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Berning ZH 270 and Power conditioning

Question to ZH270 owners: Do you find your amp sensitive to the quality of AC? I get a little bit of buzz from the amp(and not from the speakers) from time to time. The noise's level and pitch change with (i) different Power Cords connected and (ii) as the other electronics and lights in the listening room turn on or off.

How do you suppose I address this issue? I am anticipating the first answer to be the dedicated circuit, which I'll look into, but what else have you found to improve the Zh270's sound? I am primarily interested in the effect of power conditioning (Hydra, PS Audio, Equitech, etc.) and power cords. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks. BTW, my VERY simple and humbe system consists of:

Reference Audio Mods (RAM) modded SACD1000 w/ 3.0V+ output
RAM silver interconnects
Berning 270
FMS Zero speaker cables
Kharma Ceramique 2.0s

Henry
henry_la
khokugo
122 posts
 
I use Silent Source Sig PC and Blue Circle Music Ring power conditioner. The dealer brought over the power conditioner and I did hear the difference for better. But, note that that may be the effect of Music Ring on CDP. My understanding is that ZH270 has several steps of conditioning in itself and external power conditioner shouldn't have much effect. But power cord still does make difference.
Lastly, I have never heard the "buzz" you mention.

Ken
twl
3,251 posts
 
If you have low voltage lighting in the room, with ballasts in them, they might be sending out hash onto the line. They are notorious for doing this. Try to determine which lights that you have on when this noise occurs.
stiltskin
499 posts
 
Hello Henry, Look into borrowing a burnt in shunyata taipan a.c.cord for your Berning...It will cost you nothing but your time to check it out... As for the slight buzz,give David a call...Good luck...
georgia2k
27 posts
 
In my 75 year old house the ZH270 would emit a grounding "hum" whenever I plugged it direct into the wall ( upgraded FIM ) outlet. Had hum whether using cheater plug or not. No hum when plugged into BPT-2 Ultra or Sound Applications XE-12. I'm a big believer in BPT products.

I owned ZH-270 with NOS tubes and ERS kit. Used TG Audio SLVR power cable.

- Ken
danamc
57 posts
 
Can't say I've had a problem with buzzing with my 270. I use a Silent Source PC on my Berning plugged into the analog section of a Sound Application XE-12s power conditioner. I've tried plugging the Berning directly into a dedicated 20A AC line, but feel my system comes together better when all components are plugged into the Conditioner, which is then plugged into the dedicated line with an Elrod Sig 3 PC.

In fact I have Silent Source PCs on all the components in the system: Ayre CX-7 CDP, Joule LA 100 MK3, Berning ZH-270, all connected with Cardas GR ICs.

Good luck!
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