaps you across the face – but an improvement nonetheless. For me the improvement seems focused more on subtle mid and high frequency sounds. Someone else with better ears might hear more – or less. The difference seems to be most noticeable on acoustic material. So why didn’t I notice the difference the day before? Not sure, maybe I was trying to hard, or my expectations were to high.
I would love to try this unit on a system with a good vinyl rig and if all goes to plan, I’ll be able to that in my own living room by the middle of next month <big ass grin>. Anyway, my opinion of this device has turned 180 degrees from yesterday and I’m mighty thankful to have won it. Thanks Brian!
Description (taken from supplied instruction sheet):
* Parallel powerline noise filter.
* 4 distinct wide “Q” filters covering a wide range of frequencies.
* Fully enclosed in a steel chassis for RF rejection.
* Filtering is cumulative with the addition of one or more additional BC86s.
* Simply plug the BC86 into a duplex receptacle or spare outlet on a power bar and it dramatically reduces unwanted powerline noise present at the outlet. The effect extends to receptacles, on the same circuit, up to 20 feet away from the treated receptacle.
-Dave
Well I wins this contest ya see, for some little gizmo called a BC86 MKIII Power Pillow. Now all I know about electricity is that it’ll knock you flat on your arse when you least expect it – like when you were a little kid and stuck those car keys in the little slots on the wall. Who knew? Now I find out electricity can be noisy, besides leaving that lingering buzz in your head after the aforementioned key incident, and mess with your tunes! And this little unassuming box is supposed to fix that. Well let’s see!
But seriously, BrianB/Venus Hi-Fi put on a great little contest awhile back, and I had the good fortune to win the prize – a Blue Circle BC86 MKIII Parallel power noise filter.
Now I was really looking forward to giving this little gadget a whirl and see if it could improve on the fantastic sound my new system is already providing. When it arrived yesterday I anxiously plugged it into the same quad my tube system is connected to, loaded some tunes and sat back. Hmmm…didn’t hear any difference. Change tunes…still nothing. Unplug the unit, listen, plug it back in, listen again…still nothing! Boy was I bummed! Was it me? The system? The BC86? I even mentioned to Opt80 and Grumpy in the chat room that evening that I simply could not hear any difference. Even mentioned maybe putting it up for others to demo (changed my mind on that one, read on).
Fast forward to this morning. I get up, load up Bruce Cockburn “Dart To The Heart” for background music and start puttering around the house. Well a little bit later I realize something sounds different. What is it? Not sure, but there is definitely something. Ok, time for some serious listening (good excuse anyway).
I unplugged the BC86, and listened to select tracks from Bruce Cockburn “Dart To The Heart”, Alison Krauss “Forget About It”, Greg Trooper “Floating”, and Jeffery Foucault “Miles From The Lighting” at moderate volume. Plugged the BC86 back in and listened to the same tracks in the same order at the same volume. There it is! But what is it? The cymbals – the cymbals are cleaner, focused, more natural. So are other mid and high frequency sounds. Wow! (I say wow because I’m amazed my ears picked up on this.) Turned up the volume – even better. Delicate, or soft, high frequency sounds normally lost in the mix, or that sound smeared, are clear and focused, even at higher volume levels. Do I have that much AC line noise? Does it really negatively impact the sound?
This system already has incredible mid and high frequency definition – but the BC86 (or the elimination of AC line noise) sure has seemed to clean it up even more and add new focus.
My imagination? I dunno, maybe, I’m certainly far from the best qualified to evaluate the technical merits of a product like this. All I can do is state what I hear, and I’m now convinced that I’m actually hearing a subtle improvement. Nothing earth shattering or anything that jumps out and slaps you across the face – but an improvement nonetheless. For me the improvement seems focused more on subtle mid and high frequency sounds. Someone else with better ears might hear more – or less. The difference seems to be most noticeable on acoustic material. So why didn’t I notice the difference the day before? Not sure, maybe I was trying to hard, or my expectations were to high.
I would love to try this unit on a system with a good vinyl rig and if all goes to plan, I’ll be able to that in my own living room by the middle of next month <big ass grin>. Anyway, my opinion of this device has turned 180 degrees from yesterday and I’m mighty thankful to have won it. Thanks Brian!
Description (taken from supplied instruction sheet):
* Parallel powerline noise filter.
* 4 distinct wide “Q” filters covering a wide range of frequencies.
* Fully enclosed in a steel chassis for RF rejection.
* Filtering is cumulative with the addition of one or more additional BC86s.
* Simply plug the BC86 into a duplex receptacle or spare outlet on a power bar and it dramatically reduces unwanted powerline noise present at the outlet. The effect extends to receptacles, on the same circuit, up to 20 feet away from the treated receptacle.
-Dave