Not a ground loop hum???

Balanced power WILL play games with an AC polarity tester and is the sole exception to what we think of as "proper AC power". Anything else should have a very specific hot, neutral and ground ( as far as i know ). Sean
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I had sent an e-mail to Blue Circle and the response was as Brooks1 and Sean have indicated. Balanced power outlets will indeed show reversed hot and neutral or other icorrect wiring, because there is 60V coming from the neutral and 60V coming from the hot in relation to ground.

Blue Circle insists that it is likely really dirty incoming AC causing mechanical noise in the transformers of the MR1200. I'm back to my question of why bother with this relatively expensive power conditioner to prevent noise in the stereo components only to have the conditioner make noise.

I've swtiched over to the $200 Monster HT1000 power bar that was lying around since I received the $750 MR1200. Guess what, no noise from the HT1000. This just ticks me off.

Next week we move into our new house, so I'm really eager to see what kind of results I will get from these two units plugged into the dedicated line I had installed. Will the MR1200 continue to hum? Will the Monster piece mash the Blue Circle again? Enquiring minds want to know! FWIW, I'll post my findings in a few days and continue to ponder Chris VenHaus' solution of wiring two 0.47uF 600V Auricaps in parallel in the dedicated outlet if the MR1200 is still noisy. Has anyone out there tried the latter yet?

Thanks again to all for your comments and ideas.

Max

Max: The caps won't correct what is a design error or quality control problem with the Blue Circle PLC. If you want to use that and get good results, it needs to be replaced or repaired for proper operation. That is, if this unit doesn't take standard polarity AC and convert it to "balanced" power. I'm not familiar with this specific unit, so i'm adding that as a disclaimer. As mentioned, "balanced power" will play games with polarity sensing devices. As mentioned in another thread, "balanced power" can also undermine the design integrity on some well engineered gear. As such, adding such a "tweak" to your system may actually be detrimental to performance and / or the lifespan of the gear.

If you're interested in some alternative points of view on tweaking your AC, try reading the tweaks found on David Magnan's website. As with anything else involving high voltage & current, be careful and use some common sense. It is NOT worth getting injured or killed no matter how much better you think your system will sound after doing something that could be considered "unsafe". Sean
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Mghcanuck I feel your pain. I have been adding new power lines to my basement and picked up a hum. I rerouted cords. I put magnetic shields on cords. The hum did not subside. Finally, I put a Monster HT1000 on my video cable line which was also new and plugged the cd Player and tuner into it. The result no hum.

And do you know what where the worst hum was located? The TV speakers.

I'm even thinking of buying a second HT1000 for my main system. It also has Cable and a FM Tuner.

Sean, the MR1200 does indeed convert the AC from the wall into balanced power provided at its outlets. Are you saying that it should not hum regardless of how dirty the incoming AC may be? That was my assumption when I purchased the piece, given the filtering that it is supposed to perform and the positive reviews that BC has garnered for their balanced power line conditioners.

I've got the product designer/maker telling me that the noise is due to really dirty AC and that there's nothing to be done except have one of their power cords fitted with a quiet device that will resolve the noise issue in the MR1200. On the other hand there is the possibility of a QC issue with my unit.

I'm going to test the MR1200 in the new house next week and see what happens. If it's still noisy, perhaps I'll send it to BC for a check-up. Beyond that, I'm just not sure what to do.

Danny, I'm guessing the main difference is that the HT1000 does not have a transformer, or at least not one that converts the incoming AC of 120v in relation to ground into balanced AC of 60v from the hot and 60v from the neutral, so there is no possibility of transformer hum. The purported advantage of a balanced power line conditioner, such as the Blue Circle Music Rings among others, is that it offers even greater benefits in terms of lowered noise floor, etc. Not in my set-up though.

Thanks once more for the input. Much appreciated.

Max